Welcome to All in One Bonsa

Bitten by the Bug


Welcome to All in One Bonsai...a blog that aims to remind me of what I have forgotten. Over the years I have been finding out as much as I can about the art of bonsai. I hope the information in this blog will shed some light to the beginning bonsai enthusiast out there.


I saw some bonsai trees at a corner market one night in Taipei and asked the guy if he was willing to teach me how to create these miniature trees. He directed me to a night school where all the instruction was in Chinese. My Chinese ability is very ordinary at the least so although I was learning bits and pieces, I really wasn't getting all I wanted from the course. The best parts were when the teacher would start pruning a beautiful tree or when he showed us how to repot a bonsai. The mystery was still out there but my interest wasn't waning, if anything it fueled my motivation to find out more. And so I did.


Let the adventure begin...


Recently I have discovered the joy of pottery. Bonsai and pottery are close friends so it was only a matter of time before I was introduced to her. Welcome to All in One Bonsai...and pottery.


Feel free to visit my site where you can purchase some of my handmade pottery. Quite a few pieces have been wood fired as it is the prefered method here in Taiwan:


Esty Shop: AllinoneCeramics




Thursday 29 November 2012

Recommended Bonsai Books

Recommended Bonsai Books

I remember how frustrating it was trying to get a straight answer to my hundreds of questions.  I had too many questions and not enough answers.  I still do.  There is still so much that I do not know but throughout this blog I will attempt to explain what I know in a simple way that hopefully makes sense.  

I have bought over 20 bonsai books and I like them all.  Each book gives me some new information that the other books do not.  Or they explain something differently and then it suddenly makes sense.  
I continue buying bonsai books because I love looking at the pictures and reading someone else's thoughts on the art.

If I had to recommend only one bonsai book it would probably be Debrorah R. Koreshoff's book titled Bonsai Its Art, Science, History and Philosophy.  
It is quite detailed and a lot of it won't really sink in until you begin experimenting with trees yourself.  I find myself rereading chapters that made no sense to me in the beginning but now things have begun to click.  

The other two are from the same author, Robert Steven.  He has a nursery in Jakarta.  I was lucky enough to track it down and took some great photos of a few of his trees.  He is regarded as an excellent bonsai artist around the world.  He is not so traditional and has created some magnificent trees.  

Vision of My Soul by Robert Steven

Mission of Transformation by Robert Steven



A Robert Steven's bonsai.  I took this picture in July 2012
My next recommendation are two books written by John Yoshio Naka.

Bonsai Techniques I by John Yoshi Naka
Bonsai Techniques II John Yoshi Naka

These books are excellent.  Some of the best aspects of these books are how the author follows trees throughout many years and the pictures clearly show the different stages of development.  

The last one of my favourites is an old bonsai book that I bought on ebay for $5.  
The title is Bonsai Culture and Care of Miniature Trees.  It is published by Sunset Books.

I love this book as it does a great job of explaining techniques very clearly.  I particularly enjoyed reading this section -


"Bonsai are not exact duplicates of trees growing in the wild.  Rather, they are evocations of the spirit of nature, of the life force of the natural world.  They are man made shapes that suggest nature - as does, say, an impressionist painting - rather than duplicate nature, as a photograph might.  The artist's feeling for balance, form, and line combine with nature's juices to evoke a larger and deeper concept."

Please visit my online pottery shop at AllinoneCeramics for handmade ceramic pieces.


1 comment:

  1. Mate, you're a prolific poster, very impressive! Interesting vignettes...

    ReplyDelete