Eccentric Bonsai: Too Strange, or Just Strange Enough?

Strange as this magnificent old tree is, it all works together to with a perfect blend of eccentricity and balance. But the nebari? That takes some getting use to. (This photo and the others in this post are from Peter Tea Bonsai.)

A good place to start resurrecting
Way back in 2009 and early 2010 we ran a series of posts that we called Eccentric Bonsai (here’s the last one). Maybe it’s time to resurrect the series. If so, this absolutely unique Trident maple seems like a good place to start.

Borrowing from Peter…
As you may have noticed, we’ve featured several posts from Peter Tea’s blog lately (Peter is an apprentice at Mr. Junichiro Tanaka’s Aichi-en bonsai nursery). Peter takes good photos, writes with a fresh perspective, and knows something about bonsai. To an old editor and bonsai enthusiasts, that’s an unbeatable combination.

Here’s that nebari, and here’s what Peter has to say about it: “A close up of the root spread. Even the root spread of this tree is strange. Answer me this, would a more natural radial root base go well with the rest of the tree? or vise versa? My first impression of this root base was, “what is this?” When I looked at the overall tree again this root spread turned out to be so right for this tree (there is an important lesson to learn here). If you don’t believe me, look at the picture of the front of the tree again. ;o).”

A profusion of very small, very colorful fall leaves almost completely cover the tree’s eccentric nature.

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Bonsai Art Stamps for 2012

Three of the five 2012 bonsai stamps. You’ll notice that each one gives the common name of the tree.

Bonsai stamps
For a long time, our (U.S.) stamps were a lot like our money, monochromatic, often difficult to tell apart at a glance, and frankly, a little boring at times. In the last twenty five years or so, all that has changed. Now, just like stamps in most other countries, colorful, sometimes even beautiful US stamps abound. You can even see famous (and not so famous) art celebrated on US postage stamps. Which brings us to the stamps shown here; five U.S. postage stamps that celebrate the art of bonsai. Each one a work of art in itself. They’re not out yet, but you can look for them sometime in 2012.

Stone Lantern will resume shipping on the 29th
As always, our website is open for business. Our warehouse however, is closed for vacation until the 29th. Orders received before then will be shipped on a first-come-first-served basis.

Close up.

All five stamps.

For more…
I first heard about our future bonsai art stamps on Bonsai Mary. You could go there for more, or go this site that features art stamps.

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Rice for Five Years: The Life of a Bonsai Apprentice

Nice maple, even though the color in the photo is way too white. From Peter Tea’s post ‘Apprenticeship and a Japanese Maple.’

Loyalty, humility and inequality for 15,000 yen a month…
Others have written about their bonsai apprenticeship in Japan (most notable is Michael Hagedorn’s most excellent and seriously funny: Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk) and now we have Peter Tea‘s genuine (and genuinely funny at times) new voice enriching the mix. I won’t say much more (Peter can speak quite well for himself), except to encourage you to pay a visit to Peter’s blog and especially to his latest post on “what is the apprentice life really like?” Really. You’ll learn something while enjoying yourself and you might just find yourself packing your bags for Japan.

… and rice for five years
“Finishing a Bonsai apprenticeship in Japan just means you ate rice for five years” (Peter quoting ‘a few people’).

Season’s Greetings from all two-and-one-half of us at Bonsai Bark and Stone Lantern
Season’s Greeting and a Happy and Prosperous New Year to all our loyal readers (and to everyone else).

Our warehouse will be closed from noon today until December 29th
Our website (Stone Lantern) will still accept your orders, we just won’t charge or ship them until the 29th.

Peter indulging his ‘ridiculous pot addiction.’

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Tuesday the 20th Is Our Last Shipping Day Until the 29th

Dear last minute Stone Lantern shoppers

Order before noon Tuesday the 20th
All Stone Lantern orders received before 12 noon (U.S. Eastern Standard Time) tomorrow (Tuesday the 20th), will be shipped that day (we’ll try to get orders out that are received after 12:oo noon if we can, but no guarantees).

On time arrival?
We are now shipping almost everything priority mail, so domestic orders that go out Tuesday, in theory, should arrive by the 24th. However, because we have no control once an order leaves here, we cannot guarantee on-time arrival.

