The Right Pot and Just a Touch of Art

This unusual gem is part of an excellent selection of Kusamono from Tony Tickle’s garden. In Tony’s own words… “I have a large collection of dwarf Hostas, these flourish in my rather damp garden, in summer the other Kusamono come into flower and leaf. Here are a few they include Astilbie, Thrift and sedums. Most of the Pots are from my friend Dan Barton but there are pots from Gordon Duffet and many other European Potters.” Five of the nine photos in this post are Tony’s.

One of the great things about companion plants (Kusamono or Shitakusa) is that they don’t need the same high degree of technical skill that quality bonsai require. What is needed is the right pot and just a touch of art. The right plant too. Though if you pay attention, the right plant exists almost everywhere in the wild or even in your garden. As well as nurseries, flower shops and similar places.

Here’s what Wikipedia has to say. Kusamono (literally “grass thing”) and shitakusa (literally “undergrass”) are a potted collection of plants designed to either be viewed in accompaniment with bonsai, or alone. Normally the term kusamono is used when the planting is displayed as the center of attention, while the term shitakusa is used for plantings that accompany bonsai displays.^[1] In contrast to underplantings (which are potted in with the bonsai), kusamono and shitakusa are displayed separately in special pots, driftwood, or even stones.

Plants used are typically moss, grass, lichen, small flowers, bamboo, or bulbs, that may heighten the beauty or reflect a certain season. While traditionally in Japan, plants gathered from mountains contributed to the bulk of companion plantings, modern use has extended to more creative and artistic design.

Another one from Tony Tickle’s garden.

I like the casual look. Like a plant that colonized a broken pot that someone threw away. The photo is from an album titled Kusamono by Yoyoh Hernandez that was posted on facebook by Luis De Macedo Rodrigues.

Another of Tony Tickle’s. Sweet plant, great pot. I wonder who made it.

Brilliant flowers, nice pot. This colorful planting is by Delphine. It appears on her Paradise Express blog.

Tony again.

And one more from Tony’s garden. This one has a lot to like. Not the least of which is the natural look that is enhanced by leaving the dead growth around the base and by the casual simplicity of the pot.

We’ve been showing and discussing red pots lately and this one most certainly qualifies. I would like see a plant more suited to the pot, but we’ll take what we can get. The photo is from an album titled Kusamono by Yoyoh Hernandez that was posted on facebook by Luis De Macedo Rodrigues.

The somewhat understated plant is perfectly suited to the wonderfully wacky pot. The photo is from Delphine’s Paradise Express blog.

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Exquisite Trees, Exquisite Pots

There are few things more delicate and beautiful than fresh spring Maple leaves (Trident maple in this case). This exquisite tree and exquisite pot are perfect expressions of the artistry of Haruyoshi.

The only hard part with a post like this, is figuring out which photo to show first (the one that shows up on facebook and in our newsletter). We had the same problem with our previous two posts that featured Haruyosi pots and bonsai (here and here).

I won’t bore you much more, except to say that Haruyosi does a couple things that set him apart. First, he puts up a very large number of masterpiece shohin and mame bonsai and pots; and second, he puts up a lot of photos that reveal the process. For both trees and pots.

Red on red. In our last Haruyosi post (Very Red and Very Rare), we mentioned that red glazes are expensive and not that easy to do. Apparently, neither the cost nor difficultly deter Mr Haruyoshi. The tree is a Elaeagnus pungens (Siverthorn in English, Kangumi in Japanese).

More delicate spring beauty. This time the pot is yellow. It turns out that, like red pots, yellow pots aren’t all the common. The tree is Malus halliana (Hall’s crapapple).

This luscious little Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa) looks old and yet is so small. As is the sweet little pot (small, not necessarily old). I know I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s something about the brilliance and purity of quince flowers.

Just another Haruyosi masterpiece pot. Red and yellow together, but I guess you probably noticed.

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What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself – An Indepth Discussion with Andy Smith on Collecting Wild Bonsai

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) collected by Andrew (aka Andy) Smith and first styled by Walter Pall. It would hard to find a better pair for the job. Andy (Golden Arrow Bonsai) is a professional forester, master collector of wild bonsai and a bonsai artist in his own rite, and Walter Pall is a world famous bonsai artist, teacher, trouble maker (in the positive sense of course) and owner of a very impressive bonsai collection. The photograph is by Walter. My apologies for the fuzz. It’s the result of dramatically increasing the image size. On balance I think this size presents a better look at the tree in spite of the fuzz.

