A Magnificent Monster & Bjorn’s Online Bonsai Course

The magnificent monster was sent to us by Oscar at Bonsai Empire. It’s part of a package about Bjorn Bjorholm’s upcoming online intermediate bonsai course. This post is not so much about this tree above (or the others shown here) as it is about an upcoming online bonsai course by Bjorn Bjorholm. However, I will assume a connection… that Bjorn at some point had a hand and scissors in them all. He has been fortunate in that regard; his six plus years of apprenticeship under the famous Bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa afforded countless opportunities to advance his hard earned skills … Continue reading A Magnificent Monster & Bjorn’s Online Bonsai Course

Bonsai & Brad Pitt

Brad Bjorn posing with an impressive (Stewartia?) bonsai. From an article in Architectural Digest titled “Meet the Brad Pitt of Bonsai.” Still looking after my grand kids (and enjoying this fog-shrouded City by the Bay while they’re in school), so to save time and trouble we’ll borrow from our archives. This one appeared last December. We don’t usually feature photos of people. I almost always find people in bonsai photos distracting. Rather than ‘look at me with my beautiful bonsai,’ I prefer ‘look at this beautiful bonsai.’ However, occasionally photos of people with trees work. In this case, because the … Continue reading Bonsai & Brad Pitt

Wild & Wonderful Bonsai, but No Tanuki Please

A couple things qualify this bonsai as unusual. First, as you can see, it’s got all kind of lines looping and jutting in an almost chaotic fashion. But there’s a method to the madness. All the loops and juts not only add interest and excitement, but they come together in a way that creates both balance and tension. Second is the fact that it’s a Procumbens juniper. A species that you don’t see that often as specimen level bonsai. You do see a lot of dwarf Procumbens as little beginners’ trees here in north America, but that’s another story. Yesterday’s … Continue reading Wild & Wonderful Bonsai, but No Tanuki Please

Brad Pitt, Bonsai Artist?

Brad Bjorn posing with an impressive (Stewartia?) bonsai. From an article in Architectural Digest titled “Meet the Brad Pitt of Bonsai.” We don’t usually feature photos of people. I almost always find people in bonsai photos distracting. Rather than ‘look at me with my beautiful bonsai,’ I prefer ‘look at this beautiful bonsai.’ However, occasionally photos of people with trees work. In this case, because the article is about Bjorn Bjorholm, “the tall, blond, all-American,” a couple photos of Bjorn with bonsai are appropriate and necessary. Otherwise how would you know? The article in question, ‘Meet the Brad Pitt of … Continue reading Brad Pitt, Bonsai Artist?

What’s Eccentric?

This wildly elaborate juniper bonsai is from Bjorn Bjornholm’s facebook photos. It’s a case where a darker background would work better, but borrowers can’t be choosey. Here Bjorn’s caption: “Procumbens wired and ready for its trip to Tokyo.” When I saw the photo above my first thought was… it’s been a while since we did a post on eccentric bonsai, so why not? On reflection however, the whole notion of eccentric is called into question. This has a lot to do with the sudden spread of bonsai throughout the world and the cross pollination made possible by easy travel and … Continue reading What’s Eccentric?

Who Doesn’t Love Good Multi-Trunk Bonsai with Their Morning Coffee?

Trident maple at the 2013 Taikan-ten Exhibition which is happening right now (Nov 18-26). There’s a lot going on with the tree; three major trunks and a baby one sticking out the back, a large mounding nebari and a whole lot of movement. I particularly like the trunk on the right that emerges from the base of the nebari (the base of the base). I borrowed the photo from Bjorn Bjorholm (facebook of course). I started this post thinking we’d show a few Taikan-ten Exhibition trees from the last few years. A sort of mini-history lesson. But that proved too … Continue reading Who Doesn’t Love Good Multi-Trunk Bonsai with Their Morning Coffee?

Chaos & Harmony

A couple things qualify this bonsai as unusual. First, as you can see, it’s got all kind of lines looping and jutting in an almost chaotic fashion. But there’s a method to the madness. All the loops and juts not only add interest and excitement, but they come together into a very compelling overall shape. Second is the fact that it’s a Procumbens juniper. A species that you don’t see that often as specimen level bonsai. You do see a lot of dwarf Procumbens as little beginners’ trees here in north America, but that’s another story. Bjorn Bjorholm is one … Continue reading Chaos & Harmony

Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

After. This masterpiece Itoigawa Shimpaku was recently restyled by Bjorn Bjorholm at Keiichi Fujikawa’s Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Ikeda City, Japan, where Bjorn is currently an apprentice. The photo is from a post on Bjorn’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio blog, as are all the photos in this post. The Biggest Loser In Bjorn’s own words… “This massive Itoigawa Shimpaku has a long history as a bonsai. It was first shown in the Kokufu-ten about 35 years ago, back in the days before the boom in major refinement techniques and quality occurred. Since then, it was purchased by several different owners and … Continue reading Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

An Inexplicable Oversight

I’m going to guess that this peerless pine, with its strong sinuous trunk is a Japanese black pine, rather than a Japanese red. However, there’s no need to guess about the quality of the tree or where we found it (world-class quality and Bjorn Bjorholm’s website). I don’t know exactly how this inexplicable oversight happened, but suffice it to say that I’m amazed and a little befuddled that we haven’t yet featured the truly remarkable bonsai on Bjorn Bjorholm’s website (Bjorvala Bonsai Studio) or the story of Bjorn’s apprenticeship in Japan. Especially given that Bjorn is practically from our own … Continue reading An Inexplicable Oversight