Bonsai Art

The day has barely started and I’m already running out of superlatives. I guess ‘spectacular’ will do in this case. It’s a Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii) by Ian Stewartson. The photo is from Bonsai Art’s website.

Bonsai Art magazine is very well named. As bonsai magazines go, it is as well-done, beautiful and professional as they come (taking nothing nothing away from International Bonsai Magazine and several other good ones). The problem, for most of us at least, is that it’s in German. But really, the photos and overall presentation are so good that maybe the language isn’t as important as you might think. And then there’s always freetranslation.com, though typing German text and then getting bad machine translations might not be your thing. But anyway, it’s a beautiful magazine and I’m always delighted when mine arrives.

 

It has been a while since we’ve featured kusamono (companion plantings, or herbaceous plants in bonsai containers when they stand alone). This Thalictrum (Meadow-rue), also from Bonsai Art’s website, belongs to Wolfgang Putz.

 

Okay, the trunk is massive for sure, but there’s much to this tree (think ramification, among other things). It’s another Korean hornbeam (Carpinus turczaninowii). This one belongs to Mario Komsta and the photo like the others shown here is from Bonsai Art’s website. The smaller bonsai looks like a Shimpaku.


Learning from the Professor (Masahiko Kimura). This is a pretty good example of what a spread in Bonsai Art might look like.

 

Bonsai Art’s latest cover. The tree, a Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), won a special prize at the 2013 Noelander’s Exhibition. It resides at the Bonsai Museum in Dusseldorf. The artist is David Benavente.

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Three Famous Sargents

Everything about this famous Sargent juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) seems to be flowing, with its shari that looks like melting wax and its gracefully descending foliage. The tree resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. It won the Prime Minister Award at the 1998 Taikan-ten. Its height is 26″ (66 cm) and its estimated age is 200 years. The photo is from Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature.

Every morning before getting started with my recent bonsai lessons with Michael Hagedorn, we would spend a little time looking through Kokufu albums. The exercise was illuminating and I wanted to make it part of my daily routine, but I don’t have any Kokufu albums here. My solution is to keep a copy of Fine Bonsai open on a stand next to my desk. The book is huge and full of remarkable bonsai (there are 298 full-page shots of individual trees and each photo is 14″ x 10.5″). Even the trees that may not be considered world-class are worth lingering over (the trees range from some of the best from around the world, to some that are remarkable for how unusual they are).

In addition to its size and range of trees, perhaps what most sets Fine Bonsai apart is that each photo is a unique take on each tree. In other words, no matter how many photos you’ve seen of a particular tree, the photo in Fine Bonsai will present a fresh view of that tree.

Shimpaku by any other name. All three bonsai shown here are Sargents junipers (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii). In Japan and in the world bonsai community, Sargents are commonly called Shimpaku juniper.

 

Two Sargent junipers (aka Shimpaku) and some friends growing on a most distinctive Ibi River rock. Like the tree above, this remarkable planting belongs to Kunio Kobayashi and resides at the Shunka-en Bonsai Museum.

 

The cover tree is from Seiji Morimae’s S-cube Uchiku-Tei Bonsai Garden Hanyu Japan. The highly unusual pot was handmade by Adachi Choka.

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Tea Flowers

Ume (Prunus mume) flowers. Once again we find ourselves borrowing from Peter Tea. This photo and the next three photos shown here are from a post that Peter just put up that provides a sweet moment’s glimpse into a small private bonsai show. Something you just don’t see everyday.

“The last memory I have
Is of a flower that cannot be touched…”

Excerpt from Flower Herding on Mount Monadnock, From A New Selected Poems by Galway Kinnell (Mariner Books).

 

‘Boke’ flowering quince (Chaenomeles speciosa). This photo (also by Peter Tea) provides a peek at a piece of one of  the many paintings that were featured in the aforementioned private bonsai show.


‘Boke’ flower up close. Some people consider the colors of quince flowers to be among the purest of them all.


Another quince from Peter’s post. This one is a Chojubai (Chaenomeles japonica ‘Chojubai’). It’s a strange little tree, but the flowers are undeniable.

 

Many flowering bonsai are relegated to the back bench when they’re not in flower, but this charming Chojubai is fully capable of standing on its own, flowers or no flowers (though best, of course, with flowers). This photo is from Micheal Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai.

