A Bunjin Story

I borrowed this unusual Bunjin style Sierra juniper from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. The article is titled Developing an Unpromising Sierra Juniper Bunjin – student work from Seasonal. There’s something about threes It often works to divide things into thirds to better understand them and for discussion sake. In this tree’s case, you might be struck by the fact that it has three distinct sections: 1. The base. The lowest part starts with a radical slant then takes an abrupt twist. This sudden change of direction is both fluid and abrupt and tells much of the tree’s story. It’s a … Continue reading A Bunjin Story

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

Bonsai Wisdom

This magnificent juniper appears on Bonsai Boon in a section on Bay Island Bonsai’s 2011 Exhibit. I’ll assume it belongs to Boon (his name accompanies the photo, though it doesn’t state unequivocally that it’s his tree and I’ve been fooled before). I dug around for a little while but couldn’t find the species or anything else on this tree. No doubt the info is out there somewhere. Bonsai is primarily a technical endeavor The following quote is by Michael Hagedorn. It’s from an article titled ‘A Student’s Report’ that appears in the Bonsai Intensive section of Boon Manakitivipart’s (Bonsai Boon) … Continue reading Bonsai Wisdom

Quiet Dignity

This Cryptomeria japonica is reminisent of the unimaginably vast and towering Giant sequoias in California’s Sierra Nevadas. This effect could be enhanced by photographing it from a little lower (see the photo below), but you still get the drift. Far and few between What a great tree. It’s from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. You seldom see a real good formal upright bonsai (you don’t see very many formal uprights at all) and you don’t see many good Cryptomeria bonsai either. Especially in the West; they are more common in Japan (their common name in English is Japanese cedar, even though … Continue reading Quiet Dignity

Out Stealing Bonsai Ideas

Major surgery. From a Bonsai Tonight post entitled ‘Best repotting of the year.’ Rapid evolution There’s a lot going on with bonsai these days, and it’s happening fast and right before our eyes. If you look at the evolution of bonsai, you’ll find slow but steady development up until sometime in the 1980s when the explosion began. Kimura was introducing power tools and Bonsai was becoming international. Suddenly bonsai books and magazines were springing up everywhere, and, at the same time, along comes the internet. Now, new (and old) ideas abound everywhere. Black ponderosa pine? Japanese black pine grafted onto … Continue reading Out Stealing Bonsai Ideas

American Bonsai Heaven

Still a work in progress, but an exceptional work at that. Douglas fir, styled by Ryan Neil. Collected by Randy Knight. Full tilt bonsai Is it just me, or has Oregon quietly become bonsai heaven? Think about it; Michael Hagedorn (Crataegus Bonsai) has been hunkering down in Portland every since he returned from his apprenticeship with Shinji Suzuki in Japan. Now Ryan Neil (International Bonsai Mirai), still somewhat fresh from his six year apprenticeship with Masahiko Kimura (if you’ve heard of anybody, you’ve heard of him) has settled in the Portland area too. Both Michael and Ryan are going full … Continue reading American Bonsai Heaven

The Prime Minister’s Award

Shinji Suzuki’s 2010 Prime Minister Award Juniper. Borrowed from Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai (the original photo includes the stand – it’s a long story). Michael is an accomplished American bonsai artist and teacher, and the author of Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. In Michael’s own words The following was lifted from Crataegus Bonsai: “My teacher’s juniper from the 2010 Sakafu show has been my favorite since it first came into his studio in 2006, and I was in my last year apprenticing there. The delicacy and naturalness of this meter-high tree has always left me spellbound. He … Continue reading The Prime Minister’s Award

Stealing from Michael Once Again: Matt Reel & Other Bonsai News

Matt Reel. Another American apprentice in Japan. From Kinbon magazine via Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai. Japan’s most prestigious I don’t think it’s very often that a young American bonsai apprentice shows up in Kinbon, Japan’s most prestigious bonsai magazine. The artist is Matt Reel, who has been apprenticing in Japan under Shinji Suzuki since 2006. Matt is from Portland, Oregon (that’s where Michael Hagedorn and Crataegus reside). If you’d like see more photos and read what Michael has to say about Matt, you can visit Crataegus (one of my favorite bonsai sites). Michael’s excellent book Michael Hagedorn also apprenticed in … Continue reading Stealing from Michael Once Again: Matt Reel & Other Bonsai News

Digging Around Pays Off

You can find this monarch of bunjin pines and other great trees on Michael Hagedorn’s Crataegus Bonsai website. This one is from the 2004 Taikan Ten show in Japan and is part of an article called Japanese Shows that Michael posted in 2008 (the caption says White pine; however, it looks like a Black pine to me). Digging around Sometimes digging around through old material pays off (if you call 2008 old). I found this powerful, stately old pine (above) and several other magnificent trees while digging around Michael Hagedorn’s postings on Crataegus Bonsai. It’s part of a posting called … Continue reading Digging Around Pays Off