Bay Island Bonsai » B.I.B. News

Bay Island Bonsai 2012 Bonsai Exhibit

chuhin — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 19:11:24 +0000

January 14-15, 2012

Bay Island Bonsai: Annual Bonsai Exhibit. Oakland Lakeside Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave. (New Location, Again!) Auction on Saturday, with preview at Noon and auction at 1 PM. Guided tours of the exhibit
both Saturday and Sunday. Benefit Drawing (need not be present to win).
Vendor sales, Club sales, Educational bonsai material for sale. Hours: 10AM – 4PM Saturday and Sunday. Entry to exhibit is free, donations accepted.

For more information: (510) 919-5042

Boon’s New Bonsai Work Shop

chuhin — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 02:01:25 +0000

You are looking at the very first work shop taking place in Boon’s new place. The lighting is great. The space is larger. It is still a bit new looking, but great bonsai and teaching will be taking place here. That is a given.

Intensive students who, in a week, will be winging their way across North America have something to look forward to. This is definitely a “step up”.

You will only miss one thing. Jai no longer lies right in front of the entrance. He tends to stay closer to Boon. But you’ll get used to it.

Cold days in December

chuhin — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 06:51:05 +0000

It was cold on Tuesday. This is a really big ice-cube found in the garden.

Pictures by John Kirby.

Cold Tuesday 12/8/09

Akio Kondo at BIB Club Meeting

chuhin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:51:23 +0000

B.I.B. members are spoiled! Since Boon belongs to a very famous bonsai clan in Japan, we now have Koku Fu winners as part of our club program every year. Here you see Akio on his knees checking out one of Jim G. juniper bonsai.

Whenever we have a program like this, Boon asks club members to bring trees in for critique, a bit of cutback, and styling. Club members don’t mind having Koku Fu winners “tweaking” their bonsai for free.

An Old Sierra Juniper Bonsai with a New Look

chuhin — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 22:33:34 +0000

This Sierra Juniper bonsai once belonged to Johnny Uchida. There were basically two complete bonsai connected at the base. The tree below is one of them. Johnny took the chainsaw and separated them. Then 13 years ago Akio Kondo carved the base of the separated bonsai to make the chainsaw-marks disappear.

Below is the tree after styling. Unfortunately, much of the interior foliage have been lost – somehow. Akio said it was more difficult to style for that reason. But Robert, the new owner, will get it full again. Time improves most things.

Grafted a Bonsai 13 Years Ago

chuhin — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:43:24 +0000

Akio Kondo has arrived from Japan – and Boon took him on the road with him. Their first stop was at Tom K. The fun part of this stop is that the tree below was originally grafted by Akio 13 years ago. Today it has shimpaku foliage. But 13 years ago it was completely California Juniper. It was one of those weepy califiornias that never would “tighten” up it’s foliage – so it was a fitting candidate.

Bonsai Display Winner

chuhin — Sun, 24 May 2009 21:06:01 +0000

Congratulations to Jim Gremel! I am proud to have such a talent as a B.I.B. Member. Jim won the Display Competion in Hanford, California just a few weeks ago. More prize money for Jim! Since he took home the prize money from the National Bonsai Exhibit also (with a different tree), may be there will be valet parking at Dear Meadow Bonsai the next time we go shopping at Jim’s nursery. http://www.jimgremel.com/bonsaihomepage.html

I liked the display very much. It is simple and elegant. The moon scroll with other blues and grays make the display feel quiet and cool. It is very restful. The flow of the cascade flows nicely into the accent. I like the positionof the scroll. I also like the balance and strength of the stand. In the US, I see a lot of cascade stands that are too strong or too week. Good balance Jim.

What other comments do the rest of you have for Jim. …congratulations of course.

Photo credit to Mary M.

Display Competition in Hanford, California

chuhin — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:25:05 +0000

Thanks to Mary M. I got to see some of the regional competition in Hanford that just took place. It looked like a lot of fun. I was in Florida during the event, but if I am in California with free time, I want to see the next one.

In the picture below you have Peter T. with his display. Great job Peter – and thank you. I was really glad that we had B.I.B. representation at the event. I hope that it just keeps building. Quality displays are always what we strive for.

Bonsai Display Practice

chuhin — Tue, 12 May 2009 21:33:25 +0000

Bay Island Bonsai puts on a pretty good show by American standards. I think the reason we do is because we practice our displays as part of our club meeting programs.

This May we used Ned’s tree for the display-practice. The first picture was the overall winner in our discussion, but not by much.

There was a feeling that the stand above was too ornate and fancy. But members liked it for its size. The accent, though beautiful, most members ”voted” against.

The stand above members liked the best for its simplicity, but most felt that it was too big for the pot and the tree. But they liked this accent the best. The camera-flash washed out the blue/grey color of the accent – which nicely complemented the color of the main tree’s pot.

This exercise just proves the bonsai rule: You can have a hundred pots and a hundred stands but not the perfect one. But in the end, you still have to choose one.

Kenny’s trees at Dai Ichii Bonsai show in LA area

chuhin — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:18:15 +0000

Here are the pictures of the trees that Kenny showed last weekend. As you all know Kenny is one of those far away members.