Bonsai tree

I think this wonderfully convoluted beast belongs to Yusuf Sirait; at least it appears on his facebook page. It’s a Pemphis acidula (Santigi).

Bonsai paradise

I wonder just how common naturally contorted wild bonsai stock are on the islands of Indonesia. Based on what I’ve seen online and elsewhere, it’s easy to get the impression that they are so abundant that all you have to do is walk out your door, bend over and pick a few. Somehow though, I doubt that’s the case. If fact, I seem to remember photos from Robert Steven’s Mission of Transformation, that show Robert and friends going to a considerable amount of trouble (even dangerous trouble) to collect wild trees (here’s a relevant post from 2009). Still, Indonesian bonsai artists seem to come up with an endless supply of high quality collected bonsai, and the ones shown here are no exception.

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The wild contortions on this one are a bit more expansive, but nature’s ravages combined with skilled human hands make for the same delightful results. This one belongs to Budi Sulistyo (author of Tropical Bonsai Gallery). The photo is from ofbonsai.org.

I don’t think we can go any further without showing one of Robert Steven’s masterpieces. Robert is a bright star in the Indonesian bonsai universe and this gnarly old tree is a good example of what his skillful hands and eyes can do with powerful collected material. The photo is from the gallery on Robert’s blog. BTW: Robert is a frequent contributor to this blog and author of two of our favorite bonsai books.