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Still the Best

When I first saw this tree I thought it might be a Yew. But, the bark isn’t right, and even the foliage, though close, isn’t quite right either. Fortunately, Peter Tea solved the problem in his 2011 Taikan-ten Exhibition post. Peter’s caption reads: “This Yew Hemlock caught many peoples attention. It made sense that it took the prize for medium conifer. We don’t have any Yews here at Aichien because they don’t do well in the hot weather that we have in Nagoya.”
As for the species, it turns out that there are two Hemlocks that are native to Japan (Tsuga sieboldii & Tsuga diversifolia). My guess is that this powerful and distinctive tree is one of these two. All the photos in this post are from Empire Bonsai.

For now, it’s still Japan
In spite of reports to the contrary, Japan is still the world leader when it comes to bonsai (taking nothing away from Taiwan, Indonesia, Europe or the rest of the world). Not that the situation is not in flux, but all you need to do is take a look at a selection of trees from the major Japanese exhibitions (in the case it’s the 2011 Taikan-ten), and if your eyes are not clouded by chauvinism, you can see for yourself.

One of the raps on Japanese bonsai that you might hear is how it’s become too predictable, even conventional, and that the trees are overly stylized. The problem with this view is that it’s not true (another problem is that it just might be a straw man argument, but I’ll let you be the judge on that). What you see instead, when looking at the best of Japanese bonsai, is a diverse and exciting range of trees, some more stylized, some more traditional, some very innovative and daring, some all of the above, and all marked by a mastery of technique (more on technique at the bottom of this post).

 

Trident maple. Among a thousand other things, I like that the lowest branch on the main trunk is in the front and is smaller than branches that are higher on the tree. How many of us would have cut this branch off because convention tells us to?

 

I’m going to guess that this strange and wonderful tree is a Needle juniper (Juniperus rigida). Like all the tree in this post, it’s from the 2011 Taikan-ten (photos borrowed from Empire Bonsai).


Something a little different. It’s mostly about the berries with this Firethorn (Pyracantha). When they’re gone, this rock planting will be consigned to a back bench.


Looks like a Japanese beech (Fagus creanta). No need to say much more.

 

Same goes with this Satsuki azalea. “No need to say much more.”


Want to learn how they do it? Some say that it’s 90% technique and 10% artistry. Bonsai Today magazine is filled with detailed instructions on bonsai technique from the old masters. These benchmark back issues, are now 75% off at Stone Lantern.

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Bonsai Events, Dirty Pick Ups and a Few Loose Ends

This pine (looks like a Japanese white; Pinus parviflora) is from the 2011 Taikan-ten bonsai exhibition in Japan. The photo was borrowed from Empire Bonsai. You don’t see that many great multiple-trunk bonsai (here’s another one we posted recently) and I think this one qualifies. It’s hard to tell from this angle if all the trunks are sharing a single root-system. It could be a twin-trunk tree and a triple-trunk clump combined.

Upcoming events. It’s time to catch up on some upcoming bonsai events and some other loose ends. Which reminds me, if you’d like to promote an event, just put the details in the comments. If you do, there’s a chance we’ll feature it in future post.

My apologies if you sent us a notice and we still didn’t manage to get your event up. Please remind us again and we’ll put it up ASAP.

 

Jim Doyle of Nature’s Way Nursery will be at Prairie State April 4-6. They have other events listed as well in their unique reverse calendar.

 

A powerful old flowering tree riding around in a dirty pickup bed somewhere in Vietnam (you tell it’s Viet Nam by the Pho V… sign). The photo was taken by a Joe Schoech.

 

Michael Hagedorn’s Winter Seasonal Workshop is full, but the Spring, Summer and Fall still have openings. But don’t wait, they’ll fill up too.

 

The Columbus Bonsai Society’s 40th Annual Bonsai Show is coming up July 20-21. Forty straight years. That’s impressive. Someone is doing something right in Columbus. And speaking of being impressed, they’ve also been cranking out excellent newsletters for a long time.

 

A while back we featured a tree in a strikingly unusual bonsai pot. After looking around for a bit we stumbled upon Atelier Bonsai Element, the creator of some very distinctive bonsai pots. Though I couldn’t find the pot from our previous post, I believe we’ve found the source.

Here’s another one that is similar to the one we featured a few weeks ago.

 

Here’s something for those of you in the wilds of Western New York.

 

We don’t usually feature events that have already happened, but I like the photo. The event was Forty Years of Viewing Stones at the Huntington (Southern California). We found out about it on Capital Bonsai’s blog.

 

Hidden Gems from the Pacific Rim. For some excellent Rim Shots, check out this post from last month.

 

Bonsai right here in Vermont. I picked this photo off of Mill Brook Bonsai’s website. I think this is the first time we’ve featured anything from right here in Vermont (except some shots of field growing from my back yard). Mill Brook is just south of Burlington VT. I’ve only visited once (my feeble excuse is that it’s on the opposite side of our almost Texas-sized state), but was very much taken by the nursery and the friendly people I met there.

