It’s Still Labor Day Weekend & the Sun Is Still Shining

A wonderfully convoluted Sabina juniper after a little taming by Gabriel Romero Aguadé. If you look at the before photo below, you can see that Gabriel did quite a bit to tame what started out as tree with a world of potential but also with a crazily unruly crown and a trunk with poor taper. It’s not too hard to see how the crown was brought under control (some very detailed labor and some time for new growth to fill in). But the taper is a bit more mystifying; not much has changed, but somehow it looks much better. BTW, … Continue reading It’s Still Labor Day Weekend & the Sun Is Still Shining

A Steady Stream of Good Bonsai to Choose From…

A little ‘after’ effect from a David Benavente ‘before and after’ on facebook. My only comment is that we don’t normally feature lead trees with an unfinished ‘wrapped in rafia’ look, but this little tree is so sweet, so why not? I just spent approximately 3 hours trying to decide on a post for today. Facebook, blogs, websites the whole e-catastrophe. Given that there’s a steady stream of good bonsai to choose from, sooner or later you have to surrender and just pick something. In this case, it’s David Benavente. He’s an old favorite and one of the very best. … Continue reading A Steady Stream of Good Bonsai to Choose From…

Floating Clouds, Around the Bonsai World, Before & After, Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

Floating clouds. Here’s an unusual tree for your enjoyment. Or, for your criticism if you feel the profusion of foliage pads is unnatural (given conventions these days, you might also say the pot is a little heavy, but I don’t think so). For me, it’s sheer delight. The tree belongs to Hsiu Yang, one of Taiwan’s many great bonsai artists. Viva Mexico! Found this here. Was intrigued, but didn’t find any other links (Confederacion Mexicana de Artre Bonsai wasn’t current). Here’s the Spanish: Expocisión Anual de Arte Bonsai en Coyoacan. 4 al 7 de Octubre de 2012. Ven con … Continue reading Floating Clouds, Around the Bonsai World, Before & After, Your Guess Is As Good As Mine

Pine Boom

The more I look at this tree, the more I like it. It’s a Japanese white pine by Susumo Sudo. Its rugged, naturally aged look (enhanced by the pot and ground cover) stands in perfect contrast to its simple, graceful lines. From our Masters’ Series Pine book. Pine Boom? As far as I know, there is no Pine Boom. I was trying to type Pine Book as a filler until a more suitable name for this post came to me. Then, viola, there it was; Pine Boom. Anyway, I’m trying to pull myself to together to catch a plane, so, … Continue reading Pine Boom

The Other Cascade: Part 2

After. Semi-cascade Japanese white pine by Kiyoshi Yamagami. From Bonsai Today issue 52 (sorry, out of stock… however we still have about 50 other back issues in print; all 70% off). Near perfect To my eyes, this tree presents a near perfect combination of grace and power. Usually, when you think power in bonsai, you think trunk. In this case, though the trunk is certainly powerful enough (what you can see of it), there’s something about the rest of the tree that can send power induced chills up your spine (okay, maybe not, but I’ll bet if you saw the … Continue reading The Other Cascade: Part 2

Antes y Despues (Before & After)

Before & after (antes y depues) Shimpaku juniper by Salvador de los Reyes. You can find all the photos in this post on facebook and on Salvador’s blog. The bonsai of Salvador de los Reyes Thanks to facebook I recently discovered the bonsai of Salvador de los Reyes. I count this as good fortune, especially given that Salvador doesn’t just post on facebook, he also has an excellent bonsai blog (not too many bonsai artists are also successful bloggers). The upside There are at least four things you might like about what Salvador de los Reyes is doing: 1. his … Continue reading Antes y Despues (Before & After)

Taxus Time & Missing Comments

After. Mario Komsta with Pete Carino and Bonsais Del Sur. Here’s Mario’s website for those of you who aren’t facebook friends. Mario Again? We (that’s me) tend to go on rolls around here. A couple years ago it seemed like every other post was about Michael Hagedorn’s bonsai. Then it was Bonsai Tonight. And of course there’s always Robert Steven (I reckon he appears in more of our posts than anyone). Not that these folks are the only ones that reoccur; when you post exclusively about bonsai three to four times a week for over three years you, recycling is … Continue reading Taxus Time & Missing Comments

Daisaku Nomoto: Before & After

Sierra juniper after restyling by Daisaku Nomoto. From Bonsai Tonight. Photos by Jonas Dupuich. Mr Nomoto visits Bay Island Bonsai Jonas Dupuich is featuring a great series of photos on Daisaku Nomoto’s visit to Bay Island Bonsai. I’m on a short vacation, so this is an easy way to offer you something good with a minimum of effort. Enjoy! Before.

Bonsai With Rebar by David Benavente

Some serious sh-t stuff! Take a look at the before photo below to get a hit of what you can do with a piece of rebar, some nerve, and more than a little skill. All the photos in this post are of bonsai by David Benavente. Before rebar.