Blaauw Juniper Restyle

Recently I had the good fortune to acquire this tree from my buddy Ken. He tells me that it originally came from nursery material sometime around 1973. He had maintained it as a bonsai for many years but a couple years ago put in the nursery container to restore some vigor.

This is a quick video that shows the tree after I had cleaned it up just a little and worked on the deadwood.

And here it is after wiring.


After potting and adding some stones to the mix...

From Blaauw Juniper

From Blaauw Juniper

Shimpaku Design Help

I saw this tree posted here on BT...

I don't do a lot of virtuals but I was intrigued by this tree so I thought I would give it a shot.

After working on it for a short time and achieving something I liked, I decided to just post the virtual image back to BT.

However, as I was trying to describe my reasoning for the changes I made in the virtual I decided it would just be easier to make a video.

So, if you can look past all the uhhhs and duhhs I hope the video embedded below will be helpful in understanding the reasoning for the design changes I suggested.

13th Carolina Bonsai Expo

I just returned home from a great weekend at the Carolina Bonsai Expo. Peter Adams was the guest artist and did a really good job of helping us think a little more critically about our bonsai... The expo is always a busy busy weekend but the time spent with friends, new and old, makes it all worth while. The camera really screwed up in the low light this weekend and most of my shots did not come out but here are a few...

Natural Inspiration

Angel Oak...St. Johns Island, South Carolina...Fall 2007

Pond Cypress

I had the opportunity to visit an old friend this afternoon. This is a pond and creek area that contains some old growth Pond Cypress. Although they only get about half the size of Bald Cypress, Taxodium ascendens offer many similar characteristics. This species is often used for bonsai. Although I have never done the research to verify this, I have noticed that In South Carolina there appears to be a direct association of Pond Cypress with Carolina Bays. However, I think this area maybe an exception to that notion. It is noted that this pond was a mill pond dating back to at least the Civil War. Here is a slide show of some the pics I took... Can't wait to get back here in the spring!

Linville, NC

Last week the wife and I took a short trip to Linville Falls, NC. The weather was near perfect considering it was the first week in Aug. This is certainly one of my favorite places in the mtns. Here are a few pics from the trip.

New Camera

ok... I bit the bullet and bought a new camera last week. My old one is not really that old and I will continue to use it but it is so large that it is not as easy to carry with me as I would like. The new one is an Olympus Stylus 1010...7x optical zoom, 10 megapixel, and a 2.7" LCD. So far I really seem to like it!