Bonsai Tonight Visits Picasso

Dan Robinson, famous bonsai innovator and owner of Elandan Gardens, gives 1,500 as the year of origin for this wild Ponderosa pine. Photo by Jonas Dupuich of Bonsai Tonight. The Picasso of Bonsai According to Will Hiltz, the author and publisher of Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees, it was Frank Okimura who first referred to Dan Robinson as the Picasso of Bonsai. I think these photos and the photos in Gnarly Branches make a pretty good case for that name. Another title that fits is Dan is Bonsai Pioneer (also from Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees). The natural in naturalistic The notion … Continue reading Bonsai Tonight Visits Picasso

Random Shots

Naturalistic. Another naturalistic bonsai by Walter Pall. We’ve been featuring Walter’s trees lately, now here’s one more for your enjoyment. Great pot too. No particular theme I’m still on vacation, so I’ll keep it short and hopefully sweet. All of the trees shown in this post are photos posted on facebook by Tae Kikuwon Bonsai. There’s no theme (that I can discern anyway) other than a few trees that caught my eye. Berry rich. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many berries on a Pyracantha bonsai. Maybe not on any bonsai. If you know who this tree belongs … Continue reading Random Shots

Revisting a Famous Tree

2012. Walter Pall’s now famous Scot’s pine as it appears in a recent post on his Bonsai Adventures blog. Actually, it appears in three different iterations in the post, starting with this one (rather than try to explain, you can see for yourself). Walter Pall’s naturalistic Scot’s pine When you hear the words bonsai and naturalistic in the same breath, you might envision someone finding a little tree growing in the wild, digging it up, doing a little trimming here and there, perhaps a bare minimum of wiring (perhaps none at all), sticking it in a pot, and voila, a … Continue reading Revisting a Famous Tree

Bonsai Blogs: A Quick Web Journey

Mystery tree. It’s from Peter Warren’s latest post on his Suruyama blog. Unmentioned, unnamed and the brightest spot in the post. A quick journey around the bonsai web Though we often feature photos from other bonsai blogs, this type of sampling is something new for Bonsai Bark. I suspect you’ll see more in the future. Meanwhile, please don’t feel insulted if your favorite blog isn’t included. No attempt has been made to cover them all, or even search out the very best. Just stuff that caught my attention at the moment. If you know any you’d like to see here, … Continue reading Bonsai Blogs: A Quick Web Journey

Weekly Wire, Bonsai Comic, Shohin Maffia & A Colorful Bonsai Celebration

Look familiar? You may have seen this most excellent Mario Komsta pine before. In fact, it’s possible that we’ve already featured it right here, though I can’t find when or where. Anyway, if we did already show it; it was good then and it’s still good now. Do you recognize this tree? If so, It’s not too late to enter our Bonsai Detectives $250 Mystery Contest. Shohin Maffia? I guess you know what shohin means and you probably have a pretty good grasp of maffia too (even with the double f). Now you can see what happens when … Continue reading Weekly Wire, Bonsai Comic, Shohin Maffia & A Colorful Bonsai Celebration

Three Rare & Wonderful Yamadori Bonsai

Even the most jaded collector has to be amazed when they stumble upon a tree with this much character. It’s from Walter Pall’s conifer gallery. The tree looks a lot like a Ezo spruce, but then, if it was collected in Europe, it couldn’t be. Walter Pall’s conifer gallery The three bonsai shown here have been borrowed courtesy of Walter Pall. They represent a small sampling of Walter’s wonderful conifer collection. Naturalistic bonsai Walter Pall has long been a strong proponent of what he calls ‘naturalistic bonsai.’ To my eye, all three trees in this post speak with a strong … Continue reading Three Rare & Wonderful Yamadori Bonsai

That Old Argument Resurfaces

Hinoki cypress by Dan Robinson. From Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees. An excellent example of a naturalistic bonsai. Judging from your comments… There are two ways we can gauge reader interest. One is by the number of visits to a particular post (our host keeps track for us), and the other is your comments. Judging from your comments, the discussion about the virtues of highly refined Japanese bonsai vs a more naturalistic western style (championed by Walter Pall among others) is a topic that at some of you are interested in. I count myself among this interested group. An impassioned comment … Continue reading That Old Argument Resurfaces

Abstract Bonsai Beauty & Concave Cutters

NOTE 3/24/11: I WAS JUST INFORMED THAT THIS IS A SIMULATION OF A MUCH ROUGHER TREE. MY MISTAKE! EVERYTHING THAT FOLLOWS IS WHAT I WROTE BEFORE THE ERROR WAS CALLED TO MY ATTENTION). This is the kind of bonsai that can stir up opinions. I found it on facebook (of course), under My Bonsai by David. Carvalho. If you look closely, you might notice the little concave piece that appears to be missing from the pot. What’s your cup of tea? If you are a big fan of, let’s say Dan Robinson and his remarkably natural looking bonsai (Gnarly Branches, … Continue reading Abstract Bonsai Beauty & Concave Cutters

Correction & Apologies

Back on November 19th I posted this magnificent tree by Walter Pall. At the time I didn’t know it was Walter’s, so I didn’t attribute it, though I did say where I found it. So far so good… The problem was… … I was convinced it had been photoshopped to enhance the fall color. Now, after reading several comments, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t photoshopped. My apologies to Walter Pall and everyone else. The details are here.