In Search of the Perfect Nebari #8

Do you like this nebari, or is it a bit much? If you just look at the bottom photo, does the nebari seem to strong for the trunk? That’s the way it strikes me, but when I look at the whole tree, it works just fine. The image is a whole page from Bonsai Today issue 63.

Pirates
At least one blog has been pirating our posts, lock stock and barrel; but without our links and without any attribution to bonsai bark, or Stone Lantern. If you are reading this on any website or blog that is not ours, and is not attributed to us, then it has been pirated. Please visit us at bonsaibark.com. Thank you.

Here’s another nebari that we featured in an earlier post (April 2009). This one does seem a bit over the top, though I suspect it will look a little less dominant when the tree is in leaf. What do you think? Trident maple from Bonsai Today issue 70. Both issues in this post are still in print and available at Stone Lantern.

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A Lost Treasure #4: Peaceful Lagoon

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Peaceful Lagoon, our third in a series of plantings from Toshio Kawamoto’s Saikei classic. The trees are five to twenty-year-old Japanese black pines. The pot (Tokoname) is similar to the ones in the previous two landscapes, though quite a bit larger.

An invitation
The purpose of this section is to show how to create a saikei that depicts a peaceful lagoon just off the ocean. The photo taken together with the drawings (below), create the impression that the author is inviting you to duplicate his work.

Attention to detail
If you look at all the elements: the rocks, the trees, the moss, the gravel (water) and the white sand (foam), you can see that their placement and their relative sizes (scale) creates a near perfect effect. Everything makes sense (except maybe the size of the pine needles, and somehow that’s easy to overlook).

A transporting effect
A good saikei almost convinces you that it’s a large landscape in nature. It’s easy to imagine that you are standing on a large rock on the bank of the lagoon, and that the small gap in the back opens to the ocean. The wind, which blows off the ocean bends all the small trees toward the lagoon. You can almost feel it in your hair and taste the salt air.

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Front schemata. The pot is 37? x 20? (94cm x 51cm) unglazed oval by Tokoname. There are 10 Japanese black pines that range from 5 to 8 inches (13cm to 20cm) tall. There are nine river rocks (numbered above and below) that range considerably in size. The soil is regular bonsai soil (he doesn’t say which regular bonsai soil, but the Japanese almost always use akadama or an akadama mix for conifers). The other materials are river sand and white sand.

Continue reading A Lost Treasure #4: Peaceful Lagoon

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$100 Bonsai Art Contest: Enter & Win!

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Disembodied shoulder, arm, hand and bonsai by Frank Kelly of the Canberra Bonsai Society. Our Bonsai Art Contest is off to good start!

Enter and win!
Send us your bonsai drawing or painting or photo of a bonsai sculpture (or…?) and you just might win.

Prizes
First prize is a $60 gift certificate to Stone Lantern. Second prize $30 gift certificate. Third prize $10 gift certificate.

Rules
The contest will be closed when we have at least ten entrants (if entries are still coming in when we receive 10, we may keep it open a little longer). The drawing (or painting, or whatever) must be done by the person submitting it. It must include something that looks like a bonsai, but can also include whatever else you like. We (that’s me) will be the sole judge of what is permissible to enter. The contest will be judged by our readers. See our last contest for judging rules.

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Bonsai Down Under: Aussie Natives

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Acacia longifolia. So sweet. The leaves are a little big, but that’s the nature of the plant. Otherwise, this bonsai has it all: gnarly aged trunk with a little see-though action and excellent fluid movement. Nice jin. Perfect pot. Great tree!

Australian Native Plants as Bonsai
I found this tree, the one below, and numerous others on the Australian National Botanic Garden site in a section entitled Australian Native Plants as Bonsai. Some are quite unusual, at least to those of us living up over. I couldn’t find the artists’ names anywhere on the site. Maybe someone out there knows.

Aussie friends
We have lots of friends and customers in Australia. My impression is that something vital is happening bonsai-wise down there. Any news, photos, gossip, whatever, from our Aussie friends is always appreciated.

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Ficus rubiginosa. Here’s another good one. It’s got great balance, the semi-fused trunk has excellent taper and the wonderful pot looks like it might be old, maybe even antique. I tried to enlarge it to see more detail, but didn’t gain much.

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Backyard Bonsai #6: Un Patio Hermoso

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Up against the wall! I borrowed this from Rosade Bonsai Studio website. And, no, you don’t need new glasses; it’s a little fuzzy because I increased the size to fit it into our format (see below for the original unfuzzy, uncropped version).

I don’t know who lives here
I don’t know who lives here, or even what country it’s in. Maybe it’s Spain. I ran into Chase and Solita Rosade there in 2007 at a large show at Mistral Bonsai.

Rosade Bonsai Studio
We featured another post from Rosade Bonsai Studio a few days ago. As we mentioned then, it’s a good place with friendly people, and, as far as I know, nothing has changed (actually pretty much everything changes all the time, but that’s another story).