 

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An Inexplicable Oversight

I’m going to guess that this peerless pine, with its strong sinuous trunk is a Japanese black pine, rather than a Japanese red. However, there’s no need to guess about the quality of the tree or where we found it (world-class quality and Bjorn Bjorholm’s website).

I don’t know exactly how this inexplicable oversight happened, but suffice it to say that I’m amazed and a little befuddled that we haven’t yet featured the truly remarkable bonsai on Bjorn Bjorholm’s website (Bjorvala Bonsai Studio) or the story of Bjorn’s apprenticeship in Japan. Especially given that Bjorn is practically from our own backyard (well, Tennessee isn’t exactly our backyard, but in this case, close enough), and given that they are such remarkable trees.

Just pines this time. I’m so taken with these trees that I’ve decided to make this a two part (or more) series. This first installment is devoted to pines. Next we’ll feature some of the equally impressive Shimpaku on Bjorn’s site. Maybe some others too.

I won’t say more, except encourage you to visit Bjorn’s website where you can view dozens of bonsai every bit as good as the ones shown here. You might also be interested in reading the story of Bjorn’s apprenticeship with Japanese bonsai Master Keiichi Fujikawa (though I don’t know this as fact, I’m imagining that all of the trees shown here reside at Mr Fujikawa’s Kouka-en nursery in Japan and that they are trees that Bjorn has had a hand in developing over the course of his long apprenticeship).

 

Aging gracefully. A lovely old Japanese white pine with a soft and graceful feel.

 

I don’t know exactly how big this sturdy little pine is, but it looks like it would qualify as a shohin. Anyway, I could say more, but I’ll step aside and let it speak for itself (except to say that you don’t see that much deadwood on pines and that I think the burnished Tokoname pot suits the tree quite well).

 

If you hold your hand over the protruding trunk in the upper right, you’ll see a sweet little bonsai with a strong trunk and rounded crown. When you remove your hand, you’ll see a much more unusual tree, with a strong sudden trunk that completely doubles back on itself. Based on how the pines are sorted on Bjorn’s site, I know it’s either a Japanese black pine or a Japanese red pine. Based on the color of the trunk and the twigs, I’m going to guess that it’s a Japanese red (Pinus densiflora).


Our definitive Masters Series Pine Book is now on sale at Stone Lantern along with a complete selection of other bonsai books. You can learn about Japanese black and white pines with growing and styling lesson from many of the world’s greatest bonsai masters and by studying great photos of many of the best pines in the world.


 

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It Only Looks Like a Yamadori…

Unless you know the whole story (see below), you’d swear that this dynamic bonsai is an ancient yamadori (tree collected from the wild). But actually it’s a field grown Taiwanese juniper whose time on earth (so far) is measures in decades rather than centuries. The bonsai artist is the highly accomplished Mr Cheng, Cheng-Kung of Taiwan (you can see a spinning version on his website). The owner is Mr. Hsu,Lung-Fa.

Though we have many friends and fellow bonsai lovers who to take the time and trouble to write comments, perhaps our favorite is Jose Luis Rodriquez. Jose Luis is a student of Cheng, Cheng-Kung and an authority on Taiwanese bonsai (and beyond) and the person who sets us (that’s me) straight with relentless objectivity, but always with patience and respect.

Enough said, it’s time for the inside story on Taiwanese juniper in Jose Luis’ own words (from a comment on a previous post):

“One thing I always like to stress when talking about Taiwanese Junipers is the fact that they are NOT collected trees. With very few exceptions, one hundred percent of Taiwanese juniper bonsai come from field grown stock.

Many people have seen pictures of the Taiwanese high mountain junipers in Hualien (Taroko National Park). Having seen these, there is often the misconception that perhaps some of the famous Taiwan juniper bonsai have been collected from these mountains. Fortunately, I am glad to say no.

The natural Juniperus squamata, var. tarokoensis are illegal to collect and will not survive the lower altitudes where the vast majority (perhaps 100%) of the bonsai community is situated. For many years, bonsai farmers have learned to cultivate juniper stock in fields. Most importantly, young trees are bent into shape and further contorted when planted in the open ground with the aid of ropes, bamboo stakes or a combination of both. Unlike yamadori junipers, Taiwanese field grown junipers always exhibit strong root buttresses and swollen water lines which firmly grasp the soil. This characteristic is not present in collected junipers.” There’s more here.

