Harry HarringtonArtist and Author, Bonsai4me · Author, Publisher, Webmaster, Bonsai Artist

Privet Bonsai Carving Video, Using Ordinary Material for Bonsai

18 Apr 2017 · 10 min

Watch on YouTube

9:35

In this instructional video, bonsai artist Harry Harrington demonstrates how to transform ordinary garden material—a privet tree with deadwood stumps—into an aesthetically pleasing bonsai feature. He begins by describing the tree’s condition, noting the unsightly, man‑made wounds of deadwood. He then walks through the carving process: hollowing out the central section to expose the tree’s internal structure, shaping undulating forms in the deadwood shell to suggest movement, drilling small ‘uru’ holes using a carbide bit, and finally staining and blackening the hollows to create visual contrast that highlights the carved panels. Throughout, he emphasizes the goal of turning damaged areas into natural‑looking artistic elements that integrate with the living portion of the tree.

Chapters

My name is Harry Harrington, and today I'm going to take you through the steps of carving some more ordinary garden material. In this case, a privet collected a couple of years ago from a hedgerow in someone's garden. The tree has fully recovered from collection and is very nice and healthy, but as can be seen There's a large area of deadwood at the moment which are just sawn-off stumps, and these wounds look man-made and ugly, but by carving we can embellish them, make them look like part of the tree. At the front of the tree, it's possible to see the old stumps that have been cut away when the tree was collected. My first job this morning will be to start hollowing out The central section. So we can start seeing the, the back of the tree that reflects the movement of the live section. The deadwood is now starting to take shape, and I've got some undulations and some movement starting to happen in the shell of the tree, and the core is beginning to come I'm now going to start adding some holes, or uru, using a small carbide bit. With the deadwood now aged, It's time to start staining the wood. And the first job is to blacken the hollows so they act as a foil to show off the, the panels and the— or the shell, the deadwood.