Our warehouse will be closed the 21st thru the 28th.
All orders received after 12 noon on the 20th* and from the 21st thru the 29th, will be shipped on the 29th and 30th. Orders received after the 29th will be shipped first thing next year.

Thank you very much and Happy New Year!

*We’ll try to get orders out that are received later than noon, if we can. No guarantees though. Orders that are received too late to ship tomorrow (the 20th) will be shipped the 29th.

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Michael’s Miraculous Escape

A famous Foemina juniper after Michael Hagedorn ruined it (just kidding…). Photos are from Michael’s Crataegus Bonsai.

Tar and feathers
If I was inclined to envy, I think I’d chose Michael Hagedorn’s writing skills to be envious of (taking nothing away from his considerable bonsai skills). Fortunately, my experience is more one of appreciation than envy (still, if I could only….). Anyway, I’ll let Michael speak for himself:

“No matter how assured you are, changing the design of a famous tree is done with a deep intake of breath. One takes precautions. Like boarding up windows and doors, in premonition of a rowdy gang of tree maniacs in green cloaks with picks and axes and rolls of wire for who knows what horrible use, in the street outside your house. And you imagine thinking, as you stand quietly looking out at growing chaos and red torch fire, with chants like ‘Let’s redesign HIM!’, that a bonsai-free life in Acapulco sounds nice. But at this point it’s too late. The deed is done. My only advantage is that few of you know where I live…” There’s more on Michael’s website, Crataegus Bonsai.

Just in case
I’m not so sure this post makes sense at first glance, given the obscure title and my little rant about envy, so just to clarify; Micheal Hagedorn’s much improved restyling of a famous bonsai that appeared on the cover of Golden Statements is what we’re after here (you probably figured that out, but just in case…).

Before. Our famous juniper graces a Golden Statements cover.

Another before. Just the tree this time.

No tar, no feathers
It’s impossible for a tree to remain exactly the same over time, so periodic restyling is an essential part of the art bonsai. In this case, there’s not doubt in my mind (or eye) that this restyling resulted in a marked improvement. So hats off to Michael. No tar and feathers necessary.

Michael’s excellent book
As you might expect, Michael’s Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk, about the time he spent as a bonsai apprentice in Japan, is a great read.

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Weekly Wire: Nifty Nebari, Bonsai Cloud & What Happened to Fresno?

Pemphis acidula by Gedemerta Bonsaibali. For a while now, facebook has been inundated with bonsai by Gedemerta. Turns out, that’s a good thing if you like exciting tropical bonsai. If you’re not friends on facebook, you can see more of Gede Merta’s trees on Beial blog (on facebook it’s Gedemerta; on Beial it’s Gede Merta).

Bonsai from Scratch prizes
Are there any winners out there who haven’t collected their prizes yet? If so, please contact me at wayne@stonelantern.com.

Do you have an upcoming bonsai event that you want to promote? Let us know and we’ll publish it for you. wayne@stonelantern.com.

Close up of a famous White pine that we featured a few posts ago. Turns out Tyler Sherrod who is apprenticing at Shinji Suzuki’s nursery knows this venerable old tree first hand. Tyler has this to say about it:

Wayne, the other day I was checking some of the blogs I follow and saw the post on your site, A Bonsai Story. As I am currently apprenticing at Mr. Suzuki’s garden, I reconized the white pine at once. The tree really benifited from being in the growing box that you see pictured in the Bonsai Tonight photo. It has gained strength since the period of negelect (I’m unsure of what happed to it in the past) and has now moved into a bonsai pot. It is a really stunning tree and I love the hollow trunk with deadwood. Maybe when the time is right I might just get to have a little fun with it! If you get a chance please visit my blog, tylersherrodbonsai.wordpress.com, and maybe one day we will see it restyled and back to its former glory.

Thanks, Tyler

A little dusting. From Tyler Sherrod‘s blog.

Nifty nebari. As long as we are discussing Mr. Suzuki’s apprentices and previous Bonsai Bark posts, I thought you might like to revisit this Red maple with it’s nifty nebari (here’s the original Bark post). This time without its leaves. It’s from Michael Hagedorn’s website (Michael was once a Shinji Suzuki apprentice and is the author of Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk).