 

Speaking of… this delightful Squamata juniper is by Jose Luis Rodriquez of Puerto Rico. In addition to the accolades above, Jose Luis is a bonsai artist and teacher in his own right. This delightful tree with its daring pot, vibrant shari, abundantly healthy (but not too abundant) foliage and even the color accented soil, is living proof.

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Bring Your Passport to the Cup

Image from the Artisans Cup website. They also have an excellent blog with great articles like ‘Bonsai as an Education: the Pursuit of Sustainable Life.’

While we’re in Portland (actually I’m home in cold blasted Vermont, but the memories are fresh) it seems like the right time to talk about the Artisans Cup. I think it will prove to be a break-through (earth shattering?) bonsai event and you just might kick yourself if you don’t go.

If you need encouragement, there are plenty of very good reasons to put the soon-to-be-very-famous Artisans Cup at the top of your list; not of least of which it’s at the beautiful Portland Art Museum, a most definite venue step-up for a North American bonsai event. Or just the fact that it’s in Portland, a loveable and manageable city that’s in the center of one of the best growing areas in the world, and a city that is rapidly becoming the American Bonsai Capital (American Bonsai Village, see below). There’s more, but you can dig around on your own and find other good reasons to go. BTW: the dates are October 4-6. See you there.

 

Here’s your passport. You can visit Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai for the inside story.

 

Gothic bonsai. Another artistic image from the Artisans Cup.

 

The venue; aka Portland Art Museum.


Sweet tree, nice frame and someone’s memorialized lower half.

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It’s No Secret

Michael Hagedorn worked on this spectacular Ezo spruce while I labored trying to follow his wiring instructions. He used copper wire because it’s a conifer (he uses aluminum wire on deciduous trees) and he frequently stopped to mist the foliage as he went, explaining that spruces are prone to dropping needles when disturbed and that spraying helps prevent this.

I don’t think it’s a secret that Michael Hagedorn is an elite bonsai artists. I know this in part because I spend a lot of time looking at bonsai from around the world. Also, when I talk to other world-class bonsai artists and Michael’s name comes up, the respect is universal. Finally, I just spent four full days studying wiring with Michael, so I have some first-hand, up-close experience to confirm what I already knew.

One of my motivations for studying with Michael was that I’ve been growing larches in the ground for years now and have recently started digging some up and thought that I should try to improve my deficient wiring and shaping skills before I go any further. In this regard (and in others), the time was well spent. Michael combines the aforementioned bonsai skills with an exceptionally good-natured and gentle disposition, a healthy dose of patience and more than his fair share of enthusiasm. I would heartily recommend him to anyone who wants to improve their bonsai skills and knowledge.

Meanwhile, I’m waiting for my larches to thaw so I can apply some of what I’ve learned.

 

An earlier version of Michael’s Ezo spruce (Picea jezoensis). An even earlier version is below. Both images are from Micheal’s Crataegus Bonsai.


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Silk Carving & Some of the Best Bonsai in the World

I believe we’ve shown this remarkable tree before, but it’s worth another shot. It’s easy to be impressed by a tree like this; it’s massive girth and equally massive spread alone compel our attention. But there’s more of course; the strong nebari that helps create an overall sense of stability and balance, the texture and movement of the trunk and lower branches, the lush thick canopy with just enough open space to keep it from being too heavy, and so on. Altogether a world-class bonsai. This tree and the rest in this post are by Cheng, Cheng-Kung, a world-class bonsai artist.

Taiwan is the home of some of the best bonsai talent in the world. The result, as you might expect, is some of the best bonsai in the world. In this case the talent and the bonsai belong to Cheng, Cheng-Kung. Mr. Cheng is know for, among other things, his extraordinary Silk Carving Techniques (Si-Diao), a method of peeling wood fibre without leaving any tool marks. I won’t say much more, but if you’re interested, you can visit Cheng’s website or if you’d like there’s always a simple google search.

Another powerful Ficus by Cheng. My guess is that if you saw this tree (these trees) in person, you’d be floored and your socks would come off (something like that).

 

This exceptional bonsai is a Silverthorn (Elaeagnus pungens). I don’t think we’ve ever featured a Silverthorn before, which might lead you to the conclusion that they are not all that common as bonsai. Then there’s our oft-mentioned ramification (fine branching), as well as the bark, taper and the magnificent pot, whose color I’m not sure I’ve ever seen (that makes two firsts), though screen colors can play tricks.

This one and the next one are Shimpaku junipers, a favorite species throughout the bonsai world. Many Shimpaku from Taiwan seem distinctive to my eye, but rather than try to figure out why, we’ll just show these two and leave it at that.

 

 

 

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