Sculpting Deadwood

Francios Jeker‘s finger and dremel power carving tool. From Bonsai Today 105 (still available).

It didn’t used to be this way
Have you noticed how almost everybody carves deadwood these day? It wasn’t always the case. I just thumbed through Kyuzo Murata‘s classic Four Seasons of Bonsai (first edition 1991 and long out of print) and could find only 3 or 4 bonsai that had some carving (out of over 100 trees). The same goes if you look back through other older bonsai publications.

New horizons
Even though it’s overused, carving opens up whole new horizons for us bonsai hackers, so that’s a good thing. The problem is, many of us go ahead and carve without knowing much about it. This ignorance puts our trees at risk in at least two ways: health and beauty (a hack job is worse than no carving at all). My suggestion: pay attention to people like Cheng, Cheng-Kung and Francios Jeker, start with hand tools, and take your time.

Western deadwood maven
A long time ago I promised you some more photos of Francois Jeker’s carving from Bonsai Today issues 103, 104 & 105 (unfortunately the printer shorted us on 103 and 104, so they are long gone). Thank you for your patience (not that a single one of you remembers). BTW: our post on natural aging (below) by Francois is particularly enlightening.

Francois hand and a simple hand carving tool. From Bonsai Today issue 105.

Francois Jeker’s illustrations on natural aging of deadwood. Originally from Bonsai Today issue 103 and later featured here.

All remaining back issues of Bonsai Today are now 52% off.


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Pushing Bonsai Boundaries Even Further

Has Nick gone too far and ventured beyond what you’d call bonsai with this early spring larch that promises summer shade for a cheap garden ornament? From Bonsai from the Wild by Nick Lenz.

Nick Lenz’ fertile imagination
Nick Lenz has been pushing bonsai boundaries for a long time. The planting above is just one example of his fertile imagination. However, a friend of mine says that what Nick is up to is just vain eccentricity and has no real meaning as far as bonsai goes. As for me, well, root-over-tank (below) always makes me smile, and maybe that’s good enough (BTW: in addition to his ‘vain eccentricities’ Nick collects and styles plenty of simple and remarkable uneccentric bonsai)

Dan Robinson’s raw and rugged trees
I won’t say too much about Dan’s trees (because so many of you have already said it in the comments from the last two posts), except that some are so raw that they seem to be begging for work, while others are simply perfect in their natural ruggedness.

Bonsai? Or simply a dug up old tree in a bonsai pot? Many of Dan Robinson’s trees are so raw that some might say they are more potential than fully realized bonsai. I have no idea where the border is between potential bonsai and bonsai. Or, even if it matters. Bald cypress by Dan Robinson from the gallery chapter in Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees by Will Hiltz.


Root-over-tank Chinese elm by Nick Lenz. From The Art of Bonsai Project.

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Pushing the Bonsai Boundaries

Can you imagine the time needed to develop and maintain the numerous foliage clouds? Does this level of refinement exist outside of Japan? Needle juniper (J. rigida) by Shinji Suzuki. From our Masters’ Series Juniper book.

Picking up where we left off
Our last post provoked more discussion than any post so far. Roughly drawn, the topic is naturalistic bonsai versus highly stylized and highly refined bonsai. I thought it might be good to continue with examples that exist at the extremes, at least in my view.

This Big cone Douglas fir by Dan Robinson  jumped out at me because it seems so absolutely raw. Apologies for the fuzzy photo. I picked it up off of Dan’s website. It doesn’t appear in Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, though many other examples of Dan’s very raw bonsai do.


Would you dismiss this amazingly dynamic tree because it doesn’t quite look like any tree in nature? Shimpaku juniper by Masahiko Kimura, a master of stylized bonsai who has no problem creating more naturalistic trees as well. From our Masters’ Series Juniper book. There are also numerous examples of Kimura’s bonsai in The Magician, another Stone Lantern Masters’ Series book.

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That Old Argument Resurfaces

Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai.

