Olive bonsai

A Boon to Bonsai

From chuhin to shohin. I have a soft spot for stubby little trees. Especially ones with reams of character like this European olive that was originally a stump dug from Boon Manakitivipart’s garden. Bonsai Boon Boon Manakitivipart is without doubt one of North America’s most influential bonsai artists and teachers. Several of his students have become important artists and teachers in their own right, and countless trees of Boon’s and his students’ have appeared on this blog, in magazines and books and elsewhere on the web. All of the photos in this posts (except the very last one) are from … Continue reading A Boon to Bonsai

Local Bonsai Styles

Uruguay anyone? Do this and the other trees in this post, reflect a regional or local bonsai style? (from facebook; Andres Bicocca wall photos.) Correction: Andres is from Argentina. An open question Though there are no doubt styles that develop around certain teachers and certain types of trees, and in some cases there are certainly cultural influences (Japan seems the most obvious here), still, pinning down what you might call a local style may not be all that easy. You and your next door neighbor may have quite different approaches to bonsai and your trees might bear little resemblance to … Continue reading Local Bonsai Styles

Beware the Terriers!

A good mix of freshly carved and aged olive wood. The carving was done by Graham Potter. The aged wood is courtesy of Mother Nature and Father Time. Graham’s video series The shots here are from a wood carving demo by Graham Potter; one of many in an excellent, ongoing series.