Suburban Yamadori

This old Japanese yew (Taxus cuspidata) belongs to Mauro Stemberger. The color coordinated pot is by Petra Hahn (even the moss has reddish spots). I found the photo on The Art of Bonsai Project. We’ve been featuring Yews and carved deadwood a lot lately. An auspicious match, as you can readily see in the photos shown here. One of the great things about Yews is they grow almost everywhere. Half the landscapes here in the Eastern U.S. sport a yew or two. For some of us, it’s possible to find good ones for bonsai in our own front yards (suburban … Continue reading Suburban Yamadori

One of the Most Compelling Bonsai

This has to be one of the most compelling bonsai I’ve seen in a while. It has that wild, not overly refined look and ‘just so’ deadwood (it’s not dominated by deadwood like so many trees). But the real deal is the trunk. When was the last time you saw a trunk with so much power and character? This before and after is more about refinement than styling rough stock. Less daunting perhaps, but only someone skilled in the art of bonsai can do what you see here. In this case, that someone is Gabriel Romero Aguade (Bonsai Sant-boi) (this … Continue reading One of the Most Compelling Bonsai

Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Harry Harrington’s latest iteration of his English yew. Here’s what Harry said about this tree three days ago: ” Finally, work on my Taxus baccata/ Yew bonsai completed with the branches wired and laid-out. Height 25″/61cm, trunkbase (inc root jin) 12″/30cm. Pot by Victor Harris of Erin Pottery.” I’ve been watching the evolution of Harry Harrington’s bonsai for a long time now. In fact, one of our first posts is from Harry’s bonsai4me (March 2009). Now, almost seven years later we have the (you can supply your own adjectives) tree shown here. It’s an English (aka European) Yew (Taxus baccata). … Continue reading Evolution of Remarkable Bonsai

Carving Deadwood – How About Yew?

Every time I open Bonsai Today issue 106 and lay my eyes on this wickedly powerful, dynamic old English yew, my mind does a little double take. It may not look exactly like anything you’ll see in nature, but it certainly jumps off the page. It’s by Kevin Willson, bonsai artist and deadwood carver extraordinaire. Photo by Simon Carr. We’ve been flirting with deadwood a lot lately, so let’s keep going. This time we’ll dip back into our archives and resurrect a post that originally appeared in 2011. A labor of love Yew wood is very hard. Harder than almost … Continue reading Carving Deadwood – How About Yew?

A Dilemma We’d All Like To Have

These two views of the same tree and the question posed (below) are from Tony Tickle’s website. The tree shown here belongs to Tony Tickle. It’s a Yew (the species isn’t mentioned, but I’m guessing English). You can find it on Tony’s Bonsai & Yamadori site under the heading Please choose your favorite ‘Front’ for this Yew. If you visit Bonsai & Yamadori you can vote for your favorite front (aka best view), and, if you’re really ambitious, you can explain yourself in the comments (you can do the same in our comments below). Meanwhile, I’ll keep my opinion to myself. … Continue reading A Dilemma We’d All Like To Have

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. All the photos in this post are from the Noelanders Trophy XV which was recently held in Belgium. The photos are all borrowed from Philippe Massard … Continue reading Opulent, Outrageous & Outstanding

…You Don’t See Bonsai Everyday, Yamadori or Othewise…

This wide-body old yamadori is the feature tree on Kevin Willson’s website. It looks like an English yew. That’s just a guess, though an educated(?) one, based on this and some other fading memories. You almost never see domestically grown bonsai that begin to approach the power and beauty of the best yamadori (trees collected in the wild). Carrying this a step further, you don’t see bonsai everyday, yamadori or otherwise, with the power and beauty of the trees shown here. The artist is Kevin Willson (we’ve featured him here on Bark and in Bonsai Today). Kevin’s website consists of … Continue reading …You Don’t See Bonsai Everyday, Yamadori or Othewise…

Saving a Yew from the Wood Pile

Friday. This and the other images in this post were are lifted from Graham Potter’s video, ‘A Yew saved from the woodpile.’ Graham Potter’s bonsai videos are remarkably popular (the one featured here has been viewed over 138,000 times on youtube and who knows how many times on Graham’s Kaizen Bonsai website) and it’s no wonder. Not only are they very well-made and highly instructive, but they are also, at times, simply astounding (too much coffee this morning?). This one features a five day transformation of an old English yew (Taxus baccata), some great highbrow music and a wealth of … Continue reading Saving a Yew from the Wood Pile

Tony Tickle’s ‘The Calligrapher’

The Calligrapher. You don’t need anything but your eyes and a little imagination to appreciate the the story of this remarkable little Yew’s (Taxus baccata) time spent on a remote rocky outcropping somewhere in England. But then there’s the story of the time it spent in Tony Tickle’s bonsai collection, where, instead of rough weather and poor soil, it experience a human-caused series of dramatic changes. The result is a refreshing break with convention that evokes a sense of delight and a big question mark (part of the answer is here). BTW: I don’t usually say too much about people … Continue reading Tony Tickle’s ‘The Calligrapher’

How About Yew (Carving Deadwood)?

Every time I open Bonsai Today issue 106 and lay my eyes on this wickedly powerful, dynamic old English yew, my mind does a little double take. It may not look exactly like anything you’ll see in nature, but it certainly jumps off the page. It’s by Kevin Willson, bonsai artist and deadwood carver extraordinaire. Photo by Simon Carr. A labor of love Yew wood is very hard. Harder than almost any other type of wood. In this light, take a look at the photo below and then at the photo above. Now imagine all that carving with only hand … Continue reading How About Yew (Carving Deadwood)?