Artisans Cup Postponed

This Rocky Mountain juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) belongs to Ryan Neil. The photo is from Ryan’s International Bonsai Mirai website.

A guest’s guest post. The following is from Michael Hagedorns Crataegus Bonsai blog.

Artisans Cup postponed until September 2015

This is a guest post by Ryan Neil. I am in full support of his words here:

Over the past fourteen months of research and planning the potential of the Artisans Cup has been a driving force in our bonsai community to grow and improve the level of our trees. The enthusiastic response of the entire Western bonsai world fueled our ambition and helped shape and even evolve the Artisans Cup team’s own concept of the possibilities for such a show. The project was daunting from the beginning, but we’ve all grown learning just what it takes to put on an event of this scope and size, and to stay true to our vision of bringing bonsai into the public eye in a premier venue such as the Portland Art Museum.

We are truly grateful for the enthusiasm of the bonsai community and the encouragement you have all given over the past 14 months. And throughout the process and the many challenges we have encountered along the way, I find myself more motivated than ever to realize this exhibition. I believe I have been able to convey to so many folks around the country and the world that the Artisans Cup has the capacity to expand the awareness and level of bonsai in North America, to reach a new audience heretofore unaccustomed to experience living sculpture in the context of the Art Museum. Bonsai should be acknowledged as a vibrant and life affirming art form, rich in tradition but provocative and relevant to our contemporary culture.

However, despite my best efforts to accumulate a critical mass of backing to move our show forward, the state of the economy and the timing for such a show is still early. It’s clear that the Artisans Cup needs more time to gain momentum and support in the Pacific Northwest, as well as to raise the funds necessary within the bonsai community to make the show possible.

For once in my life I’m realizing the truth behind working smarter and not just harder. I see I will need the time to garner more support. As a result, we have made the decision to postpone the Artisans Cup until September 26th-28th, 2015. (Continued here…)

Chojubai quince from Michael Hagedorn’s collection. Michael wears his love for Chojubai on his sleeve. As you can see, his love is requited.

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Dragon Ascending

What appear to be roots growing out of a long hollow on the side of trunk, creates a very unusual and fascinating effect. The rest of the tree isn’t half bad either and the flute player adds a playful human quality and contributes to a sense of vastness. The photo, which is courtesy of Robert Steven is from the recent BCI convention in China

This post, like the previous post titled BCI: Bonsai Strong, shows more of Robert Steven‘s photos from the recent BCI convention in China. As you may know, in addition to being a great bonsai artist, Robert is also an expert on bonsai and bonsai history, with a strong bent towards Chinese bonsai and penjing. Here’s what he wrote about Chinese bonsai in the comments to the aforementioned post (squeezed into native speaker English by yours truly) “Chinese bonsai has seen amazing progress the last 15 years, but it wasn’t very well exposed till the last few years (through aggressive international events). They are coming out with very creative and refreshing designs, and ideas present no limits for them. At the same time, I dare to say the Japanese are in stagnation. I anticipate a change in worldwide bonsai orientation that will turn to China…”

One thing I noticed about the pines in the previous BCI post, is how much they seemed to be influenced by Japanese bonsai while at the same time being quite unique, not to mention extraordinarily powerful. On the other hand, the broad leaf trees in this post seem much more Chinese to my eyes. That’s not to say that they don’t express new and exciting ideas (they do), just that they also reflect a very traditional Chinese style. This is especially true of the tree above and the last three trees below

Something else you might notice about the trees shown here is that every one of them has a figurine, while non of the pines shown in the previous BCI post have any.

 

This large bonsai (with blue watering can) features another fascinating trunk. Though it’s impossible to tell (for me at least) the leaves look like they might be azalea.

 

Even though they are broad-leaf trees, their towering vertical thrust is reminiscent of a conifer grove high in the mountains of the western U.S.

 

Windswept bonsai with hitchhiker. This one reminds of some of Robert’s trees.

 

 

The big guy almost looks like a rock. Nice tree too.

 

At the risk of getting carried away, how about ‘wandering sage stops for a moment to contemplate an ancient tree by the light of the moon.’  In any case, I don’t blame him. You don’t see trunks (or trees) like this one every day.

 

Here’s the whole photo.

