A Fine (and Great) New Book

Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature is now available at Stone Lantern. One of the most astounding books… This morning Andy Rutledge sent me his well considered and well written review of one of the most astounding books I’ve ever seen. So rather than subjecting you to my same old prose once again, let’s try a fresh voice for a change (note, you can see Andy’s entire review on his Bonsai Journal … you might also enjoy visiting a more multifaceted Andy here). Andy Rutledge’s review When my copy of Fine Bonsai arrived I almost dropped it as the delivery man … Continue reading A Fine (and Great) New Book

Bonsai’s Big Leap: The 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibiton

This palatial planting by Pierre Leloup may have been the most talked about bonsai in the entire exhibit. Unfortunately, because Pierre is Canadian, it was not part of the judging (the same goes for several other worthy Canadian bonsai). As you might surmise, there’s no way that a photo can capture the whole splendid wonder of this planting. Viewing it in real space is one of those mind stopping experiences (The photo is courtesy of Pierre Leloup and Sangi Louise Drolet, my sweet Exhibition neighbors. You can find it and other great photos on Pierre’s facebook page and his website). … Continue reading Bonsai’s Big Leap: The 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibiton

Million Dollar (Plus!) Bonsai in Perspective

I just received this photo from Bill Valavanis. It’s that Million Dollar Japanese white pine we featured a few days ago. Now you can get a little perspective (size-wise at least). Bill’s remarks Here are Bill Valavanis‘ remarks that he sent along with the photo. Hi Wayne, I’ve just returned home from Japan and saw your post on my friend’s bonsai, the Million Dollar specimen. The million dollar bonsai WAS actually sold and at the current exchange rate on the sale day was $1,282,000. The tree is a grafted Miyajima Japanese five-needle pine which has not been on display since … Continue reading Million Dollar (Plus!) Bonsai in Perspective

Your Fate is in Their Hands

Michael Hagedorn (our alphabetically first judge) worked on this Japanese white pine before his teacher, Shinji Suzuki entered it in the famous Kokufu show. You can visit Michael’s Crataegus Bonsai (one of my all time favorite bonsai blogs) for the whole story. Michael is the author of Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. Bonsai from Scratch Contest: it’s time to meet the judges All the images have been sorted and sized and sent to the judges. Now it’s their turn, so I thought it might be a good idea to introduce them. In alphabetical order, they are: … Continue reading Your Fate is in Their Hands

Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Boon Manakitivipart (Bonsai Boon) discovered this muscular Kuromatsu on his latest trip to Japan. You can visit Bonsai Tonight for more. Something new A while back we tried to get a bonsai calendar off the ground. After what seemed like lack of interest from our readers, we abandoned the idea. Now we have another idea, it’s related to the calendar notion, but more expansive. We’ll call it Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire for now. Rather than try to explain, we’ll just get started and see where it goes. This year’s BCI tour is timed to coincide with two of … Continue reading Bonsai Bark Weekly Wire

Restyling A Stubborn Old Tree

An old RAF Scot’s Pine after restyling by Bill Valavanis. The before photo is below. Radical measures This restyling took place at Bill Valavanis’ Open House last weekend. It provides an excellent lesson in dealing with an old tree with defects that require radical measures to correct. In Bill’s own words Here’s part of what Bill has to say about this restyling: “The first two branches are very heavy and needed to be lowered. Before lowering they were wired so they would not be disturbed after lowering. There are several different methods for lowering the heavy branches. I used a … Continue reading Restyling A Stubborn Old Tree

Still the Best Bonsai Show

Not a prize winner, but still a mind stopper. Here’s what Bill Valavanis has to say about this remarkable quince: “An unusual cultivar of Japanese flowering quince. This is NOT the Toyo Nishiki cultivar, but rather ‘Takane Nishiki’. Beautiful flowers, unusual container, but I personally do not like the design of the bonsai, so enjoyed the blossoms.” Bill does Kokufu I don’t know why we didn’t feature this earlier; it’s one of the most interesting pieces of bonsai news I’ve seen for a while. It’s by Bill Valavanis, from his visit earlier this year to the Kokufu Bonsai Exhibition in … Continue reading Still the Best Bonsai Show

Bonsai Hot Bed Meets America’s Premier Bonsai Show

Thanks to Bill Valavanis for pointing out that this pine is one and the same as the Randy Knight freshly collected pine that we featured in a previous post (American Bonsai Heaven). It won the Meco Bonsai/Kiku Award at the 2nd US National Bonsai Exhibition (June 2010) for the Finest Evergreen. It’s by Scott Elser of Portland, Oregon (that famous bonsai heaven/hot bed). Less than a year By the way, we are just less than one year away from the 3rd US National Bonsai Exhibition, June 9-10, 2012. I think you might want to put it on your calendar right … Continue reading Bonsai Hot Bed Meets America’s Premier Bonsai Show

Thinking Ahead to 2012: The Show & the Books

If you only go to one event every two years, this is the one. Don’t miss it. It’s not far fetched… … to think about an event this important seventeen months in advance. If you don’t, time slips by, your calendar fills up, and the next thing you know you’re kicking yourself for missing it. Limited printings After each Exhibition, Bill Valavanis puts out a world-class album. We still have some from 2008 and 2010 came in not long ago (purchase them both and save). However, if you want to have them all for your collection, don’t wait. A limited … Continue reading Thinking Ahead to 2012: The Show & the Books

A Little Change of Pace: Robert’s Tokonoma &…

Definitely not Japanese. From Echo of My Heart, a series of photos of the bonsai art of Robert Steven. Tokonomas Not too long ago we featured a tokonoma by Bill Valavanis. To me, Bill’s tokonoma stands clearly in the Japanese tradition, with maybe a touch of Bill to distinguish it. In this case, we’ve got something a little different. It’s a tokonoma by Robert Steven, and though I’d say there’s a nod to the Japanese tradition, there’s clearly something quite different going on. A little Indonesia? A little something else? And, as is often the case with Robert Steven, more … Continue reading A Little Change of Pace: Robert’s Tokonoma &…