An Unusual Bonsai by An Unusually Gifted Bonsai Artist

Though it’s not as powerful as many other Kimura trees (see below), nor is it considered one of his classics, still… there’s that unusual trunk that give pause for thought. It’s a Japanese Yew that appears in The Bonsai Art of Kimura (long out of print). There is no explanation given for how the trunk was formed. Is it possible that Kimura split the original trunk and doubled it back on itself? It’s Saturday morning, the leaves are turning and it’s a beautiful day. Time to dig into our archives and then get outside and enjoy Vermont at its best. … Continue reading An Unusual Bonsai by An Unusually Gifted Bonsai Artist

Magician 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. Summers are short here in Vermont, it’s Sunday morning and the sun has decided to make an appearance. Time to dig into our archives and vacate this office before petrification sets in. We just mentioned Kimura (last post) so why not show some of his remarkable bonsai? This post originally appeared last summer. To shed a little more light, you might want to visit the … Continue reading Magician on the Rocks

Twisted & Otherwise Abused

Man made twisting. This little Shimpaku juniper was grown (in Japan) and shaped by human hands. Whoever grew it did a great job at creating a natural effect – it’s almost impossible to mimic the raw and rugged look that nature sometimes comes up with after hundreds of years of stressful conditions. The final styling was done by Masahiko Kimura. You can find this photo and the chapter that shows Kimura shaping this tree in The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2. The following photos are from a post titled Creating Twisted Juniper on a blog that I happily … Continue reading Twisted & Otherwise Abused

A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

Unfinished, but wild and wonderful. I wonder what this Scot’s pine bunjin beauty looked like before it was collected somewhere in the wilds of Sweden. It belongs to Muaro Stemberger. It’s from his facebook page. Mauro also has a website. It’s called Italian Bonsai Dream. Traveling once again, so we’ll resume our archival explorations. This one, originally titled Bunjin Bonsai Bliss is from October, 2011 (with some current editing and elaboration), though any Bark discussion of Bunjin warrants a mention of Moving Out of the Bonsai Mainstream with a Deft and Delicate Touch (from December 2012), whose comments are the longest … Continue reading A Fascinating Mix of Insight & Opinion

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…

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

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. Time for another summer rerun. Today I’m embarking on a trip to the other coast, so it seems like a good idea to continue our summer vacation series of resurrected oldies but goodies. This one is from last December. 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 … Continue reading Kimura on the Rocks

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

Stretching a Shimpaku from Kimura’s Bag of Tricks

After. Almost twice as tall (the before photo is below). So tall that there’s barely room in the photo for the top of the tree (that’s a bad joke, but the photo is a little cramped). Shimpaku juniper, height 28″ (71cm). From The Magician, The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2. For expediences sake There’s a lot going on here right now, so for expediences sake I’ve decided to resurrect a post from two years ago. It was titled That’s A Stretch, but for the sake of originality, we’ll call it Stretching a Shimpaku from Kimura’s Bag of Tricks this time. … Continue reading Stretching a Shimpaku from Kimura’s Bag of Tricks

An All-Time Favorite

After. Finished for the moment. The challenge was for Masahiko Kimura to style a bunjin (literati) bonsai with only one branch (see below for where he started). Its uniqueness lies in its striking simplicity. It’s a Japanese red pine (Pinus densiflora). From a December 2009 post and before that from our Masters’ Series The Magician, the Bonsai Art of Kimura 2 (before that it appeared in Bonsai Today issue 69). This tree and its story are among our all-time favorites . Though it’s hard to say what Kimura would have done with this tangled-up bunjin had he not been challenged … Continue reading An All-Time Favorite