Juniper progress

Michael Coopers Studio

This tree was first bought as garden centre stock in 1987. Then I neglected it as I did most of my trees whilst running my gallery and trying to make a living, only in recent times has it really had some attention. This as I have said before is my Zen method of looking at  tree for 25 years before actually touching it.  Obviously a school of thought that does not seem to work very well as my  attempts to style it were not very successful

Juniper March 2014

Juniper July 2014

 This year with the added confidence of joining a bonsai club, learning from some old hands  there and being able to spend a lot more time with my trees I really got down to trying to do something better with this tree.
I  lowered that right hand branch down, removed the first little twig of foliage, jinned the stump that was left of that…

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The Artisans Cup Bonsai Show

Bonsai Penjing & More

My wife and I went to the Artisans Cup bonsai show in Portland, Oregon. It is a fantastic show with superb bonsai. The Saturday morning opening was packed with people. The hall was basically unlit, except flood lights aiming directly at the trees.

There were over 70 displays, heavy on conifers, especially American west and northwest species such as California Juniper, Pondorosa Pine, Sierra Juniper, Mountain Hemlock etc. These collected trees are huge, and with a lot of jins and shari.

Here are some of the photos I took with my point-and-shoot camera:

First Prize Tree: Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum) from Randy Knight, estimated age 650 years old, trained for 5 years.

Details of the shari, the dead branch hung out the pot.

South Western White Pine ( Pinus stobiformis) from Greg Breden. Estimated age: 300+ years old, trained for 10 years, in a Ron Lang cascade pot.

I love the way the…

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Photographic Tour of The Artisans Cup

Michael Hagedorn

This is beyond words. This isn’t a photo essay, as I tend to do, but simply photos. I think that if you were not able to come to The Artisans Cup, seeing many photos of it will give you a sense of the magnitude and emotional impact of the design, lighting, and quality of the trees.

I thank my friend Oscar Jonker for use of these photos. He was there in the first couple hours when the Cup was finished setting up, and then he zipped right to the hotel and blogged about it. I was too tired here in Portland to even think of writing, so I begged the use his lightning fast post from Bonsai Empire. Thanks Oscar for all these great photos! (Only two are mine…the first and the last).

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