Bonsai tree: Bonsai balance

There are few concepts more central to bonsai than “balance”. The California buckeye below strikes me as a well-balanced composition. The foliage, ramification, trunk, pot and stand all work well together.

California Buckeye – Aesculus californica

The photos here are from the Bay Area Bonsai Associates’ 28th annual show. Like so many good exhibits, it provides ample opportunities for thinking about balance.
The cryptomeria below is a favorite of mine. There are few good examples of the variety around, and only a fraction of these are shohin. When I squint my eyes and focus on the tree’s silhouette, however, I notice that the trunk is surprisingly thin. For the foliage to be balanced with the trunk, I would expect either a thicker trunk or thinner foliage – a subtle point for such a nice specimen.

Cryptomeria japonica

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Bonsai tree: Seventh Entry Bonsai Art Contest

Cedar elm forest painting by Donna L. Dobberfuhl. “Here is my entry. It is a 40″ x 30″ painting I did of “The Texas State Bonsai Exhibit” Cedar Elm Forest. The bonsai is planted in a custom ordered Chinese pot of some 65″ long, The Forest is about 4′ tall. I used the style of painting introduced by Chuck Close. I am a sculptor by profession but exercise my mind with occasional painting projects.”

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Shohin exhibition

Shohin has a fun place in the bonsai world. One of the best events in shohin world that I know about is the biannual event held by the California Shohin Society in Santa Nella, CA. The next one is a week away – visit Shohin Seminar 2010 for details.
One of my favorite unproductive discussion topics focuses on the maintenance of large or small bonsai. Unfortunately I can not reproduce even the tenor of the greatest expounding on the topic I have witnessed, but if you’re curious, find Guy Guidry after dinner at your local bonsai convention and fire away.

Here are some photos of shohin on display at Bay Island Bonsai’s 11th annual exhibit.

Japanese Maple

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Deciduous and broadleaf trees

Despite the fact that half of the trees in the winter exhibit are without leaves and most of the other half are fighting off winters tendency to tinge foliage with a yellowish or bronze cast, many bonsai are at their best look this time of year. Late winter and early spring are great times to show flowering bonsai, but managnig the silhouettes of trees coverd with new growth is a challenge. Fall is a good time to show bonsai as pines are in check and fall color may be evident. But it is only in winter that we can clearly see the structure of deciduous trees.
With careful technique, leaves can be shrunk to fit the scale of tree. Leaves hide the degree to which a tree’s branches are ramified. Great branch structure is a source of pride for deciduous tree owners.
Although the tree is attractive in summer, it’s far more dramatic in winter. We experience the tree in three dimensions by examining the tree front to back and top to bottom. We can also get a better sense of its age without leaves. It was a pleasure to have this tree in the exhibit.

Chinese elm

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Apex, Canopy, Crown

This Zelkova serrata is a classic broom style bonsai. Often when you think of broom style, you think of Zelkova. However, neither broom style nor zelkova are what inspired this post.

Sometime back someone asked me for some info on designing apices. At that time I promised that I would sometime post something and then proceeded to neglect to do it.



As you can see, this picture shows how to maintain the silhouette on a zelkova broom style bonsai. Pretty simple and the good news is that this technique can apply to many types of trees in various styles, though you don not want to be too literal as there are differences that crop up. Read more!