The Magician: The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2

Energy Balancing #4: Kimura’s Sacrifice Branches

The huge girth and dramatic taper on this powerful Satsuki azalea, were achieved primarily through the use of sacrifice branches. In fact, you’ll notice that some are still being employed to help thicken the primary branches. This photo is from The Magician: The Bonsai Art of Kimura 2, by Stone Lantern Publishing. Single sacrifice branches and unsightly scarring In energy balancing #3 we showed a juniper with a single sacrifice branch at the top. Single sacrifice branches are often used, especially to thicken trunks, and they can work quite well. However, one problem with using single branches is that, in … Continue reading Energy Balancing #4: Kimura’s Sacrifice Branches

Bonsai & You (tube): Mixed Gallery

This is a collection of images that someone put together. I recognized several trees, including at least one Kimura (The Magician), one Morten Albek (author of Shohin Bonsai), and one Wolfgang Putz. Overall the quality is very good, though a few fairly ordinary trees found their way in.

Spanish Chainsaw Massacre

If you haven’t seen the Magician wielding a chainsaw, check this out. It’s from a 2007 bonsai convention at Mistral Bonsai in the Spanish province of Tarragona (I was there, but that’s another story). Kimura’s assistant is Salvatore Liporace, a well know Italian bonsai artist and author of several Bonsai Today articles. When Masahiko Kimura introduced his custom made chainsaw into the bonsai world, it created a buzz that was heard first in the Japanese bonsai community and then throughout the world (well, world bonsai community).