Bonsai Cloud, the Mother of them all. This famous tree is the original Ficus nerifolia (in this country). Like all originals, it has a story, and fortunately, Mary Miller (aka Bonsai Mary) has been kind enough to chronicle that story.

Is this man hiding from the law? Probably not, but here’s another question; is it possible that that massive pine will become a bonsai some day? This photo is one of many from Mindanao Bonsai visit to this year’s ASPAC (Day 2 11th ASPAC – Kinashi Area to Kompira-san Palace). The caption with photo reads: Lalo na eto… lumalangoy sa gitna ng mga puno. Hehehe!

More on Isao Omachi (and what you can do to help) on the International Bonsai Forum.

Three Friends of Winter Bonsai Silhouette Show at the Chicago Botanic Garden. January 27-29, 2012.

To celebrate the winter season in the Japanese tradition, the Chicago Botanic Garden highlights the Three Friends of Winter — bamboo, pine, and plum. By enduring challenging winter weather, these “three friends” symbolize the ability to thrive amidst adverse conditions. Featured bonsai will be in their dormant phase, highlighting their elegant branch structure.

Masahiko Kimura and bonsai at ASPAC. This is one of a whole group of great ASPAC photos by Budi Sulistyo (I took the liberty of cropping this one a bit). Budi is the author of Tropical Bonsai Gallery and Mr. Kimura is featured in our book, The Magician, as well as in numerous back issues of Bonsai Today magazine (currently 70% off at Stone Lantern).

Do you grow Japanese maples? Micheal Hagedorn (Crataegus Bonsai) has an article on detecting and controlling Pseudomonas syringae bacteria, titled Read This If You Grow Japanese Maple.

Bonsai with Japanese Maples. While we’re on the topic, Peter Adams’ Bonsai with Japanese Maples, (even though that’s a Trident maple on the cover) is on sale at Stone Lantern for 24.47 (retail 34.95).

It’s a long way off, but so’s the UK for some of us. From the UK Bonsai School’s site.

Last Updated Long Ago. This graphic is from Fresno Bonsai Society‘s home page, which was last updated 2008. It’s not terribly unusual to find bonsai society websites that are woefully out-of-date. Not to criticize; after all these are purely volunteer organizations, so people do what they can. Still, it would be good to know if the Fresno Bonsai Society (and some others with out-of-date websites) even exist anymore.

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Wire By The Ton & A Simple Lesson

A very simple wiring lesson. It’s pretty self explanatory, but if you need more explanation, check out ‘Wiring a Young Tree’ in Bonsai Today issue 107 (Bonsai Today back issues are currently 70% off at Stone Lantern).

That’s a lot of bonsai wire
It’s now official. We have sold almost exactly one ton of Bonsai Aesthetics wire since we started offering it on June 26th of this year.

Two very good reasons
There are two very good reasons why Bonsai Aesthetics wire is so popular: first, quality: it’s easy to use and it holds very well. Second, low prices.

1 Kilo rolls
We offer 1 kilo rolls of Bonsai Aesthetics wire for $14.80 to $18.50 each, depending on how many you buy.

100 gram rolls
We offer 100 gram rolls for $2.12 to 2.65 each, depending on how many you buy.

Why wire?
There was a time when some bonsai purists refused to use wire to shape their trees. That time is now gone. Virtually all bonsai artists now use bonsai wire. If you compare bonsai from the pre-wiring era and now, the results are all you need to know about wiring. Though it’s true that other breakthroughs (like carving with power tools) are involved, still, wiring has revolutionized bonsai. It allows you to do things that would take much, much longer without wire. It also allows you to do things you could never do without wire.

A simple quiz to bend your mind during these dark winter months. From Bonsai Today issue 1.

Japanese bonsai wire
We also offer excellent low prices on Koyo Japanese bonsai wire.

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

A Penjing Symphony in Three Movements

This super-sized three part penjing is by Robert Steven; renowned bonsai artist, teacher and author, and frequent contributor to this blog.

In Robert Steven’s own words
“This is a super large penjing I did two weeks ago. The total length is three meters (about 10 feet).

