‘A bonsai can never be a finished work of art…because it will always be a living piece of nature, continuing to live and grow.
The object is not to make the tree look like a bonsai, but to make the bonsai look like a tree.’
John Naka – American Bonsai Master
With those wonderful words from John Naka (August 16, 1914 – May 19, 2004) I’d like to welcome you to Bonsai-Passion.
What started as an idea to start putting finger to keyboard in my early retirement has become a self-absorbing endeavour that somehow I doubt I will ever finish … and in all honesty I hope I don’t. The site is being worked on most days right now and one area I am hitting quite hard are case histories. As time goes on I shall have many more for you to see.
I have to say it has been, and will ultimately continue to be a huge pleasure creating Bonsai-Passion, and I hope that you find something of interest specific to your own needs and requirements.
Please select Blog or just click on the word blog you have just gone past for all the latest information; alternatively you can click on the archives to the right hand side of this page.
I have now reduced the size of the initial ‘Home’ page to help with slow connections etc, this was something I had been requested to do several times as it seemed it was taking forever to load on those slower connections. Over time I will reduce the size of the pictures – or offer thumbnails to permit the site to run that bit faster still.
As I say, please be certain to look to your right hand side and click on archives for much more information. Alternatively, you may wish to use the page links above.
The term bonsai (literally ‘tree in a pot’) is of Japanese origin and refers to a specific type of art form that grew out of Japanese culture and has been transplanted in various forms around the world.
Bonsai though, as we know it today, originated from China, where it was referred to as Penjing, it was introduced to Japan, possibly during the Heian period – 782-1185 AD.
This is a Summer 2010 picture of my own outdoor Bonsai Display area. Many changes are planned for 2011 including a water feature. There will be updated information later in this same year.
Vision without action is a daydream, Action without vision is a nightmare.
Japanese Proverb – author unknown.
The symbols above are representation characters for ‘Bon and Sai’
The Bonsai kanji is therefore reasonably well known as representing tray(bon-) planting(sai).
This third alphabet – kanji, was imported over the centuries from China. The pictograms are typically (much) more complex than kana – and furthermore have different readings and meanings depending on how they’re combined with other kanji. They represent ideas or words rather than syllables, although of course hiragana or katakana could be used to spell out the pronunciation.
My contact email details can be found by holding the cursor over ‘blog.’
Mike,
Great informative website. You has some wonderful trees there.
Keep up the good work
Richard
Thank you Richard. Many more trees to upload and pages & pages of information to come.
Mike
Great site! Hope to see more in the future.
every thing looks very profesional and a big asset to the club thanks for your hard work
its great as your other articles : D, thankyou for putting up.
You seems to be an expert in this field, good article and keep up the good work, my buddy recommended me it.
Beau.
Dear Mr. Jones:
My name is Dan Dolan and I am a member of the Board and Editor of the Newsletter for the Midwest Bonsai Society here in Chicago. Just discovered your Blog while searching for images to illustrate the topic of a forthcoming presentation on Outdoor Bonsai Display at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I was very impressed your Bonsai Garden and would like to request if you would allow me to include a couple of images in my presentation to our group….about 100. As these images will be projected it would be ideal perhaps a 1-2 MB image is available that you might send to me by email.
I look forward to hearing from you. If you can assist me please contact me at:email included.
Thank you. Best Regards,
D/D
Hello Don
Firstly, thank you for looking through my site. It would be a pleasure to assist, and thus I will email images to you as requested for your forthcoming presentation.
Should be with you either later today or first thing tomorrow.
Many thanks and good luck with said presentation.
Best wishes
Mike
Great blog! Hope to see more in the future!
Dude, please tell me that youre going to publish much more. I notice you havent written an additional weblog for a while (Im just catching up myself). Your blog is just too important to become missed. Youve acquired so much to say, these knowledge about this subject it would be a shame to see this weblog disappear. The internet needs you, man!
Evening Mike !
Having read your thoughts on ‘wrong’ trees and bonsai ‘rules’, I thought I’d better sign up.
I’d just finished reading the words of another enthusiast who was saying much the same, so we’re not alone !
And even last night, watching some of the ‘Bonsai Art of Japan’ videos, I heard an apprentice at one of Japan’s most prestigious schools praising ‘rule-breakers’. All the trees in that nursery are as perfect as they get, and there’s very little carving involved.
Personally, I like my bonsai to look like trees, and a pristine 25 year-old maple or oak will usually get my vote over a too-white over-carved pine or juniper with a tuft or two of foliage.
Age should mean knowledge and experience, but it isn’t always nice to look at !
Thoroughly enjoying your site,
Eric
Thanks again Eric. I’ve so much more to add but alas health has been poor, so it is when I can. I too am not a great fan of carving, although at times it does look good when done by someone with the necessary skills. Yes I have done some, but it is minimal, and only when I feel it is appropriate to ‘replicate’ something I have seen in the wild. For me, I just like a tree in a pot that looks nice and in some way is a miniature of a full scale counterpart.
My kindest.