Standout Bonsai Development

 Another very productive Workshop at the Australian Bonsai Gallery.  Among other bonsai this Japanese Black Pine was a bit of a 'standout'.

 Some heavy wiring, a change of front and a slight planting angle adjustment has seen this bonsai go to the next level. Further work on the 'shari' will see this bonsai improve further.

The owner is now searching for the that 'perfectly imperfect' pot for this gem.

The Australian Bonsai Gallery workshops are founded on 'one-on-one' intensive seasons allowing us to 'dig deep' into the design and development processes to optimize the workshop experience. 

Back into Pine Needle Thinning, Bud Selection & Wiring

 A 'before and after' pic of this pine from the gallery collection.
Opening up the design and refreching those 'negative spaces'  also opens up the opportunity for further refinement of the design. 

Time to refine Deciduous Bonsai

 We are taking a short break from the Pine work to concentrate on refining our deciduous bonsai.

Starting off with this large (1300mm) Swamp cypress, trimming of unwanted growth, wiring small branches and repositioning some primary branches are important tasks.

Other deciduous bonsai require bud selection to improve ramification, direct growth where needed and to eliminate unwanted Spring growth.

Swamp Cypress - Great Autumn Colour

 This old 'Swampy' never disappoints when it comes to putting on an Autumn show;  belated as it is.

The short clip, below, shows it in all it's glory.

Spend the day promoting BONSAI

The World Bonsai Friendship Federation established this international day of celebration to pay homage to bonsai Master Saburo Kato's mission to promote peace and friendship through the art of bonsai.

The day is celebrated on the second Saturday of May each year, which this year is 10-May-2025.!!!

 Saburo Kato with Hiryu

Budda no hiza (仏陀の膝)

The ongoing refinement of this 'Mikawa' Black Pine continues to be a very pleasing process.

As we all know this process never ends and in this case there is lots to do to reduce the needle size through increasing the ramification.  A fortunate characteristic of the 'mikawa' variety is that they bud back on old wood without to much encouragement.

Budda no hiza (仏陀の膝)

 Bonsai and Wabi-Sabi

The notion of 'Wabi-Sabi' implies, among many other feelings, that perfection does not exist and that the pursuit of perfection leads only to frustration.

Although Wabi-Sabi is difficult to understand and all but impossible to express it can easily manifest itself in the art of bonsai.  That feeling you get when you study a bonsai.  The old bark expresses a feeling of great age while telling a story of time and the ultimate realisation of the beauty of imperfection and impermanence.

Perfection is only an illusion.  The pursuit of 'perfect imperfection' is what drives the art of bonsai. 

The bonsai in the images here is, to me, a great example of this pursuit and adds an additional level of satisfaction to the art of bonsai.

 Autumn Work on this Old Mikawa Black Pine Bonsai

This old Mikawa Black Pine has just been shortened with the apex bent to the left to give it balance.

As usual for pines this time of the year it has been needle thinned, bud selected and wired.  We will be focusing of needle reduction and increasing the ramification next growing season. 

At 55 years old from Japanese seed this bonsai was passed into our care, last June, by Ian Hearn who had grown and developed it over this time. 

Day 1 Massive Transformation

A great way to kick off a bonsai apprenticeship is with this large Japanese Black Pine transformation.!

This was Day1 of a three day 'baptism of fire' for our new 'Deshi' 弟子(apprentice). 

Five hours of wiring, notching out, guy-wiring, and bending has resulted in a very rewarding result as well as an invaluable learning experience for our Deshi (Steve).

The ongoing development and refinement of this pine is a satisfying 'genesis' for this bonsai and provides a foundation for further, and never ending, opportunities for Steve to learn and evolve throughout his bonsai journey.

Yoku dekimashita Steve san.!!!

Before  and   After

 Autumn-Winter Pine Work

 We have started the most important and time consuming job of all at The Australina Bonsai Gallery, ie, the Autumn/Winter needle thinning, bud selection and wiring of all our black and Red pine bonsai.

No better place to start than on this 1970 Mikawa Black Pine.  Not sure about the lower branch.!!!  It look a little odd, being on the inside curve of the trunk....... looks out of place... any thoughts about this one..???