Judging from your comments…
There are two ways we can gauge reader interest. One is by the number of visits to a particular post (our host keeps track for us), and the other is your comments. Judging from your comments, the discussion about the virtues of highly refined Japanese bonsai vs a more naturalistic western style (championed by Walter Pall among others) is a topic that at some of you are interested in. I count myself among this interested group.

An impassioned comment
I won’t say much here, but if you want to read an impassioned comment on the topic by someone named David (and my reply), check the comments on a recent post titled ‘Nature, Picasso & the Hand of Man‘. To whet your appetite, here’s an excerpt from David’s comment: “To be fair and honest I don’t believe in “extremely” naturalistic views from artists like Walter Pall, Dan Robinson and a thousand European artists who “sell” this naturalistic approach to Bonsai. In the end they just look like they love the art but they can’t be real bored of wiring again and again and styling their trees for 20 years in a row searching for true perfection like TRUE Japanese Artists have done for more then a 1000 years.”

An excellent example of a highly refined Shimpaku juniper. By an unidentified Japanese bonsai artist. From our Masters’ Series Juniper book.

This rather famous Norway spruce by Walter Pall has appeared in several places, including Bonsai Today issue 106. Walter is a strong proponent of the naturalistic style.

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Pine Book Now Due in July

This amazingly powerful and well balanced cascading Japanese Black Pine is from our book: Pines, Growing and Styling Japanese Black and White Pines.

Apologies are in order
Originally, I said the reprint of our Pine Book would be here in April. Then May. Then June. Now July. I won’t bore you with the details, except to say,  that the root of the problem was overly optimistic misjudgement on my part (some lost digital files didn’t help either). In any case, I owe all of you who pre-ordered and pre-paid  an apology. And a thank you for your patience and understanding.

A little gift to reward your patience
I know it’s not much, but given our new low prices, I think you’ll approve:
If you did pre-order and pre-pay for the second printing of our Pine book before May 1st, we would like to offer you a $5 discount on your next Stone Lantern order. All you have to do is write the following in the comments when you order: “I placed an order for your Pine Book before May 1st.” We will then deduct $5 when we process your order (you won’t see the deduction when you place the order).

BTW:  If you haven’t yet ordered our Pine Book, you can still pre-order it for a $5 discount. No promises about delivery date this time.

Illustrations from our Pine book.

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A Most Unusual Bonsai Artist

Azalea and pot by Nick Lenz. Photo borrowed from The Art of Bonsai Project.

A unique American bonsai artist
Nick Lenz is an unusual person. On the spectrum from conservative to daring and even outrageous, his bonsai land somewhere beyond the latter. What he says about bonsai (and other things) reveals a unique mind; fascinating, humorous and often quite insightful. Beyond that, you be the judge.

Collected larch (Larix laricina). Tree by Mother Nature and Nick Lenz. Pot by Nick. Larch with decent taper are extremely unusual. Chances are, Nick applied a few tricks to help this one along. Photo from The Art of Bonsai Project.

Nick’s classic book
In addition to being a big time bonsai artist, Nick is also a big time bonsai author. His book, Bonsai from the Wild is the classic on collecting bonsai. Though the trees are mostly northeast North American varieties, the techniques and insights apply wherever you happen to be.

Interview with a unique American bonsai artist
The following interview with Nick Lenz was conducted by Andy Rutledge. You can read the whole interview on Andy’s The Bonsai Journal.

Continue reading A Most Unusual Bonsai Artist

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Kathy Shaner & Friends in Carolina

Ficus forest by Randy Clark. Bonsai Learning Center, Charlotte, North Carolina.

It’s in Charlotte and it’s not really summer yet
Bonsai Learning Center is hosting a Summer Time Picnic & Open House, May 20, 21 & 22. Aside of the fact the Randy Clark (BLC’s owner and resident bonsai artist) is a customer and a friend (if you can call someone you’ve never met face to face a friend), what really caught my attention was that Kathy Shaner will be doing two free demos and a workshop.

