Power, Movement & Texture

Power, movement and texture. This astounding Itoigawa shimpaku juniper (Juniperus chinensis Itoigawa) received an Honorable Mention at the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup which was held at the Crespi Bonsai Museum. It belongs to Gino Costa. The photos shown here are from the 2015 Crespi Bonsai Cup. I cropped them all to bring the trees closer and to eliminate background noise. You can see the uncropped photos of all 65 entries here. Here’s the First Prize tree and I can’t say I disagree. It’s a Mugo pine that belongs to Paolo Riboli. I like the natural grey of the deadwood, … Continue reading Power, Movement & Texture

Still Opulent, Outrageous & Outstanding

This Itoigawa Shimpaku (Juniperus chinensis ‘itoigawa’) by Dougie Smith qualifies as opulent for sure. Outrageous? Well there is that huge rock jutting up from the skinny little (but very handsome) pot. As for outstanding; that goes without saying. Note: I don’t know what the smaller trees down low are. Maybe azaleas? Myrtle? This photo and the others in this post are by Philippe Massard, though I cropped them all to bring the trees closer. A quick two day vacation and another dip into our archives. This one is from February 2014. I picked it to show a second time, primarily … Continue reading Still Opulent, Outrageous & Outstanding

Bonsai Shape, Texture, Color, Density, Leaves, Trunk, Bark, Deadwood, Size, Pot, Overall Feel & More

Bjorn’s caption for this photo says: Shimpaku Juniper, great day’s work in AL. A mystery, but only for a moment. With just a little nosing around, we came up with Brian Van Fleet’s Itoigawa shimpaku. This photo and the others in this post are from Bjorn Bjorholm’s facebook feed. One thing you might notice about the three trees shown here is just how different they are. From each other, and in the case of the bottom two, from most other bonsai. Not different in terms of the five main traditional styles (two of them fall into the informal upright style), … Continue reading Bonsai Shape, Texture, Color, Density, Leaves, Trunk, Bark, Deadwood, Size, Pot, Overall Feel & More

There Are Bonsai, and then…

There are bonsai and then there are bonsai. This fluid masterpiece belongs to Isao Omachi. There are other adjectives that come to mind, like elegant, graceful and exquisite, but the problem with writing about bonsai almost everyday is these superlatives get used until they lose their meaning. Oh well. Mr Omachi doesn’t say anything about this tree and I won’t venture any guesses. It’s from his facebook photos. All the trees shown here are from Isao Omachi’s facebook photos. If you’ve been following the international bonsai scene, you know that he’s the one who had his entire bonsai collection (and … Continue reading There Are Bonsai, and then…

Laziness & Irresponsibility (or Even Willful Deception)

We’ve shown this brilliant bonsai before, but a planting this perfect deserves another shot. The photo is attributed, but to the photographer (Jonathan Singer) rather than the bonsai artist. We can use it anyway, because it’s easy to recognize as a rather famous root-on-rock planting that belongs to Masahiko Kimura (aka The Magician), a man who revolutionized the world of bonsai. The trees are Shimpaku junipers (with a what looks like a small azalea near the bottom). The photo originally appeared in Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. If you spend anytime looking at bonsai on places like facebook or pinterest, … Continue reading Laziness & Irresponsibility (or Even Willful Deception)

A Sneak Preview of the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Album

We just got our advance copy of the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album. Like the last three, it’s better than the one that came before. This speaks volumes (unintended) for North American Bonsai. It also speaks loud and clear of the tireless effort that Bill Valavanis and friends put into the Exhibitions and the albums. Stay posted for the arrival of the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition Album. Meanwhile here’s a quick sneak preview of the cover and a couple shots from inside the album. This Itoigawa shimpaku juniper won the finest medium size bonsai award. It belongs … Continue reading A Sneak Preview of the 4th U.S. National Bonsai Album

Americans Abroad

This beautifully flowing Sargent juniper(Juniperus chinensis var. Sargentii ‘Itoigawa’ – aka Itoigawa Shimpaku) belongs to Douglas Paul, the owner of The Kennett Collection (we’ve featured The Collection here on Bark). This and the other photos in this post are borrowed from Bill Valavanis’ Bonsai blog. Just in case you are not familiar with Kokufu ten, it’s a bonsai exhibition that takes place in Tokyo once a year and is widely considered the world’s most famous and prestigious bonsai event. 2015 was its 89th year, which I believe makes it the world’s oldest bonsai exhibition as well as the most famous. Simply … Continue reading Americans Abroad

Be There Or Else…

This image was taken from Bill Valavanis’ 4th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition website. If you are one of the three or four people who don’t know about this most important upcoming bonsai event, it’s time to educate yourself. The 4th U.S.National Bonsai Exhibition starts in eight days. We (that’s me) strongly suggest you be there or else you’ll miss the most important U.S. bonsai event since 2012 (the 3rd National Exhibition). It’s not too late to register and enjoy some of the best bonsai and most talented bonsai artists in North America (and beyond). This wonderful Sargent juniper planting belongs … Continue reading Be There Or Else…

A Remarkable Transformaton by a Bonsai Artist Not Named Kimura

We don’t usually feature such grainy shots for our lead photo, but this is the best we could find of this remarkable tree (plus we blew it up to fit our format). It’s an ‘after’ photo of a Kishu shimpaku juniper by Steve Tolley. When I first saw the before and after shots of this remarkable Kishu shimpaku, Master Kimura’s revolutionary transformations immediately came to mind (some examples of Kimura’s transformations are here, here and here). I won’t say much more; we’ll let the photos and Steve Tolley’s text (below) do the talking. Before. Here’s some of what Steve Tolley … Continue reading A Remarkable Transformaton by a Bonsai Artist Not Named Kimura

Time to Celebrate…

The sky blue pot is the perfect compliment to the light pink flowers on this powerful Satsuki Azalea that resides at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in Washington DC. There are a multitude of cultivars in the Satsuki group of azaleas. This one is a ‘Nikko.’ It was donated to the museum by Masayuki Nakamura. It’s time to celebrate our National Bonsai and Penjing Museum once again. If you are anywhere near our nation’s capital, or plan on being anywhere near, don’t miss this phenomenal display. Even if you have no plans on being near Washington DC, you can … Continue reading Time to Celebrate…