Two Beautiful Bonsai & Two Questions

I would love to know more about this this powerful Japanese maple, especially the artist’s name. I recognize the logo in the corner, but there are no credits with the photo. Thanks to Michael Bonsai we now know this tree is from the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum collection. NOTE: Since we posted this Oscar from Bonsai Empire has gotten in touch and very graciously thanked us for pointing out the problems. He came up with a solution to attribution and is working on other solutions. My thanks to Oscar and friends. I look forward to meeting you at the Artisans … Continue reading Two Beautiful Bonsai & Two Questions

Forests Again – Focal Point, Balance, Scale, Age & That Elusive Quality…

I stumbled across the European hornbeam (Carpinus betulas) by Walter Pall on his Bonsai Adventures blog. The shot looks like spring with some trees lagging behind others. Continuing with our forest theme, we’ll go back in time once again to a post that originally appeared about 17 months ago (we’ve added a photo and a little more text). I think it’s one of our best on forests, and worth another look. Without the dominant tree this forest planting by Walter Pall would be a whole lot less interesting. With the dominant tree the planting has a focal point, balance, scale, … Continue reading Forests Again – Focal Point, Balance, Scale, Age & That Elusive Quality…

Pointing the Way

Three years ago when we originally showed this tree we didn’t have any idea who the artist was. We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments (from the second posting last year ): “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find this newer and better photo (the original is below). This post is worth a third time. It’s rich in bonsai beauty and information. First time was titled The Trend Only Gets More Outrageous (be sure to read the comments). The second was There Are … Continue reading Pointing the Way

Don’t Starve Your Bonsai

Lush summer foliage and impressive deadwood on an old Shimpaku juniper.The lush foliage is the result of timely feeding. The photo is from our Masters Series Juniper book (due back in print in December). I know the tree is from Japan, but don’t know who the artist is. Many, if not most people underfeed their bonsai. There are many reasons why ample fertilizing is critical to developing healthy and beautiful bonsai. I’ll list a few (if I missed something important, please let us know in the comments). 1. It’s up to you. Most bonsai soils don’t contain nutrients. This means … Continue reading Don’t Starve Your Bonsai

Photographing Bonsai – Which Background Is Best?

Background #1. This exceptional Mugo pine belongs to Walter Pall. The pot is by Peter Krebs. For more on this tree and others you can visit Walter’s Bonsai Adventures blog. If you’ve been following Bark for a while, you might have noticed that we have long advocated paying attention to the quality of the photos you present and that just shooting willy-nilly with little concern about background noise, lighting, space around the tree and so forth, diminishes the beauty of even the best bonsai. Walter Pall grows and styles great bonsai and goes the extra distance when it come to … Continue reading Photographing Bonsai – Which Background Is Best?

Adventures in Bonsai

This splendid Mugo pine with its impressive deadwood belongs to Walter Pall. You can find it on his blog, Bonsai Adventures. It was collected in Switzerland by Peter Thali in 2003. It is 60cm (24″) high and according to Walter, about 150 years old. The pot is by Derek Aspinall. Even though more and more bonsai action is moving to facebook, there are still a number of excellent bonsai blogs out there in our digital wonderland, and Walter Pall’s Bonsai Adventures is one of the very best. How Walter puts together, styles and maintains such a vast and impressive collection … Continue reading Adventures in Bonsai

How to Take an Exceptional Old Bonsai & Make It Extraordinary

This Ezo spruce (Picea jezoenis) belongs to Walter Pall. The hand built tray accentuates its untouched natural look. The tree was originally collected in Hokkaido, Japan sometime before 1950 and is over 100 years old. The tray (Walter calls it a stone) is by Dietmar Popp. This photo and the rest in this post are from Walter’s facebook photos. In addition to his excellent bonsai, I like Walter Pall’s instructive step-by-step presentations (you can find them on facebook and on his Bonsai Adventures blog). It’s like you’re standing right there looking over his shoulder. Or in this case, Thomas’s shoulder … Continue reading How to Take an Exceptional Old Bonsai & Make It Extraordinary

How About Yew?

This rather spectacular, muscular Japanese yew resides at the Omiya Bonsai Art Museum in Saitama, Japan, along with numerous other top tier bonsai. The pot looks like it could be Tokoname. Though you can’t see the back, it’s possible that the single live vein in the front supports all of the foliage in the tree’s impressively massive crown. Apologies for the bad pun in the title. We’ll blame it on faulty wiring (of the physiological type rather than the bonsai type). While we’re at it here’s another bad Yew pun. One of the great thing about Yews (Taxus) is they … Continue reading How About Yew?

Walter’s Fairy Tale Bonsai

Walter Pall just put this Oriental Hornbeam up on his Bonsai Adventures blog yesterday. I’m not so sure Walter would say the tree is as developed as he’d like, but it is at least well on its way. Especially considering it is one of his ‘Fairy Tale’ bonsai. A style that tends to have a wild almost primeval look. Walter Pall is nothing if not inventive. Don’t believe me (though I don’t know why you wouldn’t)? Here, here and here are a some pieces of evidence from posts found right here on Bonsai Bark. If you want more evidence, you … Continue reading Walter’s Fairy Tale Bonsai

There Are No Rules (but What About Guidelines?)

Same tree, better photo. The original caption from a post two years ago started with: “Snakes. From Estação Bonsai on Facebook. I couldn’t find any mention of the artist….” We were none the wiser until someone offered this in the comments: “The first sabina juniper you mention is from Patrick Cremers..” Once we had a name it was easy to find the new photo (the original is below). However, I can’t tell if Patrick is the artist, the photographer, or just someone who posted this photo (confused yet?). Here’s a link if you’d like to explore further. We’re a little … Continue reading There Are No Rules (but What About Guidelines?)