A Skinny Lone Tree, a Large Empty Space…

California Juniper (Juniperus californica) at the Cup. It belongs to Seiji Shiba. Estimated age: 1000-1600 years old, trained for 15 years. All the photos in this post are by Hoe Chuah. I just rediscovered* an exceptional bonsai blog. It’s titled Bonsai Penjing & More and it belongs to Hoe Chuah. Most of the best bonsai blogs have good photos, but blogs like Bonsai Penjing & More that combine quality photos with thoughtful, well written comments are lot less common. The following by Hoe Chuah is from yesterday’s Bark comments. The tree he references is just below. “I like Michael Pollack’s hinoki … Continue reading A Skinny Lone Tree, a Large Empty Space…

A Famous Hinoki in a Famous Pot

This stately distinctive Hinoki is from Michael Pollock’s blog Bonsai Shinshei as are the other two bonsai shown here. Here’s Michael’s caption: “My lone Hinoli cypress after a quick fall cleanup. Falling deeper in love with this pot that Ron Lang and I collaborated on.” Got Artisans Cup photos with species and artist labels? I wanted to show Ron Lang’s (and Sharon Edwards-Russell’s) pots that held seven of the remarkable trees at the Artisans Cup. Problem is, my photos are spotty and mostly unlabeled and the same goes for other Cup photos I’ve been able to dig up. So we’ll … Continue reading A Famous Hinoki in a Famous Pot

Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

This is one that I kept coming back to (see Michael Plishka’s visceral wonder comment below). It’s a Southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) that belongs to Greg Brenden (an earlier smaller iteration in a different pot was shown at the 2010 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition). The show booklet says the pot is by Ron Lang, but Ron told me that his wife Sharon made it and that he created the rough finish (see below). There were several trees in Lang pots at the exhibition. This photo and the close up below, are borrowed from Bonsai Penjing & More. Yesterday’s post … Continue reading Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

Close up of Dan Robinson’s Mountain hemlock, taken on my cell at the Artisans Cup. Last weekend I finally had the pleasure of meeting Dan and Diane Robinson. It was at the Artisans Cup so I also had the pleasure of viewing and photographing Dan’s entry, the Mountain hemlock shown here (above and below). We’ve been featuring Dan Robinson’s bonsai and we’ve been selling and enjoying Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees for a long time (the second printing of Will Hiltz’ brilliant book about Dan and his trees just came out). Now that I’ve met Dan and actually seen one of … Continue reading Dan Robinson, Bonsai Pioneer

A Collection of Famous Bonsai in a Lovely Outdoor Setting

Atlas cedar with shadows at the Pacific Bonsai Museum WHOOPS Let’s make that the National Bonsai Museum in Wash DC. From the John Naka collection. Photo by Jonas Dupuich (Bonsai Tonight). By now most of you have been flooded with great photos from the Artisans Cup (with more to come). What you may not have seen are photos from Cup sponsored tours to the Pacific Bonsai Museum with its collection of famous bonsai in a lovely outdoor setting. All the photos below (with the exception of the 5 styles) were taken by my childhood friend Michael Wells. The photos of … Continue reading A Collection of Famous Bonsai in a Lovely Outdoor Setting

Bonsai U.S.A. & Beyond

Picasso’s (aka Dan Robinson’s) now famous wild and wonderful Hinoki. It’s from Will Hiltz’ most excellent book, Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, about Dan’s life and work. BTW, it’s just back in print and available at Stone Lantern. Back from the west coast very late last night and swamped with catch up so, we’ll borrow from our vast archival store once again. This one originally appeared July 4th, 2013. Independence Day. It seems appropriate for our post Artisans Cup recovery period as some of the trees are by artists who displayed at the Cup and one is by Ryan Neil himself. … Continue reading Bonsai U.S.A. & Beyond

A Simple Bonsai Wiring Lesson

Flying home today from the SF part of my Portland trip (Artisans Cup) and time is compressed, so I’ll borrow a little something from Mary Miller’s Bonsai Banter: “I was searching for Collin Lewis’ website. While browsing, I discovered Colin on Craftsy.com giving a video lesson. The ‘Bonsai Wiring Essentials’ is listed as free. I watched the entire program.” “Colin is a talented author and speaker, as well as bonsai artist. His easy going, clear instructions will answer all of your questions about wiring your bonsai. Best wire and tools? Copper or aluminum and the difference? How long to leave … Continue reading A Simple Bonsai Wiring Lesson

A Breakthrough U.S. Bonsai Event & Credit Where Credit Is Due

Ryan Neil’s massive Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii). This (pick your adjective) tree was not part of the bonsai display area, but rather sat alone in an inner lobby that you passed through on the way out of the display area. There’s no way that you can appreciate just how massive it is, and though I didn’t think to pace it off at the time, by memory (a risky proposition at best), I’d reckon that it must be about six or seven feet (approx 2 meters) across. A thanks and a tribute to Ryan Neil and friends for the just completed … Continue reading A Breakthrough U.S. Bonsai Event & Credit Where Credit Is Due

Great Trees & Vivid Closeups

It’s not that often that you’ll find a tall tree like this with great lower branching. When you do, and in the right hands, the result can be striking and quite unique. It’s a Subalpine Fir (Abies lasiocarpa) that belongs to Ryan Neil (Bonsai Mirai). We don’t normally repost from just four months ago, but I’m on my way to the Artisans Cup (with a little stopover in San Francisco), so why not? Don’t worry, I won’t bug you about going if you haven’t made plans. It’s getting late and the case has already been made. Repeatedly, including yesterday’s post. … Continue reading Great Trees & Vivid Closeups

Point Your Car Toward Portland Oregon

Only Mother Nature. There is no way anyone will ever grow a tree quite like this magnificently wild Rocky Mountain juniper. Taking this a step further, there is almost no way anyone will ever be able to collect and style a tree like this, though there are a handful of people who have the requisite skills and knowledge. In this case, it’s a combination of two who share the skills and knowledge: Randy Knight found it, collected it and made sure it survived the trauma, and Ryan Neil styled it, potted it and currently keeps it alive and well at … Continue reading Point Your Car Toward Portland Oregon