Screwing Around

screwing

Graham Potter’s hands doing the screwing (into a larch). The image is from a video on styling an old larch (the same larch, and the same video we used a few days ago) on Graham’s Kaizen Bonsai site.

It’s another way to do the same thing
Often, when you want to use wire to pull two parts of a tree closer together, you can find branches or stubs or something else to fasten the wire to. But what if you can’t? Or what if you can, but you are concerned about the wire damaging the part of the tree you are fastening it to? Well, there’s always a screw or two laying around you can use. On most trees screw wounds will easily heal, and even if they leave a small scar, that shouldn’t be a problem in most cases.

screwing 2

Graham uses one hand to pull the two pieces closer together and the other to twist the wire tight (using pliers). If he wanted to bring the pieces ever closer together, he could insert a short stick (or piece of heavy wire) between the two strands of wire and slowly twist.


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Robert Steven Critiques an Atlas Cedar and Provides an Interesting Lesson in Creating Shari

Mike Andrews-Simulation

Robert Steven’s digitally enhanced version of a Blue Atlas Cedar. The original photo (below) was submitted by Mike Andrews.

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The original.

Robert’s critique
Basically, this is a very nice Cedar with nice movement and sufficient well-arranged branching and the shari helps create a feeling of age. But, there are few issue here :

  1. This bonsai is styled in a very common “S” shape with a basic 1,2,3 branch arrangement. Although there is nothing wrong with it, it lacks excitement. In other words, it could be styled in more interesting and natural fashion.
  2. The shari is not properly done.

As described in my book Mission of Transformation, some basic reasons for adding shari are:

–      To create the impression of age in a way that mimics natural forces.

–       To improve the line and sense of movement in the trunk or branches.

–       To correct a monotonous linear dead vein along the trunk.

This last purpose is often unrealized by bonsai artist. When a branch of a conifer is cut, the living vein directly below the branch dies down the trunk to the root base. This effect is disadvantageous if the basic trunk line is monotonous without any winding or twisting. And this is what has been done on this bonsai, the shari’s straight line is boring and doesn’t reflect the physiology of the tree.

Solution
Nothing can be done to correct the shari. It should have been carved to create a winding or twisting direction to fit the trunk’s movement and the starting point should be from the dead branch as in the simulated photo.

However, the design composition can still be corrected by rearranging the foliage pads. Also you can lean the trunk slightly and change the potting position.

This new design better reflects nature and overall looks a little more interesting.

There is more than one way to design any bonsai and my critiques and recommended solutions might not always fit your taste because of 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.

You can also visit my bonsai blog.

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More Mammouth Book Discounts

B1SHOHIN

Morten Albek’s classic book on small bonsai is marked down from $24.95 to only $9.95. This is the only book on Shohin bonsai in English and is both beautifully photographed and thorough going in its coverage of the ins and out of styling and growing small and miniature bonsai.

As we’ve already stated, we can’t do this with most books…
… just the ones we published. We pay way too much for books by other publishers to reduce them this much. However, with our own books, we can do what we want; they were paid for eons ago, and though we’ve sold thousands of each, we overdid it when it came to printing (our over the top enthusiasm is your good fortune).

B1SAIKEI

We actually didn’t publish this one, but thanks to Lew Buller’s kindness, we now own it. Which means we can offer to you at a small fraction of the original price ($9.95 down from $39.95). It’s the only English language saikei book in print, and is especially suited to people who are looking for inspirational ideas.

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Deeply Discounted Bonsai & Japanese Garden Products at Stone Lantern

Robert Steven Critique: Smaller Pot, Stronger Tree

Carl Morrow-Simulated

Robert Steven’s digitally enhanced version of a Trident maple by Carl Morrow (the photo Carl submitted is below).

Carl Morrow, Acer buergerianum, Age 25, Training 1990, (c) Carl Morrow DSCF9798 rdcd

The original photo.

Robert’s comments
Despite the details, bonsai design is all about composition, and the pot is one of the most important composition elements. A well chosen pot can reflect and enhance the best features of a tree and effect the overall image, adding both nuance and balance.

Continue reading Robert Steven Critique: Smaller Pot, Stronger Tree

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A Touch of Bonsai Sweetness

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A flowering cherry from one of our mystery Japanese books. Check out the pot; there are two things you might notice. First, it’s unglazed, which is unusual with flowering trees (especially in Japan), and second, it’s hand-made rough. Maybe it was chosen because its earthy naturalness goes well with the color and natural aged feel of the trunk.