This morning (way before the birds or any sensible humans start their day) I was looking for photos of Lodgepole pine bonsai when I stumbled upon an old interview with Andy Smith that appeared on The Art of Bonsai Project blog, way back in 2005. I consider this a stroke of good luck for at least two reasons: our last post was about Andy (nothing like a little serendipity to brighten your day), and it’s a great interview. So great that we’re going to post the whole thing and encourage you to jump in and enjoy Andy’s unique insights into wild bonsai, the art of collecting and much more.

The Art of Bonsai Project Interview with Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is a contract forester in South Dakota’s Black Hills. He became fascinated with bonsai in 1994 while collecting core specimens from very ancient pines to use in past climate studies.

Smith transplants 300-400 trees per year for bonsai and has supplied demo and workshop trees to many of the world’s best bonsai artists. He enjoys learning about this beautiful and extraordinary art and meeting with other enthusiasts around the country.

The following is an on-line interview conducted with Andy Smith (continued after the photo):

Another Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) that was collected by Andy Smith and first styled by Walter Pall. Photograph by Walter.

AoB: Andy, how do you answer the critics who insist that removing trees from a supposedly pristine environment is detrimental to that environment.

Andy: That depends upon your values and goals for the particular environment in question. For instance, most of my trees come from public lands and the permit process (in my opinion) is well regulated. I pay between $5 and $10 per tree for the right to collect in certain areas (no refunds if they die!). But there are huge areas that are off limits to collecting; for instance all wilderness areas; areas with high recreational value such as along hiking trails and near campgrounds and lakes; wildlife preserves; national monuments; state and national parks; along heavily travelled roads; areas with spiritual, historical or special visual significance; etc.

In these areas the guiding management principles place a higher value on the aesthetic, spiritual and natural qualities of the environment than they do on someone, like me, being able to go out and pursue an interest that might change the landscape somewhat.

The areas that are open to collecting are usually the same areas that are open to other resource extraction. In other words these areas might well be logged, grazed or mined at some point in time, or at least such uses are not prohibited.

Andy beside the large pine that he collected in his How to collect Wild Trees DVD.

Another thing to consider is the scale of the enterprise. I collect about 300-400 trees, from several different National Forests, every year, which is far more than anyone else I know. And it takes a huge amount of time, effort and energy to do that.

Meanwhile, the Forest Service is trying to control burn about 8,000 acres a year just here in the Black Hills alone, and many, many thousands more nationwide. This is done to reduce fuel loading and prevent catastrophic wildfires. I understand that it needs to be done but they kill more potential bonsai doing that in one year than I will collect in ten lifetimes. Consider that we recently had a wildfire here that burned over 130 square miles. The fire damage is worse than an atomic bomb would cause. It’s amazing, that in many places you can look from horizon to horizon and not see one live tree.

Continue reading What You Do to the Land You Do to Yourself – An Indepth Discussion with Andy Smith on Collecting Wild Bonsai

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If It Ain’t Fun, It Ain’t Bonsai

This Black Hill Spruce belongs to Andy Smith. As you may have guessed the tree was collected in the Black Hills of South Dakota. By Andy. He estimates that it’s 150-175 years old. The stone was also belongs to Andy. You can find this image and all but one of the other images in this post on Andy’s Golden Arrow Bonsai website.

Golden Arrow Bonsai is Andrew Smith (aka Andy), though he no doubt enjoys some help from friends and family. Andrew is a bonsai artist and professional woodsman who specializes in collecting trees from nature. If you would like to learn how to collect the right way, check out his DVD, How to Collect Wild Trees. He also has a DVD on styling collected trees that’s entitled Finding the Bonsai Within, Ponderosa Pine Wiring Techniques, Working with Difficult Trees. Andrew lives in Deadwood South Dakota. I borrowed this paragraph from an early (September 2009) Bark post.

Here’s another (August 2009) borrowed Bark paragraph. Deadwood in Deadwood. If you’re ever near Deadwood South Dakota, visit Andrew Smith at Golden Arrow Bonsai. Andrew is known for his yamadori bonsai (bonsai collected from the wild) among other things. I consider him to one of a small handful of genuine collectors; people that collect with deep knowledge and respect and, as a result, a very high success rate. If you can’t make it to Deadwood, you can at least enjoy Andrew’s excellent DVDs.

This is one of Andy’s all-time favorite pines. Estimated age 250 to 300 years old. Photo is from Andy’s website.

A small but old cascade style Ponderosa pine. This is a sweet little tree just as it is, though you could employ some needle reduction if you wanted to go to the trouble (our Pine book has some excellent how-to needle reduction).

This Limber pine (Pinus flexilis) is going to stay put right where it is. Photo by Andy Smith, from the home page on Andy’s Golden Arrow Bonsai.
Common juniper. Estimated age 125 years. Collected, wired and potted by Andrew Smith, Golden Arrow Bonsai.