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Trim, Wire, Feed, Transplant, Enjoy

Trident maple forest from Bonsai Today issue 14. Back issues of Bonsai Today are 75% off.

We don’t often use Bonsai Bark to advertise our products, but in this case, because so many of you have been waiting for our Bonsai Aesthetics wire, we’re making a somewhat rare exception.

Our famous and enormously popular Bonsai Aesthetics wire is back, and, as always, the prices are unbeatable.

1 Kilo rolls are from 14.80 to 18.50 each depending on how many you buy, and 100 gram rolls are from 2.36 to 2.95 also depending on how many you buy.

Roshi Bonsai Tool sale. And while we’re at it, a friendly reminder about our 20% off sale if you buy two or more Roshi tools. Even without this sale, Roshi tools are simply the best for the price. In fact, you might expect to pay twice as much for such high quality.

Just a few of our large selection of Roshi Bonsai tools

While we are at it, don’t forget the health of your bonsai.

The complete set of Ho Yoku Bonsai Care products

 

Transplanting essentials

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BCI: Bonsai Strong

Bonsai strong. One of many spectacular trees displayed at the recent BCI convention in China. This and all the photos in this post are courtesy of Robert Steven.

Pines now, the rest later. Robert Steven just sent us a whole host of great photos from the recent BCI convention in China. We’ll start with some powerful pines here, and then show you some of the other trees in a few days.

 

This has to be one of the most impressive pine forests anywhere. Actually, you can scratch the pine part and we’ll just leave it at one of the most impressive forests, period. Most of us would be more than delighted to have any one of these trees in our backyard, let alone the whole planting. Nice pot too. Looks a bit like an escarpment in the Rockies.

 

Another powerful trunk. This one accented by two whirling circles.

 

Looking up at this angle it’s easy to imagine you’re looking at some massive old-growth trees in the mountains somewhere.

 

I like the way this one doubles back on itself. Great taper on another powerful trunk too.

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Change Your Plans

Sometimes it’s helpful to break a bonsai down into its constituent parts. What you might see in this case, is a somewhat classical root-over-rock Trident maple bonsai accentuated by two rather long, undulating branches on either side. For some of us, there might be a temptation to cut them off; to revert to something safer and more recognizable as bonsai. Don’t do it! The photo is from the National Bonsai Foundation’s 2013 calendar.

Mr. California Juniper at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. The event is the annual Potomac Bonsai Festival which happens to be coming up this weekend (May 3-5, my apologies for the late notice). It features Harry Hirao (aka Mr. California juniper) and is something not to be missed. Even if you have to change your plans and book a last minute flight (I’m only half-joking, you may never have another opportunity to see Harry in action).

The Potomac Bonsai Festival is co-sponsored by the National Arboretum, the National Bonsai Foundation, and the Potomac Bonsai Association and held at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. For more on this event and other events at Museum, check out he National Bonsai Foundation’s 2013 calendar.

BTW: I wonder if the two long branches on the tree above were originally left on as sacrifice branches (branches that are left on a tree to speed growth and thickening – often to develop taper – and that are later removed) and then at some point the artist (Stanley Chinn) realized how much they enhance the tree, so he decided to leave them on. Or…?

 

This famous Harry Hirao California juniper resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum.

 

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Getting Out of the Way

This Ponderosa pine was no doubt collected somewhere in western North America. Europeans are lucky in that regard; it’s relatively easy for them to import plants from around the world. Here in the U.S. restrictions are much more onerous. The tree belongs to (or belonged to?) Walter Pall. The photo is from The Art of Bonsai Project, as are all the photos in this post.

All of the bonsai in this post are by Walter Pall in collaboration with Mother Nature. Walter is a proponent of the ‘getting out of the way’ school of bonsai. Not that we want to resurrect the old naturalistic vs highly refined debate, but somehow, whenever we discuss Walter’s trees the questions begs to come up.

‘Getting out of the way’ isn’t really the whole story. Clearly Walter doesn’t just find suitable yamadori (trees collected from the wild) and stick them in pots. His experienced eye and hands are a big part of the process. Still, I think the objective is to do whatever is deemed necessary to let the natural qualities of the trees speak for themselves.

