Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

After. This masterpiece Itoigawa Shimpaku was recently restyled by Bjorn Bjorholm at Keiichi Fujikawa’s Kouka-en Bonsai Nursery in Ikeda City, Japan, where Bjorn is currently an apprentice. The photo is from a post on Bjorn’s Bjorvala Bonsai Studio blog, as are all the photos in this post. The Biggest Loser In Bjorn’s own words… “This massive Itoigawa Shimpaku has a long history as a bonsai. It was first shown in the Kokufu-ten about 35 years ago, back in the days before the boom in major refinement techniques and quality occurred. Since then, it was purchased by several different owners and … Continue reading Bjorn’s Biggest Loser

Three Famous Sargents

Everything about this famous Sargent juniper (Juniperus chinensis var. sargentii) seems to be flowing, with its shari that looks like melting wax and its gracefully descending foliage. The tree resides at Kunio Kobayashi’s Shunka-en Bonsai Museum in Tokyo. It won the Prime Minister Award at the 1998 Taikan-ten. Its height is 26″ (66 cm) and its estimated age is 200 years. The photo is from Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature. Every morning before getting started with my recent bonsai lessons with Michael Hagedorn, we would spend a little time looking through Kokufu albums. The exercise was illuminating and I wanted … Continue reading Three Famous Sargents

Silk Carving & Some of the Best Bonsai in the World

I believe we’ve shown this remarkable tree before, but it’s worth another shot. It’s easy to be impressed by a tree like this; it’s massive girth and equally massive spread alone compel our attention. But there’s more of course; the strong nebari that helps create an overall sense of stability and balance, the texture and movement of the trunk and lower branches, the lush thick canopy with just enough open space to keep it from being too heavy, and so on. Altogether a world-class bonsai. This tree and the rest in this post are by Cheng, Cheng-Kung, a world-class bonsai … Continue reading Silk Carving & Some of the Best Bonsai in the World

Lost & Found

Shadow dance. Here’s one that we didn’t show on our now vanished post (see below). The tree was on display at the Noelanders Trophy Exhibition and the image is courtesy Crataegus Bonsai, as are all the images in this post. I don’t know who the artist is. One more time. A week or so ago I accidentally deleted a post on the Noelander Trophy Exhibit. I had borrowed the images from Crataegus Bonsai, so I thought I’d go through and post some again, including one that was posted before. Speaking of Crataegus Bonsai, I just finished studying wiring with Mr. … Continue reading Lost & Found

Still Sleeping at the Switch

Do you recognize this award winning Shimpaku juniper? It appears in Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature (and older version is in the gallery of our Masters Series Juniper book). It belongs to Masahiko Kimura. The photo is by Jonathan Singer, as are all three photos in this post and all of the photos in Fine Bonsai. The three trees shown here are all from a review of the book Fine Bonsai, Art and Nature, that appears at Smithsonian.com. We were alerted to the review by Matt Calcavecchia in the comments on a recent post (scroll down to the last tree … Continue reading Still Sleeping at the Switch

The Unexpected Surprise

Shimpaku juniper from Peter Tea’s latest post, titled Shimpaku, The Unexpected Surprise. My apologies to Peter for cropping the bottom of the pot to get rid of a distracting white band that appears in the the original (it’s below so you can decide for yourself if my pickiness has gotten out of control). It’s a great story and the tree’s not half bad either. If you’re not familiar with Peter Tea and his bonsai blog, please allow me to introduce him (once again). Peter’s work with bonsai is inspiring, and his writing about his experience as an bonsai apprentice is … Continue reading The Unexpected Surprise

Traveling Pot Meister

I don’t recognize this sculptural Shimpaku and it’s not labeled on the Japanese Bonsai Pots Blog (random photos section), from whence I borrowed it (it belongs to Mr. Chiu Chung Cheng, see comments below). I like the overall composition; the way the stand, pot and tree go so well together. One thing that seems a little unusual, is how large the live vein is relative to the rather narrow branch that it supports. I’ve been meaning to feature Ryan Bell’s Japanese Bonsai Pots Blog ever since I stumbled upon it a couple months ago. For a relative bonsai newcomer, I’m … Continue reading Traveling Pot Meister

An Embarrassment of Riches

I believe that this is our first tree from Matt Reel’s blog (though we featured a photo of Matt, with a tree that we lifted from Crataegus Bonsai almost two years ago). Matt is an American bonsai apprentice in Japan. We’ll have to more to say about him and his blog another time, but meanwhile, here’s what he has to say about this tree: “This Red Pine has such a broad apex it makes me giggle to myself at times, however, one might feel a little tipsy with all that leaning movement if there was a little dainty apex instead. … Continue reading An Embarrassment of Riches

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

Finally! A Very Good Start

Shimpaku juniper by Suthin Sukosolvisit. I’ve been waiting for years for Suthin Sukosolvisit to update his website and finally the wait has paid off. Well, sort of… Suthin’s classy looking new site is a very good start, but only two of Suthin’s world-class bonsai are featured so far (the two shown here). I’m hoping we don’t have to wait much longer to enjoy more of Suthin’s magnificent trees. Just in case you don’t know who Suthin (pronounced Su tin, BTW) is, well… in no uncertain terms, he is one of the world’s foremost Shohin bonsai artists (and a foremost bonsai … Continue reading Finally! A Very Good Start