The Bonsai Blog of Bjorn Bjorholm

Hello!
I would like to apologize to those of you who had previously been viewing my blog on a regular basis.  It’s been too long since I last posted and in the future I will make a concerted effort to update this page on a more frequent basis.

Just to catch everyone up to speed:
Over the past several months I have been working to establish myself and my business in the worldwide bonsai community.  Thanks to the help of so many incredible individuals, my tour/teaching schedule has managed to fill up beyond my expectations.
I have also been asked to become a regular contributor to the American Bonsai Society’s magazine.  My writings, entitled ‘Notes from Japan,’ will be featured in the quarterly journal and will include topics related to an array of bonsai culture and design aspects.  
In addition, I will be returning to Osaka, Japan again this May 2010 to continue my studies at Fujikawa Kouka-en nursery.  Unforeseen circumstances cut my apprenticeship shorter than expected early last summer so I am grateful to be afforded a second opportunity to work with one of the greatest contemporary bonsai masters in the world, Keiichi Fujikawa.

Below are a few of my works since returning from Japan last June.  Please enjoy!

I will be finishing my apprenticeship and returning home to the US at the beginning of July 2009 to begin teaching bonsai.  If you or your club/society might be interested in hosting me for a demo, lecture, or workshop, please contact me at bbjorhol@gmail.com.  I look forward to hearing from you!

For those of you who requested, here are a few shohin bonsai from our nursery in Osaka.  Enjoy!

March is our busiest month without question.  We have been repotting bonsai non-stop for what feels like an eternity, but it’s been an interesting/rewarding experience nonetheless.  We started with the deciduous trees whose buds had already started to swell and we’re now slowly working our way into the needle evergreens.  With hundreds of trees needing to be repotted this year, the work would have been too daunting for only Mr. Fujikawa and myself to handle so the entire Fujikawa family pitched in to relieve some pressure.  Mr. Fujikawa’s elderly parents do most of the root pruning while my Oyakata handles the more aesthetic part of the job – the actual repotting itself.  Of course I do whatever I’m told to which usually means lifting things twice my bodyweight and running chores for everyone.  Much of my education here has been visual rather than hammered in verbally so while I’m running around in the current chaos of the nursery, I am continually observing and thereby learning.  Physical and mental exhaustion are a regular part of each day here, but I have no complaints.  

This tree was already at the nursery when I first arrived last year.  I had hoped from the beginning that eventually  I’d be allowed to wire it, but I figured it’d be out of the question, at least before my first full year had passed.   Luckily I didn’t have to wait that long.  The tree took a few short days to finish, and I think it turned out pretty nice.  Comments/critiques are welcome. Also, more before/after pics can be found on my website bjorvalabonsai.com.

A regular customer came to the nursery yesterday to check out the new arrivals before everything gets shipped up to Tokyo for the Kokufu-ten.  He saw the Zuisho I recently wired and immediately started jumping up and down in excitement…not because he was impressed with my work, but because he said he knew the tree from over 25 years ago!  He began flipping through the Taikan-ten books and found the same Zuisho in the 6th album (printed 22 years ago).  Then he frantically searched through the Kokufu-ten books and found the tree again in the 72nd album (printed 11 years ago) as it was wired by Masahiko Kimura.  The picture below on the far left is the same Zuisho from the 6th annual Taikan-ten, the middle picture is from the 72nd Kokufu-ten, and the picture on the very bottom was taken after my most recent attempt to wire the tree.  

Mr. Fujikawa recently came back from a buying trip to Saitama with this massive Zuisho riding in the backseat.  I immediately asked if I could have a go at it, and after a bit of coercing, convinced Mr. Fujikawa I could handle it.  I was actually given a choice of either working on this tree or going up to Tokyo the next day to help with the Shinsa (Kokufu-ten pre-judging event).  In the end I decided it was best not to pass up the opportunity this bonsai presented and skipped out on the Tokyo trip.  While Mr. Fujikawa was gone for 4 days I wired this Zuisho from sun-up to sundown, trying my best to create the image I knew my Oyakata wanted.  Of course when he returned he found a few minor details that I overlooked, but for the most part I got the thumbs up.  Please enjoy!

For anyone interested, I’ve just posted my new website online so feel free to check it out.  www.bjorvalabonsai.com

This past week we wrapped up the 28th annual Taikan-ten exhibition in Kyoto at Miyakomesse.  The preparation that went into the event was enormous but was completely worth it as the show was incredible and the experience itself was unforgettable.  I went with my oyakata, Mr. Fujikawa, to set up for the show on thursday Nov. 20th and spent the following five days in Kyoto working at the Fujikawa Kouka-en sales area.  Of course there were plenty of influential and famous bonsai artists at the event, but for me the best part was finally getting to meet some of the other young apprentices from around Japan including Ken-san from Daiju-en and Sakurai-san and Matt Reel from Shinji Suzuki’s place in Nagano.  Plus I got a serious behind-the-scenes look at how the entire event went down.  By the end of the long weekend, I was completely exhausted but I’m already looking forward to next year.  The following pictures from the nursery are a bit late, I know, but please enjoy and feel free to comment!

My largest project to date.  Surprisingly, it only took 3 days to finish.  The leaves are a bit leggy, but it’s still an interesting tree.  The trunk is actually completely hollow and the live vein turned a nice red color when the bark was removed.   Mr. Fujikawa suggested I wire the branches into smaller pads to give the tree a softer look, which I think worked out pretty well and makes it a bit more unique.