M. Frary
Bonsai Godzilla
You'll be seeing more of them if I have my way.
The secret to growing bonsai. A thread inspired by Bolero.
- Thread starter Brian Van Fleet
- Start date
chicago1980
Omono
- Messages
- 1,406
- Reaction score
- 2,662
That is exciting!
Bolero
Omono
Hi again Adair, being inspired does not compel me to try and Emulate or copy, simply put,,, it inspires me to do the best I can on whatever I decide to do...
I think some of your Bonsai are near Masterpiece or actually Masterpiece and inspire me to do well in whatever I choose to Bonsai...
I favor building-growing Penjing, Saikei & Groupings because they give me almost instant Gratification and I get to use my imagination moreso than on a Singular Maple or Juniper.
Thanks for asking...
Well then, are there some Penjing, Saikei &a Groupings that you particularly admire?
I think BVF's point is that most of us have some favorite bonsai that have inspired us to make a similiar styled bonsai. Not necessarily copy, but say to ourselves, "Oh! I like that! Let's see if I can do that!"
For example, here is a Literarti JWP styled by Shinji Suzuki:
Now, here is a far younger one of mine:
Am I copying Susuzi?
Lol!!!
No!
There are remarkable similarities, though. As it turns out, I styled my tree, and potted it in early April. I chose that pot because it was one I just happened to have sitting around.
A couple weeks later, I was on Facebook, and someone posted Suzuki's tree, and I thought it happened to look very similiar to mine. His is far older, with better bark, and his branches are drop branches. However, now that I've seen his, I can see how I can work with mine to make it better as I wait for better bark.
So, this is a case where I can use Suzuki's tree as inspiration to improve mine.
Bolero
Omono
And you have done very well, needless to say, is the pot a Sarah Rayner... it has that look...
Oddly the Susuzi you show is in the same pot as yours is in...whats up with that...???
I like some of Lew Bullers Saikei...one looks like this...
Shimpaku Juniper and Ying rock with a small stream coming from under rocks and a boy fishing...I put this together in 2014.
Oddly the Susuzi you show is in the same pot as yours is in...whats up with that...???
I like some of Lew Bullers Saikei...one looks like this...
Shimpaku Juniper and Ying rock with a small stream coming from under rocks and a boy fishing...I put this together in 2014.
Starfox
Masterpiece
Adair's question is a good one, I can safely say that none of my trees even slightly resemble the trees that I would wish to have, then again I am only starting out and most of my stuff is just chopped up nursery stock waiting and growing, and what I own now will never be of the style of the trees I admire. Still that doesn't stop me from wanting to try different things, species etc... at this point it is mainly troubleshooting my own mistakes and one day maybe I will have access to the type of material or have had enough time to grow something out and then maybe I'll have something, or maybe not.
Check the comp threads for my newb trees, nothing flash and need lots of growing and refinement or plain old starting over. It's all fun though.
As for trees that I admire or inspire me I will share the one tree that really lit my bonsai spark to begin with.
Is this what I think is the pinnacle of bonsai?
Well I don't think that is something I'm qualified to answer and I'm not saying that this tree is better than any of the others posted at all, it is just a tree that speaks to me, loudly.
Would it win a trophy?
No idea and it really isn't important anyway, it's different so probably not but how many people would actually turn this down if gifted it, climate aside that is.
If you are asking then how to bridge that gap then for me it is going to be time more than anything else and in that time will hopefully come more knowledge so I can keep a tree like that alive in a pot like that and with time comes refinement. I don't need showable trees, just trees that make me happy.
Check the comp threads for my newb trees, nothing flash and need lots of growing and refinement or plain old starting over. It's all fun though.
As for trees that I admire or inspire me I will share the one tree that really lit my bonsai spark to begin with.
Is this what I think is the pinnacle of bonsai?
Well I don't think that is something I'm qualified to answer and I'm not saying that this tree is better than any of the others posted at all, it is just a tree that speaks to me, loudly.
Would it win a trophy?
No idea and it really isn't important anyway, it's different so probably not but how many people would actually turn this down if gifted it, climate aside that is.
If you are asking then how to bridge that gap then for me it is going to be time more than anything else and in that time will hopefully come more knowledge so I can keep a tree like that alive in a pot like that and with time comes refinement. I don't need showable trees, just trees that make me happy.
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Smoke
Ignore-Amus
....and the bonus is you can use crappy trees!
Bolero
Omono
....and the bonus is you can use crappy trees!
WTF
WTF
Tentakelaertje
Omono
He's saying if you got a bunch of crappy trees, make a forest. Nobody is creating a forest out of 1000 year old masterpiece bonsai pinnacles.
Look at this one and tell me how many masterpieces you see:
leatherback
The Treedeemer
None. But then again.. That's not really a forest now it it Maarten?
I personally disagree. Some of the best forests andpenjin are actually made out of trees that could be specimen bonsai too.
Tentakelaertje
Omono
Okay maybe I should say "almost nobody", instead of "nobody"
I don't see any masterpieces in that pic either, but if it's not a forest, what would you call it then? Babyforest?
leatherback
The Treedeemer
Not going to answer. Working on my likeability
Suzuki's tree is in a far better pot than mine! My pot is a cheap copy!
I do happen to own a similiar pot made by the same guy as Suzuki's:
It is a "Kokufu quality" pot. A slightly different color than Suzuki's, but mine will darken when I oil it.
I also potted this tree up before seeing Suzuki's tree.
We appear to have similiar tastes.
Bolero
Omono
Is that a JWP ?
Very nice looking Bonsai...
I like the Trunk, its Movement and the Deadwood not overpowering the Pine Foliage...
Very nice looking Bonsai...
I like the Trunk, its Movement and the Deadwood not overpowering the Pine Foliage...
And it is budding out very well. Virtually every terminal is producing two evenly sized candles. When they fully mature this summer, the tree will be triple dense as it is in that picture. (It looked a bit sparce! I had just stripped off the old needles.)
VAFisher
Masterpiece
I'm not sure I can pick a favorite all-time tree but this Walter Pall trident inspires me.
And this is probably my best tree.
How do I get from this to that? Hopefully some divine intervention.
And this is probably my best tree.
How do I get from this to that? Hopefully some divine intervention.
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
I am confident that nearly everyone here can draw a reasonable conclusion about each of our contributions to this site.
And BTW, Adair's pot is more likely a Syuzan than a Sara Rayner. Daylight and dark.
The one with the lodgepole trunk is. I'm not sure about the smaller one. Definitely not a Sara Rayner. It is double chopped.
Hard to tell with all those leaves!I'm not sure I can pick a favorite all-time tree but this Walter Pall trident inspires me.
And this is probably my best tree.
How do I get from this to that? Hopefully some divine intervention.
There is good info about how to develop maples in the "Ebihara Maples" thread. It starts off with developing nebari. But about half way thru, the thread goes into developing branches.