Some of Walter’s best trees are Norway spruce (Picea abies) and this one is no exception.

 

A trunk that’s full of character never hurts. It’s an English oak (Quercus robar).

 

Simple elegance and shaggy bark. I don’t think you’ll find such perfect Bunjin (Literati) bonsai growing just anywhere. It’s a European larch (Larix decidua). The pot is by Peter Krebs.

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Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

After. This masterpiece Itoigawa Shimpaku was recently restyled by Bjorn Bjorholm at Keiichi Fujikawa’s Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Ikeda City, Japan, where Bjorn is currently an apprentice. The photo is from a post on Bjorn’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio blog, as are all the photos in this post.

The Biggest Loser
In Bjorn’s own words…
“This massive Itoigawa Shimpaku has a long history as a bonsai. It was first shown in the Kokufu-ten about 35 years ago, back in the days before the boom in major refinement techniques and quality occurred. Since then, it was purchased by several different owners and has been in the collection of its current owner for about 20 years. During that period, this particular client has tried to show it in the Kokufu-ten again on three separate occasions, and each time the tree has failed to cut the mustard, so-to-speak. The owner recently brought the impressive juniper to us at Kouka-en for a major restyling and to see if, perhaps, we might be able to transform it once again into a Kokufu-ten-worthy bonsai…” (please visit Bjorn’s blog for the rest of what he has to say about this tree).

 

Before. To paraphrase Bjorn, this tree arrived at Kouka-en after being over-watered, overfed and overgrown.

Fertilizing for health and ramification. What does it mean to overfeed a bonsai? I (Wayne, not Bjorn) should say something here, as I’ve put a lot of energy into encouraging our readers to fertilize more, rather than less. To clarify, we need to make a distinction between older well-established trees and younger less developed trees.

With older bonsai, once the trunk and branches are well developed, two primary concerns are the health of the tree and the continued development of fine branching (ramification). If you fertilize too much at this stage, the fine branching grows too fast, with the result being undesirable thickness and internodes that are too long. So you want to slow the feeding down to just enough to keep the tree healthy and to promote tight ramification.

With younger trees, heavier fertilizing helps promote faster growth which can result in increased trunk girth and the development of strong primary branching. Though there much more that can be said, and, as with most everything, finding the proper balance between too much and not enough is key.

 

This closer look gives you a pretty good view of how well this tree is ramified. If you look closely, you can follow the branching from primary, to secondary, to tertiary and so forth. Though conifers aren’t usually as highly ramified as the most developed deciduous trees, still, ramification is critical if you want top-notch conifer bonsai.

 

No explanation needed.

For a more photos and insight into the process from before to after, you can visit Bjorvala Bonsai Studio.

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Bonsai Island Paradise

Though it’s not really a bonsai if it’s in the ground, this one is a very close cousin. This photo and all the photos in this post are from Stone Garden.

Our last post was our first ever on Korean bonsai, and, as one thing leads to another, here’s our second post on Korean bonsai. This time the bonsai reside at a place called Stone Garden, which happens to be on an island just south of South Korea and due west of Japan’s Kyushu Island. The island’s name is Jeju and judging by the photo and text at the bottom of this post, it’s a rather magnificent place, with warm enough weather to support almost sub-tropical plants (at least zone 7 plants).

 

Is this a Trident maple? Whatever it is, it’s a bit of a break with convention to see such a stout tree, let alone a stout deciduous tree, in a bunjin pot.

 

I’m going to guess that this is a Japanese black pine. Mostly because it looks like one. The tree to the right with the flowers looks like a Crape Myrtle, which happens to be a zone 7 plant.

 

Stone Gardens is much more than just a bonsai garden. If you are interested, there are numerous photos that show off some luscious landscaping and great stone sculpture.

 

Do you think that all the trunks (nine?) on this wild tree are supported by the same roots?

 

A powerful base and dynamic lines make for a great bonsai.

 

A strange tree. The wood imparts a feeling of centuries of rough weather and other wild hardships, while the foliage suggests an easy life with abundant nutrients. If the foliage were made more spare, in keeping with the feeling of the trunk, then a shallower, less dominating pot might work.


