Search Results for: apprentice

Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and though the deadwood is prominent, it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees. But perhaps the best of all are are the brilliant living veins and the way they stand out against the deadwood Island hopping today, so to save precious time, we’re going to rerun a post on one of my favorite trees. This before and after is more about refinement than styling rough stock. Less daunting perhaps, but only someone skilled in the … Continue reading Exceptional Before & After Bonsai

Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

Here’s Juan Adrade’s English caption for this magnificent old Trident maple. “Partial defolation on one of the grandfather trees. Close to 100 yrs old.” Here’s his Spanish: “Defoliación de las ramas exteriores en uno de los tridentes del abuelo de mi maestro. Este arbol posiblemente se acerca a los 100 años.” You might notice the part about exterior branches in the Spanish. This would indicate that Juan is redirecting energy away from the outer tips and down closer to the center of the tree. This photo is from Juan’s facebook feed. Defoliation is an important technique for redirecting energy, maintaining … Continue reading Defoliating Grandfather Bonsai

Three Before & After Bonsai – Two Junipers & a Pine

Before and after bonsai styling by Juan Andrade. The trees are from top to bottom: Shimpaku juniper, Japanese black pine and a Needle juniper trunk with Shimpaku juniper foliage grafted on. Juan Andrade was a long term apprentice at Bonsai Aichien nursery in Japan. We’ve been following Juan’s progress for a long time (here’s a Bark post from 2012 that features a tree of his). Juan posts regularly on facebook, which is where we found these photos. MID WINTER SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS and AN EXTRA 10% OFF BONSAI POTS   … Continue reading Three Before & After Bonsai – Two Junipers & a Pine

Juniper Bonsai – Before & After

Before and after on an already established Juniper procumbens. By Naoki Maeoka Traveling today, so we’ll make this sort and sweet. It’s what you might call a maintenance before and after. The tree is already well developed and just needs and expert’s touch to bring it back to it former glory and perhaps elevate that glory some. The expert is Naoki Maeoka. Beyond that, we’ll let you fill in the blanks MID WINTER SITE WIDE SALE 20% OFF EVERYTHING PLUS AN EXTRA 10% TO 20% OFF ROSHI TOOLS see below – Before   After ROSHI TOOL SPECIAL EXTRA 10% OFF 1 – 2 … Continue reading Juniper Bonsai – Before & After

The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

The play of light and shadow… This photo is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Here’s part of the machine translation… “Japanese yew, Autumn Special Exhibition: Contemporary Bonsai Masters: Masahiko Kimura; Playing with Bonsai, the Origin of His Works” You can read more and see other masterpiece bonsai photos here Even though I think he’s fallen a little out of favor in some circles, I’m still a fan of Masahiko Kimura’s bonsai. For years his wildly innovative techniques and his visionary’s eye, combined with a healthy does of daring, produced results at the cutting edge (so to speak) of bonsai innovation. Now, forty some … Continue reading The Cutting Edge of Bonsai Innovation

Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

The original caption from Milan Karpíšek reads “Sabina of my friend ready for a show.” From this we might assume that the tree belongs to a friend and was styled by Milan, but we know about assumptions. The trees shown here are from Milan Karpíšek’s fb photos (Milan is from the Czech Republic). Like many of the bonsai featured here, these were discovered by accident (aka stumbled upon). A happy accident as it turns out After yesterday’s post featuring three Sabina (aka Savin) junipers (Juniperus sabina). I went back to see others we’ve featured over the years and was surprised by just how many there … Continue reading Sabina Juniper, Another Happy Accident

Bonsai Adventures, Three Hornbeams

Oriental hornbeam (Carpinus orientalis) from Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures blog Staying on track with Walter Pall for at least another day. This time it’s three hefty Oriental hornbeams from Walter’s Bonsai Adventures blog. Time is of essences (leaving for a couple weeks in the sun later today) so we’ll provide the links and you do the research if you’re inclined in that direction NEW SITE WIDE SALE Everything Is At Least 20% off Including items already discounted  discounts are computed at checkout – Another beefy Oriental hornbeam from Walter’s blog. No leaves this time so you can see the profusion of small … Continue reading Bonsai Adventures, Three Hornbeams

More Bonsai Stories

I like the natural, almost untouched feeling of this tree. Here’s what Michael Hagedorn wrote about it…. “Foemina Juniper styled in the manner of a needle juniper, taking two yearly trims with a good cleaning out of detritus from the pad interiors. Old tree from California, begun decades ago by Shig Miya.” Continuing with yesterday’s ‘Bonsai Stories,‘ we’ve got a few more of Michael Hagedorn’s trees and their short stories. You can follow Michael on facebook or, for more in depth stories on most of his trees, you can visit his website/blog Two New Specials at Stone Lantern see below Unlike the tree above, this sign … Continue reading More Bonsai Stories

Eccentric or Just Twisted?

Doing the Twist. This tree belongs to Mauro Stemberger (Italian Bonsai Dream). Mauro has one of the most dramatic bonsai collections in the West, and though this one certainly qualifies, is there a line between dramatic and eccentric? Continuing with ‘Eccentric Bonsai’ from two days ago, here’s another one from our archives (November, 2016). Two of the trees in this post are naturally twisted and the other two were twisted by the hands of man. I don’t think you’ll have any trouble telling which is which. SITE WIDE SALE ENDS TOMORROW Everything Is At Least 20% off DOUBLE DISCOUNTS – SALE … Continue reading Eccentric or Just Twisted?

Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After

Here’s what Todd Schlafer wrote about this transformation… “Before and after – Colorado Blue Spruce. This tree has a lot of sentimental value. This tree was given to me by Jerry Morris. We had dug several trees and after work I went to his greenhouse to build boxes and get them reestablished. At the end he said ‘Why don’t you just take this one home.” I was ecstatic! Structure was set in 2010 with @bonsaimirai and I wired it out on my own. It’s fun to see the progression of the tree and my eye.” From Todd’s fb timeline It’s … Continue reading Colorado Blue Spruce, Before & After