I combined three large special-order white marble trays in the arrangement in order to give a unique presentation in perspective and composition.

The mountains were made of real rocks by a friend who hollowed some areas for planting the trees (Triphasia trifolia, aka Limeberry).

The problem was to find a background for the photo, finally got it….”

This photo offers a little perspective.

Holiday shopping
There’s still time to do you holiday shopping at Stone Lantern. Our warehouse is on the ball and almost all far-away shipments go via air.

Robert’s books
Your Holiday shopping might include Robert’s two ground breaking books: Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation.

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

World’s Youngest Bonsai Master?

Too cute for a serious bonsai blog? Maybe, but I’m impressed that he appears to be picking off unhealthy needles. Then there’s his strikingly high forehead and overall large cranium. Maybe he does know exactly what he’s doing. The photos in this post are all is lifted from Sandy Fathurachman’s facebook page.

Begging two questions
Too cute?
Much of the internet in general and facebook in particular, is devoted to cute, so it’s not surprising that we would eventually come across something like the photos shown here. The question is; do we have to give in to what appears to be a mass cuteness hysteria? Well, generally not (I defy you to find anything too cute in our approximately 1,000 previous posts), but in this case, the cuteness is just too good to pass up. Besides, as mentioned above, our little master appears to know what he’s doing (not to get carried away by appearances).

Bonsai Master?
The other question has to do with our use of the terms ‘Bonsai Master.’ When are we really justified in using that term? In this case it is obviously tongue in cheek, but I have seen too many cases where the term is used quite loosely. So loosely, that it may have lost its usefulness.

His laser-like concentration is undeniable, but I’m not so sure about his grip.

Not only is he the world’s youngest bonsai artist, but he just might be the world’s most joyful bonsai artist.

Holiday shopping
There’s still time to do you holiday shopping at Stone Lantern. Our warehouse is on the ball!

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Another Radical Transformation by Robert Steven

Robert’s simulation of a tree that was submitted for critique by Matthew Harhager (Matthew’s original is below).

Attention to detail helps
I don’t know exactly how Robert Steven does his simulations, but from the looks of them, I’d guess that plenty of time and effort goes into each one. Rather than settle for simple abstractions, Robert’s simulations look like the real thing (the photo above aptly illustrates this point). So much so, that if you didn’t know that they are simulations, you’d most likely accept them as photos of actual bonsai.

I can think of at least two reasons why this is so: first, Robert knows what goes into making a quality bonsai (if you know Robert’s work, you’ll know that this is an understatement). Second, there’s Robert’s attention to detail. The refined and lush beauty of the ground cover on tree above is a perfect example of this. But it doesn’t end there. The texture, coloring and shading on the deadwood is perfect, as is everything else in this excellent simulation (the foliage also shows great detail, but it’s not the same foliage that’s on the original; maybe Robert could shed some light on this).

There’s more I could say about this simulation, including how radical and daring this transformation is, but maybe it’s time to see what Robert has to say.

Robert’s critique

I am sorry to say that in spite of the fairly heavy trunk and deadwood, this bonsai still looks immature and the styling is not very well done.

Much of the styling problem has to do with the poor branch structure (ramification) and the poorly refined crown and foliage. Also the way the deadwood is carved doesn’t look natural. Finally, the pot doesn’t fit to the design of the tree. Overall, the tree lacks the beautiful mature look that makes for a good bonsai.

The only solution is a total restyling. There are at least two options: you can either make it into cascade with the long first branch or a semi-cascade, like my simulation. Either way you choose, the main issue is still the design: the ramification should be reformed, some dramatic bending and twisting might help form the foliage pads and then the foliage needs to be refined. The deadwood also need some touching up to look natural, and last, but not least, the selection of container should fit the design.

Matthew’s bonsai as submitted to Robert.

General comments
There is more than one way to design any bonsai and my critiques and recommended solutions might not always fit your taste and personal preferences, but I always try to give my opinion based on artistic and horticultural principles.

To understand my concepts better, please read my books Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation which are available at Stone Lantern.

Book Sale at Stone Lantern
Both of Robert’s ground breaking books (Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation) are discounted at Stone Lantern, as are all (but one) of our vast selection of Bonsai books and Japanese gardening books.

Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern