My suiseki and Viewing stones

This gallery contains 21 photos.

HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF MY WORK FROM EARLY ON TO NOW. I AM GLAD TO TAKE ORDERS FOR MAKING DAIZA AND BASES FOR ANY STONE YOU MAY HAVE. I USE PRIMARILY WALNUT BUT ALSO CHERRY. I WILL BE GLAD TO … Continue reading →

Northern White Cedar #3

​Started on this fun project back in June 2016 on an old white cedar I have had for 4 or so years now. Last year it grew immensely and got away from me designwise thus leading to some very unsightly inverse taper. So it was a do over this season. The was alot of swelling above the first branch where the two split off their directions. The ultimate tree in this specimen will be centered around that first branch on the left side below the pot in the canopy. The branchlets off the first branch are very very well placed and I know where to go from those and what to expect as it develops. Its going to be a good girthy short thuja.

Now onto this pot up the tree. The first time I have ever seen this done in person was during my 2 month stay at Ryan neil’s Bonsai mirai outside St Helens Oregon in 2012. His reason for this was different….his was from approach grafting shimpaku onto RMJ foliage. My reasoning is ground layering or “canopy layering” since it is achieved fairly easy with native thuja stock.                            The pot has soil and moss in it to enable the two branches INSIDE it to throw out roots in order to NOT waste a perfecrly good part of the tree beyond a specific point where the split has swollen excessively causing unsighty inverse taper. These will be seperated once sufficient rooting is in place and will be potted in their own pots to further develop on thier own. 

What I did here was create 3 good trees from one mother tree. Making lemonade oit of lemons some like to say. This is a fraction of why I love working with white cedar bonsai….never a dull moment with this species.

Up close of the pot attached to the inverse area.

Top tree above, lower tree in pic below.

Now back to the mother tree below shows the general direction I am going with the tree. You can see the movement that will be developed over time and this time around, i am keeping a very close watch on those notches to avoid another inverse taper deal.

Heres the new look after slip potting from a nursery can. Looks way better.

32PINE #1

This is what I believe is a European Black Pine. It was collected in fall 2011 on an impromptu collection trip. I have enjoyed this as my first pine as bonsai. So far, it has cooperated with my lack of familiarity with pines thus far. This season(2013) I have spent a considerable amount of my bonsai thinking time, conversation, and studies towards understanding the techniques of good pine bonsai care. I am much more confident and more familiar with pines compared to how I was in the past BUT everyday, I have a lot of new questions on pines so do I think I am an expert?? HECK NO!! I just do what I do because it works for me and I enjoy it.  So to start off, I will post a pic of the tree the day it was collected.

Here it is today(09-17-2013)
I am definitely thinking of Literati.

I wanted to add another photo from a couple hours after the above photo. The difference is that the needles were cut. It makes the overall image neater I think. Its a big difference between the two.

Heres fall 2016 update! Nice progression and evolution of design! Most definately a literati.

Eastern RedCedar #3

Cleaned the deadwood in preparation for styling in spring.

Here is the May 30th 2014 update after recovery from shaping and repot. My vision for this tree came to light very well as it was wired up and shaped. Now onto further health.

Heres the fall 2014 update of another wonderful Eastern RedCedar. Filled in this season very nicely!

Pushed it back again and rewired everything and also removed a branch on the lower left side to help define the left to right movement. Update: 9-26-2016

Northern White Cedar #1

Here is the Northern White Cedar the day I collected it. A long time ago it seems!

I collected this specimen 2 years ago(2009) in early spring. It was by far the most effortless extraction of a tree from a dolomite cliff i have ever done. The rock that held the soil pocket this specimen grew in for many years was broken by freeze and thaw cycles i am sure. When I came upon this tree, i climbed up about 10-15 feet to see how embedded and deeply rooted it was. As i looked over it and gently moved the truck back and forth( a great way to figure out how much work it will take to remove a tree), It was very loose. Upon further investigation, it was revealed that the rock was already broken so i removed it. To my amazement, there was the entire rootmass. I got a few plastic grocery bags, and moved the tree into the bags and tied them up. New growth appeared a month later and kept pushing growth ever since except in winter confinement of course.

First pic is this trees current situation in a medium sized nursery container(2011)

Second pic is one of the detail of some deadwood refinement earlier this spring(2011)

Third pic is a virtual of an ERIN pot matched up with the specimen. I am anticipating potting into spring 2012.

**Spring 2012**

**Autumn 2012**

** here is a close up of some buds coming out of the lower branch. They say buds don’t pop on 3 or older wood. This tells another story.

Here is repot 2013 picture of the tree in a custom pot “Serpent Mound” pot made by Dale Cochoy.

Here’s an updated photo of the beginning of April 2013. Notice the foliage is thinner and the branches are more controlled and defined. Further improvements will take place as health dictates

Here is Fall 2013 update.

Heres an update for June 20th 2015 after some considerable thinning of the what was visually heavy foliage.

