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Intimidated by its age
François Jeker styles a venerable 500-year-old Buxus ‘When about to style an impressive old Buxus like this, you are so intimidated that you approach it with trembling hands . . . Over the years, though, I have developed three assets in the bonsai field: imagination for the future design of…...
Can you feel it?
Yukio Hirose creates the windswept style from a juniper Hirose Yukio is a shohin expert who shows you here how to create from simple material, a tree shaped by the wind The material that Yukio Hirose has prepared for us is a juniper that, although it has been in a…...
Between life and death
Carving juniper deadwood with Master Kunihiko Kanemitsu Kunihiko Kanemitsu, of the Okayama City Kanemitsu Bonsai Studio, presents a dramatic contrast between life and death within the confines of a pot. Natural raw material is almost non-existent now. Even field or container grown trees are harder to come by, like juniper,…...
Too obvious?
A semi-cascade for this oak was so logical René Alber: ‘This huge, but compact cork oak (Quercus suber) is ready for styling. The trunk is massive, has a wonderful curving movement and a fantastic corky bark. With these excellent characteristics an impressive bonsai can be created’The cork oak was collected…...
An old friend
Update: Amigos of the tejos A small peek back at a tree created in 2010 by Kevin Willson. During the XX Trophy, held in February 2019, we came across an old friend, a yew styled by Kevin Willson. The tree had gone through an amazing transformation and was one of…...
Gnarly Legacy
Elandan, a world of rock, wood, and bonsai by Dan Robinson ‘A beautifully groomed tree in the prime of its life doesn’t tell me much of a story. I want my trees to look profoundly old, but still hanging in there,’ says Dan Robinson, who, at a youthful 80 years…...
Amigos of the tejos
How to transform a ‘pig’ of a tree into a breathtaking cascade Kevin Willson had a few years stay in sunny Alicante, Spain, where marvellous material can be found. Dug from the surrounding mountains are yews, junipers and olives — all Mediterranean trees that require a different approach from the…...
On the scrapheap?
Harry Harrington recovers a crab apple (Malus sylvestris) raft bonsai with a new design. I think many of us, as bonsai enthusiasts, will be familiar with the phrase ‘a bonsai is never finished’. However, I suspect that some people do not necessarily understand exactly what that means. Some bonsai can…...
Don’t carve, but sculpt
Learn how to create natural deadwood with the methods of Andrés Bicocca The difficulty that a defect poses for some is, for me, an infinite possibility of creation. Many times it is used to cover some defect of the trees with branches or foliage; parts that have not been worked,…...
Is it natural? (2)
Harry Harrington’s helps you to create and use deadwood features on deciduous and broadleaf bonsai As discussed in part one my favoured approach to creating deciduous and broadleaf deadwood is one originally pioneered by UK bonsai artist, Kevin Willson. The deadwood is given a blackened hollow core surrounded by a…...
Can it be opened ?
Untangling the dense foliage canopy of a sabina juniper Valentin Brose, former apprentice of Kunio Kobayashi, is a refined artist. The sabina juniper has such a dense canopy that all is hidden away from the eye. Valentin knows what is needed to open it up and show off its qualities…...
Wild from the garden
Garden material can be an interesting source for bonsai. It can also be very challenging because it was not really grown for the purpose. Bruno Wijman checks out a garden yew. The yew (Taxus baccata) to which Bruno is going to give a whole new style, originated from a private…...
His father’s voice
Isao Omachi’s creates the bonsai his father envisioned Solving the problem with a new styling on a Juniper by turning the tree upside down using and making the most of the twist in the trunk with root grafting. Isao Omachi’s most well-known tree has a long and deep history, starting…...
Just cut all the branches?
How to deal with upward-growing branches on a pine Impossible material with all its branches growing upwards becomes a fine bonsai. Toshio Ogawa notes the superb movement of the lower trunk and solves the problem of branches that are upward reaching. A red pine with no lower branches and an…...
Punica granatum
Nearly Two Decades in the Life of a Pomegranate HISTORICAL PROFILE LONGEVITY & BEAUTY OF THE POMEGRANATE Many bonsai artists avoid pomegranates because of concerns over the longevity of the tree. Contrary to the beliefs of misinformed bonsai practitioners, pomegranates are long-lived; some specimens at Versailles have survived for two
Heavy bending
How to bend thick branches Sometimes wire is simply not enough to bend the branch in the desired position. Here we sum up the proper techniques to make things bend smoothly. Lower a branch by pulling a guy wire Even though you wire it from the base, if a branch…...
Hungry to learn
Salvatore Liporace reworks one of his finest bonsai. The first styling of this Juniperus chinensis ‘Sargenti’ has a long history which goes back 20 years when its top was 40 cm higher. Gradually it was pulled down with guy wires to create a more compact tree. The amazing spiralling trunk…...
On the edge
Creative genius, Ryan Neil, turns bonsai upside down You can give Ryan Neil almost any kind of material to work on and he will create something special from it. Here Ryan is confronted by an extremely chunky yew that appears to have only faults. Ryan’s creative eye soon sees possibilities…...
Graphic designer goes bonsai
A graphics designer becomes a bonsai Master, which, in short, is the story of Naoki Maeoka. Having graduated from the Kouka-en nursery, he now finds his way in world of international bonsai Naoki Maeoka (46) isn’t loud and outgoing, even for a Japanese. He is very quiet and super modest,…...
Good on all sides
Dominique Bosch styles a sabina juniper Dominique Bosch, an upcoming Dutch bonsai artist, has been studying under Masters like Hotsumi Terakawa, Salvatore Liporace and Taiga Urushibata of the Taisho-En in Japan. In 2017 he was one of the demonstrating guests of the 4th Zhongguo Penjing Exhibition in China. Dominique has…...