The Japanese art of cultivating bonsai is an exercise in patience and effort. Bonsai enthusiast Chris Guise added a bit of geekery to the art form by making a miniature replica of Bilbo Baggin’s humble hobbit home, Bag End.
Chris didn’t just buy a miniature tree or cut off a branch for this replica. He actually prepared the tree for two years: “Not long after I bought this tree I carved a shari down the trunk, covered the edges with cut paste and left it alone. After two years the edges had callused over nicely.” He carved out the tree a bit using a Dremel tool before placing it in the final base.
The door of the house itself is made of miniature planks of wood, while the window is made of strips of wood and black plastic. Chris used roofing tiles to make the house’s bricks, which he cemented to a plastic mesh. Then he added bonsai soil and some moss to finish the replica. All in all it took Chris over 80 hours to finish the tiny abode.
I highly recommend that you read Chris’ article on Bonsai Empire because my summary doesn’t do him justice. I left out a lot of Chris’ workflow and there are even more pictures on the original article as well.
[via Nerd Approved via Neatorama]
