Scratch Contast Last Day & An Unusual Bonsai Treat

Mini bonsai wire sculpture by Ken To.

Last chance
Today is the last day to send us your final photos for our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest. There’s really not that much more to say about it right now, except that as soon as we can sort through all the entrants and get the judges on board, we’ll announce the winners (some patience might be in order here). If you’re curious, here are some details.

Ken To’s bonsai art
I’ve been intrigued by Ken To’s wire bonsai sculptures for some time. Now, thank to a post by Ken on facebook, we’ve got a bunch of them in one place. Maybe you’ll also find them intriguing (this is only a sampling, there are more on facebook).

 

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Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

I’m in San Francisco for a few days, so why not lead with the Bonsai Society of San Francisco? I’ve perused plenty of bonsai society websites and the BSSF’s is, without a doubt, one of the most informative and complete. In conjunction with the site, they also have a monthly newsletter; Fog City Bonsai.

 

This amazing tree is one of many world-class bonsai at the Shinpukuji Temple bonsai museum. It’s from Boon Manakitivipart’s excellent Japan adventure. You can enjoy more photos from Boon’s trip and much more at Bonsai Tonight.

Bonsai Apprenticeship minus the suffering
From Peter Tea’s blog: “Just wanted to pass this information on to the readers.  I talked to Mr. Tanaka about how many people in the US would love to become an apprentice, but are limited in time and not able to commit to a five year apprenticeship.  After about a month of discussion, we decided to put together a short apprenticeship program for those that want to experience the Bonsai life first hand”.

I just receive a kind message from Min, Hsuan Lo. If you don’t know who Mr Min is, it’s time to learn. To get you started, here’s the cover of his book and a link to a review at ofBonsai Magazine.

 

The entrance to the Japanese Stroll Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum.

Flaming Trees and Frozen Mums at the U.S. National Bonsai and Penjing Museum. Oct 15 – Nov 13 – Free
“See red maples, yellow ginkgos and fruited trees in the Museum’s permanent collection pavilions. The Special Exhibits Wing features formal displays with select trees during their peak fall colors, interspersed with chrysanthemum stones—stones from China and Japan that appear to contain frozen or fossilized flowers. These “frozen mums” are, in fact, natural crystal formations in the stone.”

 

From the Crespi Museum of Bonsai in Parabiago, Milan. The photo is from World Bonsai Friendship Federation delegation’s visit to Europe in April.

New England Bonsai Garden’s fall celebration is coming up this weekend: October 15th.

I just discovered that our friend Morten Albek (Shohin Bonsai: Majesty in Miniature) and two of his bonsai buddies have a website called Fuchi Bonsai. The photo above is from their Autumn Exhibition.

Wigert’s Bonsai 6th Annual Open House, (Ft Myers Florida) featuring Pedro Morales is coming up the weekend of November 11th.

Speaking of events, both ABS and BCI offer calendars. Between the two, you just might find an event to your liking.

 

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Robert’s Bonsai Safari

Acacia by Robert Steven.

Robert’s bonsai safari
Here’s a note I just received from our good friend Robert Steven:
“Here is my first African style bonsai, an acacia I did in Namibia, inspired by the trees we saw during our bonsai safari in Namibia, maybe you want to share…”

Just in case you don’t know who Robert is…
… well, he’s one of the most accomplished bonsai artists, teachers, and authors anywhere. We feature Robert’s critiques regularly here on Bonsai Bark and we offer his excellent books and his line of bonsai tools and wire (Bonsai Aesthetics) at Stone Lantern. Without Robert’s enthusiasm and joy in practicing and promoting the art of bonsai, our efforts at Bark and Stone Lantern would not be nearly as rich and enjoyable as they are.

 

Robert’s Acacia was inspired by trees like this.

 

The artist and his tree.

 

 

 

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Vacation Gallery & Scratch Prizes

This kind of monster tropical bonsai is not all that uncommon in Taiwan. It’s a Ficus microcarpa by Chen, Wen-Zhong. It won the Superior Prize at the 2010 Taiwan Bonsai Creator Association. Height: 100cm, Style: Raft.

Vacation quickie
I’m supposed to be on vacation (if only…) so I’ll make it quick. Here’s a gallery of monster bonsai from Taiwan that turned up on facebook. I hope you enjoy it.

$1,000 Bonsai from Scratch deadline
Don’t wait much longer. You’ve got one week to send us your final submissions (no later than Oct 15th). Here are the details.

Two more gift certificates
Thanks to the of ofBonsai Magazine for donating two $25.00 gift certificates. Here are some more prizes to get your juices flowing (there are well over $1,000 total).

Another Ficus microcarpa. This one belongs to Hsiu Yang. It was awarded the Bronze medal at the 2010 Changhua County Bonsai Exhibition. Raft style.

A Crossostephium chinense ‘Makino’. It belongs to Cheng, Cheng-Kung.

 

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Tea Time in Japan

An old Black pine at Aichi-en bonsai nursery, after Peter Tea worked on it for three days.

Bonsai apprentice
Peter Tea is an American bonsai artist who recently became an apprentice at Aichi-en in Japan. Aichi-en, which is known for primarily for Black pine bonsai, is owned and operated by Mr. Junichiro Tanaka. One thing that makes Peter’s apprenticeship particularly interesting, is his on-going chronicle (blog) of his experience at Aichi-en. Peter is not the first to write about his apprenticeship (see Michael Hagedorn’s excellent book: Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk), but so far, what he is doing is the most thorough (as far as I can tell, anyway), with regular posts that are rich in content, including remarkable photos. This post shows a few of Peter’s photos. For more, all you have to do is click here.

What does Oyakata mean?
Peter calls Mr. Tanaka ‘Oyakata‘, but that’s another story.