Dazzling deadwood. I think I see a live vein on the left edge of the trunk. Otherwise, this spectacular old specimen is a study in deadwood (with a little rebar thrown into the mix). It’s a Rocky Mountain juniper. The artist and owner is Ryan Neil, International Bonsai Mirai. The tree was originally collected by Andy Smith of Golden Arrow Bonsai.

Literati Ponderosa pine. I chose this one from Andrew’s web photos because it retains the wild look that characterizes so many Andrew’s trees, enhanced by his bonsai skills (there’s a before photo too). This one is for sale (425.00), as are many of his collected trees.

Mountain lion photo by Andrew. I cropped the photo to enhance the size of the lion.

Couldn’t resist. We featured a tree and pot by Sara Rayner a few posts back, so I was looking for some pots by Sara as a follow up, when I stumbled upon this little gem at The Art of Bonsai Project. The caption says ‘Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) pot specially made for this bonsai by Sara Rayner bonsai and photograph by Andy Smith.’

“If it ain’t fun, it ain’t bonsai.” Andrew Smith, professional American woodsman and world famous collector of wild bonsai.

The Black Hills of South Dakota. Photo by Andrew Smith.

Andy’s DVDs. On special at Stone Lantern.

Also on special at Stone Lantern.

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Absolutely Very Cool

This absolutely very cool bonsai pot has to be one of the sweetest hand-painted ceramics around. We’ll call it Village Life (are the two people in the middle dancing?). Part of the description say: “Wei Miao Wei Xiao” This Chines phrase means ‘lifelike, or remarkably true to life.’ The photo is from here as are all the photos in this post.

Of the well over two thousand people who visit Bonsai Bark every day, I suspect most don’t bother to read what we have to say (I’ve seen better humble brags but this is the best we’ve got right now). They just look at the pictures and move on. However, if you’re one of the handful who bothers and you’ve gotten this far, then you might know that there’s this recurrent theme about the importance of attribution.

Which brings us to this post. The name of the source is in Chinese characters (see the photo immediately below). When we copy and paste the Chinese characters in our attempts to attribute, we get ??? (literally). All is not lost however, as the links are perfectly good, so you can visit the source yourself. It’s a trip worth making.

All of the photos in this post are from the aforementioned source. My apologies to the artist/photographer for our cropping job.

You can see the Chinese characters on this cropped piece of the facebook header from ‘the source.’

A little change of pace.

We borrowed all of photos in this post from here. We cropped them all to enhance the size of the subject and to minimize distractions.

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The One Percent

You have your own eyes so there’s no need for me to say much. Except to point out a couple little things, like the bright new rusty red buds and the daring glaze on the perfectly shaped pot that picks us the trunk color and contrasts with the buds. Another thing that distinguishes this bonsai is the amazingly fine ramification (fine branching). And then there’s the perfect mossing job. Photo is from the World Bonsai Friendship Federation.

The one percent. I probably look at between fifty and hundred bonsai a day. Online. Some are pretty good and a few are very good. And then, every once and a while, a bonsai like this (above) comes along. It’s from the World Bonsai Friendship Federation. They don’t say who the artist is or name the species, though it looks so much like a Japanese beech, that I’d bet a week’s paltry pay on it. Meanwhile, I’ll wait for one of our enterprising readers to tell us the artist’s name (in fact, the first person to provide the name along with link for proof, will win a 25.00 gift certificate to Stone Lantern – just put your answer in the comments below).

I found this poster on the World Bonsai Friendship Federation’s facebook feed. It’s for the upcoming World Bonsai Day (May 9 – 21, 2014) at The Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan.

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Very Red and Very Rare

You don’t see very many bright red bonsai pots. Red glazes are expensive and I suspect that they are not that easy to do. Then there’s the conundrum they present; what do put in a bright red pot? Not always so easy, but in this case, problem solved (or is it?). The tree is a Elaeagnus pungens (Siverthorn in English, Kangumi in Japanese). Both the tree and pot are by Haruyosi as are all the trees and pots in this post.

Red glazes are not that common. Bright red glazes are even less common. Yellow glazes are not all that common either. I won’t say much about why red and yellow ceramics are uncommon (here and here are a couple links to help you get started with your research if you want to know). However, I will say that I have been following the ceramics and bonsai of Haruyosi for a while now and I’m continually and delightfully surprised by just how prolific and just how accomplished he is.

This is our second post featuring the bonsai and ceramic artistry of Mr Haruyosi. Here’s a link to our first. You can expect many more.

Not as bright, but red enough. The tree is a Premna Japonica.The Premna genus contains several subtropical species. As you’ve no doubt already surmised, this species is from southern Japan.

Again, not bright red, but red enough. Like the other photos in the post, this one turned up among Haruyosi’s too numerous to count facebook photos and now I can’t find it to see if he identifies the tree. I’ll spare you yet another of my bad guesses.