Kathy Shaner
Here’s what Bonsai Learning Center says about Kathy Shaner: “Starting her career in bonsai in 1983, Kathy Shaner has become internationally known and recognized for her excellence in the art of bonsai. After becoming a member of more than ten bonsai clubs and studying under several of California’s most respected instructors, she was granted an apprenticeship in Japan with master Yasuo Mitsuya. Several years later she became the first non-Japanese citizen to be certified by the professional bonsai grower’s branch of the Nippon Bonsai Association.” I believe Kathy is also the first woman to be certified. Note: I wanted to show one or two of Kathy’s bonsai, but could find none on the web.

This Trident and accompanying text are from Bonsai Learning Center’s website.

Talk about a nebari (though I wonder what those dark splotches are)! Also from BCL’s website.

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The World’s Smallest Trees Need The World’s Smallest Bonsai Pots

Mini pots, by Jim Barrett. No doubt there are smaller bonsai pots somewhere, but still, these are almost down to the magnifying glass range.

Two posts ago…
… we featured some very small bonsai. This provoked a discussion about tiny pots where someone (Randy Davis of the Minnesota Bonsai Society) mentioned Jim Barrett pots. Though I am sure there are others who sell tiny pots (Robert Steven, a frequent contributor to Bonsai Bark, mentioned some that are made in China), this might provide a starting point for those of you who are interested.

Brandywine
The Brandywine Bonsai Society’s website includes a one-of-a-kind section on North American pots and potters, which is where all the photos in this post are from.

Yixing bonsai pots
BTW, in case you haven’t noticed, Stone Lantern now offers bonsai pots. Many are Yixing pots. Yixing is an area in China that is renowned for its fine clay. Some of the finest bonsai pots in the world come from Yixing.

Not quite mini, but small. By Wendy Heller (we’ve featured her before). I have some of Wendy’s earthy little pots. They are among my favorites. Photo from Brandywine.

Maybe not tiny, but most certainly striking. By Nikki D’Amico. Photo from Brandywine.

Debbie’s red nailhead. By Ross Adams. Not small, but pretty slick. I like the clean lines and glossy glaze. Photo from Brandywine.


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Strange & Wonderful Bonsai

Strange and wonderful. The bonsai rules have been demolished. The leaves are too big and the fruit is massive relative to the size of the tree. But rules don’t really matter all that much, and besides, flowering and fruiting trees receive a pass anyway.

Bonsai Guest House revisited
To quote from our last post “The photos in this post are from Bonsai Guest House in Osaka. I know almost nothing about the place, but you might want to check it out on your next Japan junket.”

Just wonderful. Everything about this bonsai is designed to show off it’s brilliant quince flowers. If it weren’t for the flowers, no one would give this tree a second thought.


Wonderful and strange, and oh so dynamic. Got a tree that’s too tall and thin for bonsai? Don’t let that stop you.

You can do it!
Enter our One thousand dollar Bonsai from Scratch Contest. There’s a good chance you’ll win something.


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World’s Smallest Bonsai?

Micro tree. Is this a Japanese maple? It’s from a facebook posting by Bonsai Guest House.

Novelty?
Usually, when something is billed as the world’s smallest (see below) or largest, or..?,  it moves into that surreal novelty realm. Would you say these tiny bonsai qualify? I’m not so sure. There’s an art to doing this and to keeping the tiny trees healthy. Still…..

A place to stay
The photos in this post are from Bonsai Guest House in Osaka. I know almost nothing about the place, but you might want to check it out on your next Japan junket.

$1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest idea
You could do this for our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch Contest. Think small and win (well, no guarantees). Small bonsai (Shohin Bonsai) is a pretty good idea if you are at a loss for what to do.

With flowers no less. It’s from the same facebook posting by Bonsai Guest House.

From this, it looks like Mr Mitsuo was trying to create the ‘world’s smallest bonsai.’ Definitely the novelty approach.

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