A Melancólico & Gracioso Walk Among the Bonsai

This powerful and complex bonsai is the handiwork of Nacho Marin. It’s a bit of a long story, but Bonsai Do* provided famous quotes in Spanish with photos of bonsai. The quote with this tree follows: El otoño es un andante melancólico y gracioso que prepara admirablemente el solemne adagio del invierno – Fall is a sad and graceful walk that admirably prepares for the solemn walk of winter. (George Sand). Yesterday it was all Nacho. So we’ll keep the ball rolling in the same direction. This post originally appeared here in January 2015. It was titled ‘Un andante gracioso … Continue reading A Melancólico & Gracioso Walk Among the Bonsai

Michelangelo & Bonsai at Its Best

I’m loving this tree. Even though we know it has been worked by human hands, the link to its natural state hasn’t been lost at all. If anything it has been enhanced. Bonsai at its best! No variety is given, though it looks like a collected juniper. Nacho Marin is someone who was already an artist when he discovered bonsai and who brought his vision, talent and experience to the art. And though people often say that we are all artists, still, most of us will never be Michelangelo,* no matter how hard we try… The images shown here are … Continue reading Michelangelo & Bonsai at Its Best

Heads Up! & Deck the Bonsai

Though most Christmas trees have their charm and some are genuine works of art, still, this has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. Happy Holidays! This tree by Nacho Marin is one of the best, if not the best, bonsai Christmas tree I’ve seen yet. It’s not the first time we’ve shown it (2013 was first) and it may not be the last. Heads Up! Today is our last day shipping day this week. Orders received by noon Eastern Standard Time will be shipped today. Orders received after noon will be shipped next week. The good news … Continue reading Heads Up! & Deck the Bonsai

Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan

The sheer size and power are of this magnificent tree places it in elevated company. It’s a 50cm (20″) tall Ficus microcarpa by one of our favorite South American bonsai artists, Nacho Marin of Venezuela. The pot is by John Evans from the USA. Though this post was inspired by Nacho Marin’s powerful Ficus (above) and though Nacho is South American, when we start looking at Ficus bonsai we seem to circle back to Taiwan. In this case, much of the elevated company (mentioned in the caption above) comes from that island nation. It doesn’t hurt that they have the … Continue reading Elevated Company, Circling Back from Venezuela to Taiwan

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Beast of the Southern Wild. I don’t know the dimensions of this monster, but I do know its name. It’s a Pithecellobium unguis (Catclaw blackbird), a genus and species completely new to me (and probably new to you too). I also know that this particular bonsai is about as unique as they get with nature doing most of the work and Nacho Marin providing the finishing touches. I surrender. Incessant sub zero temperatures (Fahrenheit folks), snow every other day and now a nasty head cold. But still, it could be worse. In fact, it is worse. In Boston that is, … Continue reading Beasts of the Southern Wild

With Buttonwood Bonsai, Nature Does the Real Work

This powerfully compact Buttonwood belongs to Nacho Marin, as do all four Buttonwood bonsai shown here. With Buttonwood bonsai it’s nature that does the real work. Humans find them, dig them, pot them and eliminate branches and other parts that distract from the natural beauty of the tree (ideally, at least). But nature does the twisting, turning and scouring by sand and wind that results in such unusual shapes and magnificent deadwood. I’m told* that much of this shaping and scouring happens during hurricanes and tropical storms. I’ve even heard that Buttonwoods are sometimes violently uprooted and blown to new … Continue reading With Buttonwood Bonsai, Nature Does the Real Work

Un andante gracioso entre el Bonsai

It’s a bit of a long story, but Bonsai Do provides famous quotes in Spanish with photos of bonsai (on facebook). In this case Nacho Marin provided the bonsai and the photo. The quote (with my stab at translation) follows: El otoño es un andante melancólico y gracioso que prepara admirablemente el solemne adagio del invierno – Fall is a sad and graceful walk that admirably prepares for the solemn walk of winter. (George Sand). All the bonsai shown here are by Nacho Marin, as are the photos (facebook). For some reason, we haven’t featured South American bonsai artists much … Continue reading Un andante gracioso entre el Bonsai

Deck the Bonsai

This is the same tree we showed last post, but all decked out this time. Though many Christmas trees have their charm and some are genuine works of art, still, this has to be one of the best I’ve ever seen. All three photos in this post are from Nacho Marin on facebook. Nacho Marin is not the first to turn a bonsai into a Christmas tree. He won’t be last either. But so far, he’s got to be one of the best. BTW: Nacho’s creative juices flow beyond styling and decorating bonsai, into other media. This includes several artistic … Continue reading Deck the Bonsai

Following Nacho

A fantastic, delightful and very unusual tree. I’ve seen about a million bonsai (photos actually), but never one quite like this. It belongs to Nacho Marin (he’s been here before). This photo and the one immediately below are from facebook. No name provided there, but fortunately, the third photo from his website comes with a name (I won’t spoil it for you). I’ve been following Nacho Marin for a while now. Mostly on facebook, but occasionally I visit his website (it’s great, but you need some patience). Anyway, I think Nacho’s bonsai are some of the most fascinating and unique … Continue reading Following Nacho

We Have A Winner

This is the tree that gave people the most trouble. You can blame facebook if you’d like (unattributed and mis-attributed bonsai abound in that crazy free-for-all world). We have Robert Steven to thanks for setting us straight on this one. It’s a Pemphis acidula and the artist is Adjie Christian. And the winner of our $100 Mystery Bonsai Contest is…. Master Bonsai Detective, Joe Rauscher. For his diligence, Joe will receive a $100 gift certificate to Stone Lantern (scroll down to the bottom for the correct answers). A close second Ferry Freriks was hot on Joe’s heels, so we’ve decided … Continue reading We Have A Winner