The Chasm: Mixed media bonsai experiment

Hey, In this video I show how my trees are doing out in the yard during winter as well as in the cold greenhouse. I then proceed to present and then style a Thuja Occidentalis (eastern white cedar). This tree is the first example in my collection of a mixed media bonsai. A bonsai where other media are embedded to enhance the material as an art object. I also discuss and present examples of cement-based bonsai containers.

If you want to skip to aa specific part in the video, these are the timings (in the Youtube video description you can actually click to goo directly to a part).

0:00 Yard update
3:40 Cold greenhouse update
7:25 Mixed media bonsai
12:26 Styling of the tree
15:10 Discussion of the styled tree and tips on styling Thuja
18:43 Cement as a medium for bonsai

I also show some of the cement containers I am experimenting with. A lot of inspiration to work with concrete comes from Katherine Stanek’s concrete art:

Still more info and some more newer container ideas/experiments in this post on the Mirai forum on using concrete.

Genius @rafi

Ive been considering ways to be more innovative in bonsai. Would love to see more “mixed media” concepts

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Thanks Amit! - I will definitely do more. How about you?

I’m mainly experimenting with containers and plantings at the moment as I’m still a beginner and my collection of material is pretty poor.

Mainly shop bought and saplings… but I am creating a library of ideas for when I get some better stuff.

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That’s great. Every tree is an opportunity to grow.