Cherry Blossoms


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Trunk Splitter, Stump Splitter, What Else?

trunksplitter

Graham Potter using a trunk splitter to tear into a large branch stump. It’s from a video on styling an old larch (one of Graham’s excellent videos) on his Kaizen Bonsai site.

Why split?
Did you know that you can bend thick trunks by splitting them (in half, in thirds, in fourths, etc)? After splitting and bending, you can tie the pieces back together (just the way they were) and, if you do it right, they’ll fuse back into the single trunk you started with (with its new shape, of course). For a detailed description of this process, see page 77 of The Secret Techniques of Bonsai.

Do you use one?
Not many people use trunk splitters (they come in smaller and larger sizes), which is too bad. Not only do they split trunks, but they can be quite useful when carving deadwood (see above). Anything you’d like to add?

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Mammoth Book Discounts

b1lenz

One of our very best bonsai books marked down from $29.95 to $9.95. Why, you ask? Because we printed 3,000 and still have about 1,000 left. So, let’s liberate them and give you a chance to enjoy and learn from one of our best and most interesting bonsai artists. BTW: the image above gives you a glimpse into the inner workings of a publishing company.  This isn’t the cover we ended up with. We changed the color from blue to green and the main heading to gold. Otherwise, everything is the same.

We can’t do this with most books…
… just the ones we published. We pay way too much for books by other publishers to reduce them this much. However, with our own books, we can do what we want; they were paid for eons ago, and though we’ve sold thousands of each, we overdid it when it came to printing (our foolishness is your good fortune). 

B1KIM2-325

The exquisite bonsai on the cover provides but a small taste of what’s inside. Kimura was, is (and will be?) the world’s foremost bonsai master. It’s also marked down from $29.95 to $9.95.

Over 425 books and other items marked down at Stone Lantern, with double discounts on orders over $50.


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Robert Steven Critiques a Yew

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Robert’s digitally enhanced version of a Yew that was submitted by Andre Flores (see below).

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The photo that Andre submitted. It’s really too small (we want 500 pixels wide), but Robert went ahead a critiqued it anyway.

Robert’s critique
The first impression when you look at this bonsai, is that there is something disturbing to our eyes. This is not unusual, and often we cannot tell what it is that bothers us.

There are few issues :

  1. The main issue is the right branch. This branch’s line is different from the other lines; it is too straight whereas overall the tree has curving lines, so this create an inharmonious image that makes it look separated from the trunk.
  2. The foliage pads are not well arranged and refined, they look messy and the ramification (fine branching) looks immature.
  3. The movement of the tree is not very clear, seems to have two competing power points pulling it apart.

Conclusion : The overall design shows a lack of harmony in terms of composition and refinement.

Solution :

  1. Shorten the right branch and bend it slightly up to create a curving line.
  2. Rearrange the ramification (branching) to improve the overall composition.
  3. Refine the foliage edges and the tree will look more mature, and clean the lower foliage edges to show parts of the branches. This will make the tree looks more stately and elegant.
  4. Slightly shorten the two longest left branches and lean the tree a little to the left to create better movement. The reason is on the deadwood. In nature, this feature obviously tells the deadwood was created due to the dead branch (see the knot’s hole) or due to the dying roots on the left side; so in the transformation process, it’s more logical that the tree will tend to grow to the right side (note: Robert asked me to edit for him – he’s not a native English speaker – which I have done, except for this last section that starts with “The reason is on the deadwood;” I’ll leave the interpretation up to you on this point).To enjoy more of Robert’s bonsai expertise, check out his excellent books: Vision of My Soul and Mission of Transformation.
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Needle Junipers

calendarThis Needle juniper (J. rigida) is from our Japanese bonsai calendar. August, 2010.

There are Needle junipers and then there are needle junipers, and then…
Juniperus rigida (above) are commonly called Needle junipers. Then there is the class of junipers with needle like foliage, that are often referred to as needle junipers. These are distinguished from the class of junipers with softer scale like foliage. The problem is, that sometime some junipers with needle like foliage show some scale like foliage (and vice-versa). Confused? You can always order our Masters’ Series Juniper book and sort out the whole thing (and plenty of other things too).

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This twin trunk Needle juniper is so famous in Japan that it even has a name: ‘Two Dragons.’ It’s from our aforementioned Bonsai Today Masters’ Series, Growing and Styling Juniper Bonsai.

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