Bonsai tree: List Your Bonsai Events for FREE!

Our Calendar of Events

Send us your upcoming events (including 2011 and beyond) and we will (in almost all cases) include them in our Calendar of Events. All entries will remain on the calendar until the event has passed.

Put them in the comments below…

…or email me: wayne@stonelantern.com

Check out our tool sale. 30% to 40% off.

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Bonsai tree: Penjing Book: All Good Things Must End & Tying Up a Loose End on a Robert Steven Critique

An old favorite is almost gone.
Thought we’d give you a fair warning in case you’ve been meaning to procure your own copy. It’s a the only Penjing book in English and, in my opinion, belongs in that elite group we call classics.
A while back, Robert Steven asked me to post an original picture that he used for a second critique of an Atlas cedar bonsai (the photo for the first critique was posted). Given that most people probably don’t bother to read comments on old posts, I thought more people might see it here.
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Bonsai tree: Pots: A Flare for the Unusual

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a glaze quite like this one (or the one below for that matter). The bonsai potter is Michelle Dougherty.

I’ve been checking out Michelle’s posts at Bunjin Journal for quite a while now. Though she doesn’t post very often (lately she’s been on a bit of roll), when she does, she usually comes up with something a tad unusual. This time it’s some pots she just made. Not that all her pots are all that unusual, some are, some aren’t (I picked a couple here that I think are both distinctive and beautiful), but if you follow her posts, you’ll see what I mean.

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Bonsai tree: The Magician: After & Before

After. Pretty impressive, no? You’ll encounter very few bonsai that are both this powerful and this refined anywhere on this planet. In fact, I challenge you to find even one that rivals it (they do exist, but are oh so rare). Photo from Bonsai Today issue 59 (still available).

Masahiko Kimura has fallen out of favor with some people over the last few years. You might hear or see comments about how his bonsai is overly sculpted, overly refined, unnatural looking. For where I sit, it’s unfortunate when we feel we must take sides and pick either refined and sculpted or natural looking as superior. Both have their place in bonsai, and you might even say that dividing bonsai into two neat categories just limits our view. I suspect Kimura might say something like that (pure speculation on my part). If you look at the full range of his work, though refined and sculpted (and amazing) are his hallmarks, all of his bonsai have at least an authentic natural touch, and some are even naturalistic (maybe not like Dan Robinson’s, but still…).



Before. Already powerful, but what a mess!

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Bonsai tree: Robert Steven Critiques a Ficus

Robert’s digital simulation of a Ficus nerifolia that was submitted by Tom Kreugl.



Tom’s original. The small stick marks the front Tom has chosen.

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Bonsai tree: The Second Time Is a Charm

Robert Steven’s second simulation of an Atlas cedar that we presented a while back.

My opinion (for what it’s worth)
I think Robert’s second simulation is an improvement on the first one he did. Generally Robert’s critiques have been spot on, but I thought his original of this tree left something to be desired. Apparently Robert was reading my mind; he sent his follow up simulation yesterday.

Just three more days
Our current big big sale (we have lots of big sales, but not too many big big sales) is almost over. Among other useful items you can purchase, Robert’s books (Vision of My Soul & Mission of Transformation) are there for the taking. Double discounted no less.

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Bonsai tree: Robert Steven Critiques a Shimpaku

Robert’s simulation. My apologies for the fuzzy. The original (below) was submitted by Leigh Taafe.

The original.

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Bonsai tree: Decandling a red pine forest – part 2

Source: Bonsai Tonight
Decandling a red pine forest – part 2

I decandled the red pine forest below about 3 months ago (see Decandling a red pine forest). The summer growth has come out and the trees look much fuller than they did in June. But because the summer was cool, this grove isn’t as far along as I’d expect for this time of year. No matter, in the mild San Francisco Bay area climate, pines continue to grow throughout the fall.
Just two days into fall, however, it’s too soon for needle pulling and cutback as the new needles are still soft. Some enthusiasts thin summer growth at this time, but I usually wait until late fall or winter. Typically I continue to water and feed the trees this time of year, trying to encourage out what growth I can before the weather turns cold.
I also check the pines I’ve decandled to gauge their response to the decandling. The trees in this forest have a long way to go to achieve any sort of balance which makes them great for practicing decandling techniques. Here’s the forest as it looks today.

Red pine forest, 16 years old

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Bonsai tree: 9th International Crespi Cup

This genarly, natural looking old tree is from the 9th International Crespi Cup which took place last weekend. It looks like some kind of spruce (Ezo?), but that’s just a guess. The photo is by Nicola Crivelli. I took the liberty to crop it a bit.

The Cup

The Crespi Cup is a world famous bonsai, suiseki (and more) exhibition that is held every two years by Crespi Bonsai in Milan. Though I’ve never been, I’ve heard that the turnouts are huge, almost beyond comprehension for those of us in the States who are used to shows that attract a few hundred people.



This old monster is also from the Crespi Cup, and the photo is also by Nicola (uncropped this time).

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Bonsai tree: Robert Steven Critiques an Atlas Cedar and Provides an Interesting Lesson in Creating Shari

Robert Steven’s digitally enhanced version of a Blue Atlas Cedar. The original photo (below) was submitted by Mike Andrews.



The original.

Robert’s critique

Basically, this is a very nice Cedar with nice movement and sufficient well-arranged branching and the shari helps create a feeling of age. But, there are few issue here :

1. This bonsai is styled in a very common “S” shape with a basic 1,2,3 branch arrangement. Although there is nothing wrong with it, it lacks excitement. In other words, it could be styled in more interesting and natural fashion.
2. The shari is not properly done.

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