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Continue reading Backyard Bonsai #6: Un Patio Hermoso

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Bonsai Today 35: Going, Going, Almost Gone…

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We are down to our last handful of Bonsai Today issue 35. Don’t wait if you want one.

A little taste…
… of what’s inside: Pine doctor, Pinching pines, Balancing vigor, Correcting root rot, Step by step end of summer care, Suiseki, Super restyling: Kimura styles a classic old Shimpaku, Bonsai gallery, Tokonoma: New Year display

…and some other issues while we’re at it
Bonsai Today issues 40 and 46 will soon be gone too. Several others in the 50s, 60s and even 70s are disappearing as well. Don’t wait if you want to fill our your collection.

Now is a good time!
But don’t wait. This sale ends Monday.

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Suthin Sukosolvisit: Shohin Artist Extraordinaire

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Suthin Sukosolvisit. The old pro at work. From the album, World Bonsai Convention 2009 by Candy J. Shirey.

One of the very best
Suthin Sukosolvisit is one of the very best shohin artists working in the West. He and Dara (Suthin’s kind and gentle wife) own Royal Bonsai in the Boston area, though your chances of finding him there are probably no better than 50-50, as he travels and teaches extensively. In fact, if you are looking for a someone to lead a workshop, give a demo, or do individual tutorials, you won’t go wrong with Suthin.

Bonsai Cafe
All of the photos below are from Bonsai Cafe’s gallery and are just a very small fraction of their trees by a range of accomplished artists. It’s worth a visit.

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I think this one’s a ficus. They’ve put the artist’s name on each photo, which can be a little distracting. But given how fast and loose ownership is in the wild world of the web, I can’t say I blame them.

Continue reading Suthin Sukosolvisit: Shohin Artist Extraordinaire

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Eccentric Bonsai: Shinji Suzuki’s Cascade Juniper

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The styling progression on this cascade Shimpaku juniper by Shinji Suzuki is remarkable (you can see the whole step by step progression in our Juniper book). So is the end result. Remarkable and very unusual. Shinji Suzuki styled it when he was 24 years old. I wonder if he would do it differently now.

It’s not just the wild mixed interlocking swirls of live and dead wood…
… nor is it just the very long piece of deadwood that runs through the center like a dagger, all the way from near the top to the very bottom… nor the delicate deadwood branch the floats on top and undulates down into the very center of the cascade…. nor the 360 degree deadwood circle on the right… nor the crazy two piece trunk at the base, that lies flat on the soil with a big fist of deadwood above that, but….

… it’s all those things taken together
Nothing about this amazing bonsai is conventional, except maybe the pot and the stand. You might say the the foliage pads are somewhat normal for a cascade juniper, and that may be true, though you might take another look at their very open spacing the way they interact and move with and against the deadwood.

bt63-cover A not particularly eccentric bonsai. This powerful and tranquil old Needle juniper is probably Shinji Suzuki’s best known tree. It originally appeared on the cover of Bonsai Today issue 63 and also appears in the gallery section of our Juniper book.

Shinji Suzuki
Is world-renowned for his bonsai, both conventional and unusual. If you are interested in learning more about Mr. Suzuki check out Michael Hagedorn’s excellent book; Postdated; The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk.

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Famous Trees & Famous People

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How many times have seen a bonsai that’s big enough to sit its shade? The young lady languishing on the pot is Solita Rosade. The older gentleman next to her looks a lot like Chase Rosade. And no, I don’t think it’s a plastic tree at Disney World. More like a real live ficus in Thailand.

People and places
Have you ever wanted to travel the world and visit all the famous bonsai places and hang out with all the famous (and not so famous) bonsai people? If their website is any indication (as well as the word on the bonsai street) that’s what Chase and Solita Rosade have been up to (when they’re not tending to their bonsai nursery & studio).

Speaking of famous people
Chase and Solita also fall into that dubious category. But it’s well earned and couldn’t happen to nicer people. If you don’t believe me, visit them at Rosade Bonsai Studio sometime. Meanwhile, you can check out their website.

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Parts of the Rosade Bonsai Studio display at the Philadelphia flower show (above and below).

Continue reading Famous Trees & Famous People

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Azalea Tips #3: A Little Timely Trimming

sat Azalea flowers from the cover of Satsuki Azaleas for Bonsai & Azalea Entusiasts.

shear Satsuki shears are used to shape azaleas after the spring bloom and before the new buds set in the late summer/early fall. Not only does this technique keep azaleas in shape, it can also increase next years flower crop (be careful though, sometimes too many flowers can stress a bonsai – see below). All three drawings in this post are from Bonsai Today issue 1.

azthin Thinning overly vigorous and dense growth. This helps open up the tree and forces energy into weaker zones. In this illustration the thinning is done in the fall after next years’ flower buds have set.

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Satsuki shears are used here to thin individual shoots. Azaleas that are shaped but not thinned tend to become dense and may even flower more than is healthy (flowers require extra energy and trees in pots can become stressed if too many flowers make too much demand on their roots and overall metabolism).

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