 

Another pine that Peter worked on. This one is a Japanese white pine.


Peter offers a little tip on cleaning up White pine needles.


A once-rangy Shimpaku that Peter shaped up for auction.


Aichi-en from above.

Peter Tea.

 

 

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Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

 

 

Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon) discovered this muscular Kuromatsu on his latest trip to Japan. You can visit Bonsai Tonight for more.

Something new
A while back we tried to get a bonsai calendar off the ground. After what seemed like lack of interest from our readers, we abandoned the idea. Now we have another idea, it’s related to the calendar notion, but more expansive. We’ll call it Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire for now. Rather than try to explain, we’ll just get started and see where it goes.

This year’s BCI tour is timed to coincide with two of the world’s truly top tier bonsai events, the  ASPAC Convention and the Taikan-ten.

 

Ryan Neil’s International Bonsai Mirai is offering a series of Defining Concepts Pine Courses in Oregon.

Ryan’s fellow Oregonian Michael Hagedorn (a Bonsai Bark frequent flyer) has been waxing philosophical (in a very readable way) with his Sight of the Blind Mind on Crataegus Bonsai.

 

Bonsai Aiaichien’s 115 year old ume. From a tip by Jonas (Bonsai Tonight).

Walter Pall is featuring a remarkable seven year transformation of what started as a ordinary European black pine.

The always friendly folks at New England Bonsai just keep offering their Bonsai Workshops. From basics right on up.

 

This freshly potted Premna penjing planting is by Robert Steven. Last we heard from Robert he was in Namibia (two days ago). Given Robert’s prolific accomplishments and his ceaseless travels, I’m not sure if he ever rests. Among other things, Robert is the author of two of our most popular (and most informative) bonsai books.

 

Last but not least. Bill doesn’t have all the details up on his site yet, but you can call or email him. And of course, you can always mark it on your calendar.

Got something you’d like to see here?
Send me a link: wayne@stonelantern.com

 

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A Happy Bonsai Artist

 

Reverse taper? No problem that a little carving can’t solve. I know it’s a Yew (Taxus), but I’m not sure which species (can’t find the original to confirm). It belongs to David Benavente.

If you’re ever in Spain…
… think about paying a visit to David Benavente’s bonsai studio. A while back we posted some photos of David’s studio/nursery. I was taken with the artistry of the display and of course, the trees. Here’s a few more trees and another display shot to whet your appetite.

 

Have you ever seen a display area this perfect?

Full cascade Scot’s pine. You see a lot of Scot’s pine bonsai in Europe.

Another Scot’s pine.

A very wild, Wild olive.

David Benavente; the happy bonsai artist.

 

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Bonsai Today Back Issues 65% off

This Hornbeam appears in a bonsai gallery in Bonsai Today issue 94.

Get yours before they are gone
For years Bonsai Today was the premier English language bonsai magazine. Fortunately we still have a selection of back issues that feature how-to articles and world class bonsai from most of the world’s greatest bonsai masters (East and West). However, we are determined to sell them all to make space for our expanding bonsai tool and wire selection. So don’t wait! Many issues are already gone and many others will be gone soon.

And yes, you read it correctly, that’s 65% off

 

 

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Deadline for Our Bonsai from Scratch Contest Is Rapidly Approaching

Simon Carr styled this little gem from scratch for an artofbonsai.org contest way back in 2005. It later appeared in Bonsai Today issue 103 in an article entitled ‘Instant Bonsai.’ Which reminds me: all back issues of Bonsai Today are now 65% off.

It’s October 15th
A friendly reminder to of you who have sent in your before photos of untrained stock, your ‘after’ photos must be received by Oct 15th for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest. That’s just over 2 weeks from now. Don’t procrastinate! There are lots of valuable prizes and you just might win something.

You can still enter
We will accept ‘before’ photos right up until the deadline. This means of you wait until October 15th to send your before photos, you’ll have to send your ‘after’ photos at the same time.

Donate a prize and your fame will spread like wild fire
If you donate a prize for our Bonsai from Scratch Contest, your name (and your business name) will be listed with links in the following places (at least two times each): Bonsai Bark and our Stone Lantern Newsletter. Please contact me if you are interested: wayne@stonelantern.com.

 

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Revisiting Redwood Bonsai

Off to a very good start. Though the branching is young and has a ways to go, the trunk, with its power and character, bodes well for the future of this tree. You can find it along with other quality bonsai at Bonsai Smiths.

Redwood Empire
A few posts ago, we showed four excellent Coastal Redwood bonsai from the 2011 Redwood Empire Bonsai Show (courtesy of Jonas at Bonsai Tonight). They were unattributed, so we didn’t know who they belonged to. Now, thanks to Cory Jones, we know that the first two in the post belong to Bob Shimon (Mendocino Coast Bonsai). We still don’t know who the other two belong to.

Where do they come from?
In the comments, a question came up about the origin of Coastal redwood and Giant sequoia (also commonly called redwoods) bonsai and the difficulty of finding stunted Giant sequoias that are suitable for bonsai. Bob Shimon, who knows a bit about redwood bonsai (see above paragraph) replied with what I thought was an instructive answer, though I would like to hear more about the actual origin of Coastal redwood stock.

In Bob’s own words
Bob Shimon’s comment: “It has nothing to do about finding “stunted” trees. The Coastal Redwoods are trees that have been cut back and root pruned drastically but are vigorous enough to sprout new growth and roots,which can be developed into bonsai. The Giant Redwoods on the other hand, do not tolerate root and foliage pruning very well. The branches tend to die back after pinching. I’ve only seen a couple of Giant Redwoods as bonsai.” The original post with all the comments is here.

 

Four redwood bonsai from Mendocino Coast Bonsai’s gallery, with the caption: Examples of redwood trees displayed at our bonsai club’s last show.


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