Can’t Really Pick a Favorite, But…

Suthin has a way with Hinoki cypress. And a way with bonsai altogether. The more I look at this tree, the more I like it. If I were to go back through our nine hundred or so posts so far and pick my favorites, this one would surely make the grade. This photo and the others in this post are from Suthin’s facebook timeline. It would be very difficult if we had pick a favorite bonsai or a favorite bonsai artist. There are simply too many good ones, with so many different types of trees and styles. However, if I … Continue reading Can’t Really Pick a Favorite, But…

Just in Case You Don’t Know Marco…

This remarkable bonsai is labeled Taiwanese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) in Marco Invernizzi’s gallery. The stock for this bonsai was most likely field grown in Taiwan along with thousands of others. BTW: Taiwanese junipers are sometimes confused with the native Squamata juniper which grow wild in the mountains of Taiwan (there’s more on this in this Bark post from February). It has been a few months since we visited Marco Invernizzi’s bonsai gallery. Just in case you don’t know Marco, he was one of Masahiko Kimura’s first apprentices and was also one of the first Western bonsai artists to become a … Continue reading Just in Case You Don’t Know Marco…

Shooting The Magician at Night

Black pine in the black of night. From the collection of Masahiko Kimura (The Magician). All the photos in this post are from an El Tim Bonsai facebook photo album title KIMURA. It’s still mid-summer vacation time and we’re still digging deep into our archives. This post is from September 2012. Our last post featured The Magician (Masahiko Kimura), so it looks like we’ve got a theme, at least for the moment. To amuse myself I changed the title from simply The Magician at Night to what you see above. Shooting in the dark It’s not too often you see … Continue reading Shooting The Magician at Night

There’s Something About Junipers

The caption from our Juniper book and our original post back in 2010 says “Shore Juniper (J. procumbens)” but that just can’t be. If it’s a Shore juniper, then it’s J. conferta. If it’s a J procumbens then you have to decide if it’s the common ‘Nana’ variety or another variety of procumbens. If it’s another variety of procumbens then the whole naming game is a little more confusing. In any case, this stunning juniper bonsai is by master bonsai innovator, Masahiko Kimura. It combines the sculptural look that has been favored by some Japanese bonsai artists (especially in the … Continue reading There’s Something About Junipers

A Quick Study in Deadwood

It’s all about the deadwood (and the crown). Deadwood is sometimes overplayed, especially on Shimpaku. But even though the deadwood is dominant on this tree, the powerful and well constructed crown offers a good sense of balance. All three photos in this post are from Marco Invernizzi’s website. I’m still on vacation, so we’ll make no pretense of in-depth analysis of deadwood this morning (not that we ever do much in-depth analysis of anything). Just three photos of Shimpaku from Marco Invernizzi’s website with a few quick comments and a little word from our sponsor. Marco Invernizzi studied extensively with … Continue reading A Quick Study in Deadwood

A Mind Bending Transformation

You’ll never guess what happened to this tree (unless you’ve seen our Masters’ Series Juniper book or Bonsai Today issue 21). Here’s a hint: it was flipped upside down somewhere along the way from where it started (below) to where it ended (above). The artist is Masahiko Kimura, aka The Magician. Bonsai Today back issues and our Masters’ Series books present literally hundreds of bonsai techniques. Some are quite simple and suitable for any beginner. Many others are fairly advanced, though doable if you pay close attention and take your time. And then there are the few techniques that no … Continue reading A Mind Bending Transformation

Kimura on the Rocks

The mature look. It helps to start with well developed trees. I think most of us would be happy to have trees like these Shimpaku as single bonsai, let alone as parts of group plantings. Kimura’s rock plantings. These photos are all from a facebook posting by Alejandro Sartori that he took during a recent visit to Masahiko Kimura’s nursery. I’ve chosen to pick out some rock plantings from a much larger selection of Alejandro’s photographs of Kimura’s trees. I think they represent an aspect of Kimura’s revolutionary bonsai journey that may not be as familiar as some of his … Continue reading Kimura on the Rocks

The Finest of the Fine

This luminous Tensho Satsuki Azalea belongs to Joseph Noga of Winterville, NC. You can find it and the other photos in this post, in Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. The finest of the fine It’s not that these are the finest bonsai in the world and it’s not that they aren’t either. It’s more the combination of top quality bonsai and top quality photography has resulted in some of the finest bonsai photos you’ll see anywhere. In this vein, it’s important to bear in mind that these digital images, though very good, are inadequate. For the full effect and for … Continue reading The Finest of the Fine

The Other Cascade: Before & After

After by Kimura (aka the Magician). This photo is from a chapter in our Masters’ Series Pine Book titled Masahiko Kimura Transforms A Semi-Cascade. The tree is a Japanese white pine (Pinus parviflora). The other cascade Correct me if I’m wrong, but it seem to me that, with the exception of Junipers (especially the ever present Procumbens nana) you don’t see that many semi-cascade bonsai (I just scrolled back through the last couple month of Bonsai Bark and about 10% of the trees featured are semi-cascade; more than I thought I’d find, but still, not that many). Actually, you don’t … Continue reading The Other Cascade: Before & After

Finally… Winners!

Tree number one (Matthew Logan’s comments… Ferry’s is too long for this spot; you can find it at the bottom of the post): Eric Wigert- Buttonwood, housed at his nursery, used as the tree on his business cards. Tree was collected in 2002. Carving work done by Lui Rayon. 48” tall 6” nebari. Tokoname Pot. Displayed at Epcot in 2005. Nice tree to look at in person. http://wigertsbonsai.com/. In the gallery 27th tree. Be careful what you promise I don’t always know how to handle apologies. It’s simple when ignorance or unkindness cause harm, but a little murkier when I … Continue reading Finally… Winners!