Had a shallower new pot by Dale Cochoy made for it. As I worked it more and more compact and minimal appearance, the Serpent Mound pot became more bulky visually. Update of September 11th 2016

Northern White Cedar #2

Here is one of those trees we spot barely hanging onto life(cue in beautiful morning, spring 2014)…..”no protential” is running through your head but you appeal to your softer side thanks to the solitude of the precluding hike to get to the site you were currently standing. I saved it from the eroded doomed spot it was struggling at…..the rest of the bank it was removed from was washed away over the summer afterward. So all in all, i did well for an old down on its luck and fate White Cedar. Over the last 2 seasons, i admired its ambitious comeback reminiscent of the end of the championship season for OHIO STATE Buckeyes in 2015. But I stuggled like a *ichigan Wolverine fan on its future design and shape, ect.
Well, i felt brave and just went for an idea that was floating around in my head. A LITERATI White Cedar. Its foliage needs to fill in but the flow and branch placement is great. Hope you like where its headed in its rather unconventional design.

Shohin Eastern Red Cedar #2.

I would like to share a little native juniper known as Eastern Red Cedar. Its NOT a cedar at all nor is it “the cedar variety”. Its a Juniper. There are many species erroneously named or nicknamed due to a variety of reasons from what locals nicknamed them to errors in early denderology research. I don’t know how many times even seasoned bonsai artists themselves were not aware of this. Eastern Red Cedars have been a work in progress and the biggest upset in my bonsai life came from the loss of 3 amazing specimens of red cedar. They had very nice movement not very often seen in these commonly upright trees. They were damaged in that June 28th 2012 Derecho in which the winds reached 90 MPH on the hill top where I live. My daughters(and mines) playhouse, a host of debris, and a couple branches blew right into the benches where my trees are. Anyways here is one I collected behind my house back in the field along the woods late October 2011. Its not as twisty as one of the loss ones but its a very nice small specimen. I am very anxious for this to become established into this pot so I can begin shaping and wiring. It is pretty rough at the moment but it’ll be tamed. Hope you can visualise this down the road like I can.

Eastern Red Cedar (juniperus virginiana)
Collected fall 2011, dug up out of the growing field early February 2013. IKER pot.
Heres the fall 2014 update. Coming along nicely. Needs more development but its getting there.

Heres the late July 2015 update. Filled in more, some more backbuds and lite chasing back of the foliage. But for the most part, this tree has been left alone. Again, still getting there.

Juniperus Procumbens #1, 2011 Joshua Roth New Talent Competition Tree

Here is my tree I worked on in the new talent competition at Louisville in 2011. This show was my first big show I attended. It was also my first competition and in which I have learned a lot more than what I have the 8 years preceeding it. It was the pressure that made the true colors show, whether that was a bad thing or good thing. In the long run for me, I think that was very good for me. I am very thankful for my experience in the competition. 
Here is the best before photo I could find at this time.

The next photo will be that of the “completed” tree that would be up for judging. I know, right. Its an embarrassment , eh? Lol

Here is the picture of what it looked like most of the 2012 season. Development was stagnant in 2012 due to mostly me focusing on other trees and building my garden almost all summer long. Maybe it was a good thing I did leave it be for the most part?

Here is where it stands today. Over the winter of 2012/2013, I took a good look at it and decided to eliminate the lower foliage pad and branch to help bring the focus back up to the deadwood and jin features near its base. Also to simplify the overall foliage layout. I repotted it into this Iker pot late winter 2013. I fiddled with it here and there over the course of the year 2013, and mid August, had the opportunity to meet with Michael Feduccia and took this tree to discuss with him over. For those that don’t know, he is super talented and is the winner of the 2012 competition in Denver. His tree is miles ahead of mines foliage wise and I pursued his advice on how to bring my trees foliage to his levels. First and foremost, most of the discussion was based on letting it grow out to allowing it to backbud while allowing light to reach the inner branches to facilitate the back budding process. He also made a few suggessions with the branch placement and pad development in which I will follow to the best of my ability. I think its coming along nicely but next year(don’t we bonsai people always say that??) We will see how it progresses as it is allowed to grow out a bit.

Update of early July 2015 shortly after thinning and wiring.

Barberry

I collected this Barberry bush from a landscape restoration job I did in Fall 2011. This specimen was not ideal material starting off since it had absolute ugly inverse taper at the top. Well that loser called “Inverse Taper” is no longer with us……let’s just say I took a root cutter and a dremel to it. After I did that, it triggered perhaps hundreds of suckers and new buds all over the remaining trunk. 5 of those are now a part of the design of this nicely 3-D specimen. I really like this shohin in yet again another Iker pot I have had. Here’s one thing I learned about this species. You can mess with their roots to your hearts content and it still continues along like its “nothing but a darn thing”. I have done so 3 times out of season including digging it up fairly shallow in early fall when I found it. Maybe my use of willow water is a big part of it.

June 3rd, 2014 update.

June 20th 2015 update

Eastern RedCedar #1

Here is an Eastern Red Juniper (juniperus virginiana) I have had since spring 2011. I collected this along a dolomite cliff while sitting in my kayak…named SS Steve Irwin. One of many I nailed from that little boat. The first three photos are from last falls workshop action….before/after. So far, I really like how this tree is performing as bonsai. I think it is filling in nicely….not perfect but its getting there.

Here is the Father’s day 2013 photo update of the Juniper. I hope you like how this tree is coming along.

Here is the fall update.

Here is my fall 2014 update! Wonderful progress on a NATIVE Eastern RedCedar. The foliage is starting to turn to mature as well.