This page contains before and after photos of bonsai I worked on while apprenticing in Japan. Mr. Suzuki, my teacher, strongly encouraged us to document our work. It is not normal for an apprentice to tote along a camera to work, and in this and many other ways Mr. Suzuki proved to be an unusual bonsai master.
Scroll down to see recent before-after photos of bonsai in the United States.
Adjusting the work of Kimura would not be considered a normal day’s work. Mr. Suzuki saw a new front for this tree, and said, “Go to it.” The tree on the right is after about 5 hours of adjusting the branches.
A White pine from 2005. For the most part, I was left up to my own devices to find a front, change of angle, and wire as I saw fit on trees such as this. Larger branches were not cut off without consultation, and suggestions might be made on completion. This one got a thumbs up.
‘Shimpaku’ juniper. This is the sort of bonsai you don’t do much wiring on. Just careful trimming of hanging shoots, and a few larger wires and guy wires to adjust large masses. This approach leaves a very soft feeling, and is best applied to very old bonsai. If everything was wired out perfectly on this tree, it would look young.
In 2006 this bonsai was entered into the Kokufu show for the first time. Many bonsai have been in the show multiple times.
This bunjin White pine was first wired by Mr. Suzuki when he was 19, still an apprentice under Hamano. I wired it in 2004 (at age 37...)
White pine. This three-and a half-foot tree took about a day and a half for carving, and two and a half for wiring.
Needle juniper. Drastic reworking of a bonsai to this degree was rare. The decision was based on the feeling that the trunk was not particularly arresting, so the branching would have to be. The apex of this tree is now thin, but in two years should be much fuller. Needle juniper develops very rapidly if given lots of water and fertilizer.
This old Red pine was originally part of the Imperial Tokugawa collection. Like most of the bonsai from that period, branches got longer and longer and little was done to contain the foliage or shape. Using uncomplicated techniques--raffia and guy wires--the ranginess of this bonsai was brought back into focus.
Before-after photos of bonsai worked on in the United States:
The left low branch on this white pine was removed; the decision was based on the feeling that the design was static, and too wide, and more drama could be created without it. The remaining foliage pads were reorganized. The new tree will need to be tipped to the right slightly at the next repotting for balance, as the photo indicates.
These next two Itoigawa junipers are nearly identical, although not on purpose. The movement of the trees simply suggested similar designs. The before photos were taken 2 1/2 years before the after photos. Both after photos from October 2007 in Illinois.
How would you style this Sierra juniper? Here are three possible fronts.
This is the one I chose, with the box tipped to the right. Reducing the the tree to its essentials was the simplest way to make an octopus of jin and branches into a bonsai with balance. Styled October 2007 in California.