 

Jeju-do is a volcanic island located 130 kilometres off the southern coast of South Korea. It is the country’s largest island, smallest province and home to its tallest mountain, Halla-san, a dramatic-looking dormant volcano that rises 1,950 metres above sea level. The people of Jeju have developed a culture and language that are distinct from those of mainland Korea, and the island is famous for its matriarchal family structure, symbolized by the haenyeo (“sea women”), who make a living from deep-sea diving to harvest marine products.

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A Compelling First Look

This photo of a Shimpaku that appears to be growing out of the side of a lava rock, came out better than most of the photos from Korea Bonsai Museum’s Exhibition at theplace gallery. Though some of the trunk is too dark to allow for any detail, the lower section is pretty good. Good enough to show off the rich cinnamon bark that you often find on Shimpaku.

I realize we have never featured bonsai from Korea. An oversight for sure. Once it dawned on me to do something about this oversight, it turned out that there is a little problem finding quality bonsai photos from Korea. When you search Korean Bonsai, you’ll get a host of Korean hornbeams along with a small handful of sites/blogs/facebook pages that actually feature Korean Bonsai. Some of the best bonsai photos (that I found at least) are from the Korea Bonsai Museum. Actually it’s the Korea Bonsai Museum’s 1st Exhibition of 2012 that took place at theplace gallery.

It’s not that often you see bonsai featured in a gallery setting where a lot of attention has been paid to the environment as well as to the trees. Unfortunately, the lighting at theplacne gallery isn’t all that good for shooting bonsai. The biggest problem is the lack of illumination inside the trees (a very common problem). Still, I think that overall, these photos provide us with a compelling first look at some intriguing Korean bonsai.

 

The shot gives us a pretty good idea of the gallery setting.

 

I’m going to guess that this untitled tree is a Korean hornbeam.


Bonsai silhouettes.

 

Though this tree appears to be a Literati at first glance, you don’t usually see a Literati bonsai with such a smooth trunk (it’s hard to tell just how smooth in this photo) and such lush foliage. Maybe it’s best to just say that we like the movement and overall feel of the tree and leave it at that.

 

Another example of a Literati-like tree. Only this time with two trunks.

 

Looks like the pine in the center of the circle is the feature tree in this shot. Maybe in the whole exhibition.

 

A close of the pine above. It’s not really falling over, it’s just the photo.

 

Nice shot. This looks like it might be one of the most interesting trees in the whole exhibition. Unfortunately, no close-ups are available.

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A Nice Pot, a Little Soil…

Succulent with flowers. Such brilliant colors are hard to argue with.

All the companion plantings shown here are succulents that belong to Eraydin Erdogan, a bonsai potter living in Turkey (the pots are his creations). The great thing about succulents is that anybody can grow them. All you need is a nice pot, a little soil and a juicy little plant or two. No green thumb or amazing sense of aesthetics necessary. You can even forget to water (up to a point at least).

The following three paragraphs are from earlier Bonsai Bark posts (from 2011 and from 2009).

If it’s in a bonsai pot
You can plant almost anything in a bonsai pot. If it’s woody, you can call it a bonsai. If it’s not, you can call it a companion or accent plant; a planting that’s designed to enhance a bonsai display. Or it could be designed to stand on its own, in which case you can call it a kusamono (for more on this, you can check out Willi Benz’ Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, or this earlier post). No matter what you call it, you might come to the conclusion that, if it’s in a bonsai pot and it’s alive, it’s either bonsai or it’s related to bonsai.

What does Kusamono mean?
In his book Bonsai, Kusamono, Suiseki, Willi Benz says “Kusa = grass and Mono = object.” He goes on to say “If a Kusamono-Bonsai is the main object of a display, we use the term Kusamono. But if a Kusamono-Bonsai is used as an accent or complementary plant, we say it is a Shitakusa.”

Expanding the definition over time
Mr. Benz goes on to say that over time, small flowering plants have also been used as kusamono. Now many people say that any herbaceous plant in a bonsai container is a kusamono. I think this is the way most of us use the term.

 

More succulents with flowers enhanced by a well-chosen colorful pot.

 

In this case, with such a simple understated planting, it’s a lot about the pot.

 

Succulents in coral. That’s a great thing about succulents, you can plant them almost anywhere.

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