Bonsai tree

A formal upright collected European olive? I’ve seen a lot of magnificent collected European olives, but I’m not sure I’ve ever seen any as perfectly shaped and stupendously gnarled at the same time. The artist is Gabriel Romero Aguade.

Noelanders Trophy 2012

The four trees shown here are all from the 13th Noelanders Trophy Exhibition, which was held in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, way back in January. I borrowed the images from Bonsai – Living Art, the English version of the Slovenski blog (I recommend a visit, it’s a great bonsai blog, one of the best).

A couple firsts

I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a formal-upright collected European olive (see above). I’m not even sure that everyone would agree that it’s a formal-upright because of the trunk’s uneven base, but if it isn’t, it’s pretty close, and either way, it’s an exceptional bonsai.

The other first (for me at least) is using a piece of driftwood as a companion. I’ve seen all kinds of plants and plantings, stones, figurines and even what looks like a human skull, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a simple piece of driftwood serving as a companion (it’s the second photo down).

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I don’t think there’s anything more compelling in our wonderful world of bonsai, than a well done Bunjin (Literati style bonsai). This elegantly meandering beauty, that ends up almost where it started, is by Vaclav Novak. It’s a Sabina juniper.

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The tree is powerful and wonderful, but it’s the companion that really caught my eye. Have you ever seen a piece of deadwood used as a bonsai companion? This Taxus (yew) and charming little piece of deadwood are by Mauro Stemberger.

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Raw, rugged and very sweet. Another excellent naturally dwarfed, collected Norway spruce, with its small needles and ancient bark. It belongs to Nicola Crivelli.

Thanks to Bonsai – Living Art for all the photos in this post.