Wild horses. Red glaze painted on what looks like a porcelain pot. The tree is a Japanese quince (see immediately below).

Red flower, yellow pot. Yellow pots are also uncommon. There’s some explanation here if you want to wade through it. The little tree is a Japanese quince (Chaenomeles speciosa). Aficionados appreciate quince flowers for the brilliance and purity of their color.

Today is the last day of our Big Spring Wire Sale. All bonsai wire is 20% to 30% off at Stone Lantern. The sale ends tonight (Friday, April 4th) at 11:59pm, U.S. EDT.

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Bonsai Flowers & A Certain Kind of Provincialism

Wisteria bonsai doing its profuse thing. It belongs to Gerard Schoofs of the Bonsai Society of Victoria. Being a North American I just figured Victoria BC, Canada without a second thought, until I read this caption: “I managed to get this photo about Oct 2011…”

Turns out, there are several Victorias in this wide world and this one is a state somewhere in that over-sized island south of Indonesia (just kidding sort of, with only a hint of irritation about a certain kind of provincialism that assumes*…. or maybe I’m just cranky).

I think it’s a good time to start a series of posts on color. Flowering bonsai to be specific, with maybe a few colorful pots thrown in. After all it’s April and even though we still have at least a foot of compacted snow and ice everywhere around these parts (Vermont, USA, just in case you think I’m guilty of a certain kind of provincialism that assumes….). Still, spring is in the air and it feels real good. Not that we should get our hopes too high…

I don’t know what this is or who it belongs to. The rounded crown and profusion of flowers might suggest an ~~Azalea (maybe even a deciduous azalea)~~, (better eyes report they see a Bougainvillea here) but I can’t be sure. I found it here, then traced it back to Bonsai Empire, but couldn’t find a name or an attribution.

Even though it’s early for Satsuki azalea flowers in most places (Satusuki means 5th month, which means they bloom more or less in May Japan) and we’ve shown this delicious little tree at least twice already, still it’s worth another look. I originally found it on Tae Kukiwon Bonsai.

What would you plant in this pot? It’s one of hundreds of gorgeous, creative and often colorful pots by Horst Heinzlreiter, one of Bark favorites.

* I couldn’t find any reference to which Victoria anywhere on their site… it was finally Gerard Schoofs (facebook) that blew their cover.

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Four Beautiful Bonsai & An Exercise In Futility and Frustration

I think this tree deserves some attention. Especially the extraordinary powerful trunk that shows massive shari (trunk deadwood) with only a hint of a living vein (peeking out lower left and upper left). Then there’s the foliage which is somewhat groomed but still free-flowing; giving the tree an informal feel. It might also be worth mentioning that it’s slanting style. You don’t see nearly as many quality slant style bonsai as you do upright bonsai. The photo is from Salvador De Los Reyes facebook photos, as are the other three photos in this post. Here’s the caption that appears on facebook. “Juniperus (no species given) by Salvador De Los Reyes. Approximately 80 years of age. Added by Gustavo Celayes.“

This isn’t the first time we’ve featured the bonsai of Salvador de los Reyes (here’s a Before & After from August 2012). Actually that may be a bit misleading because none of the bonsai shown here belong to Salvador, though all four appear among his facebook photos. He worked on the tree above but it doesn’t belong to him (here’s the story in Spanish) and the trees below also belong to other people, though Salador worked one at least one of them.

There’s a story embedded in this post about just how confusing facebook photos can be, especially if you are interested in attribution. Photos get posted and reposted, sometimes dozens of times and trying to trace them back to the artist most often proves to be an exercise in futility and frustration.

Beautiful tree, beautiful pot, beautiful companion, beautiful arrangement and excellent photo. I believe Salvador de los Reyes might have taken the photo, but I’m too busy -aka impatient- to suffer the aggravation of researching right now (especially in Spanish), so if anyone knows the whole story…. I do know (or believe I know) that the tree belongs to Jose Manuel Frontan Salas.

Have you ever seen a Carob bonsai? I think I have, but maybe just once before and maybe it was this very tree (memory has it’s limits). Here’s the caption from facebook: Carob Tree (Ceratonia Silicua) by Salvador de Los Reyes from Spain. Owner, Manolo Vargas. Height: 90 cm. Added by Gustavo Celayes

This somewhat overly groomed tree with its magnificent see-through trunk is also from Salvador de los Reyes facebook photos. Is it an olive? The caption says: Excelente obra maestra propiedad de German Gomez Soler (Excelllent masterpiece owned by German Gomez Soler). BTW: German is his name, not his nationality. It’s not clear to me if Salvador ever worked on this tree or photographed it, or just liked it and included it in his facebook photos.

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