Marty,

I don't agree at all. Bonsai, like most art, is an effort at
personification. What we idealize in nature has more to do with our own
human quality preferences than merely our idealizations of nature. In other
words, bonsai is about "us," rather than about trees. Trees are merely the
medium.

Your admonishment to approach our design preferences with humility is
perhaps out of context. Our humility might best be directed at those who
have worked on the tree before us rather than toward the common, average
aesthetics of nature. Bonsai is all about obviating averageness and
commonness. By your standard, the best bonsai is a tree in a pot to which
we've done nothing. Out of context IMO.

Kind regards,
Andy Rutledge
www.andyrutledge.com
zone 8, Texas


----- Original Message -----
From: "Marty Haber"
Lynn - it occurs to me that the esoteric split between tree and stone
appreciation exposes our ultimate chutzpah. The whole idea of planting
trees in pots is our way of saying: "Nature is a hit-and-miss proposition.
We will take over and improve upon it. We will show Nature how it should
behave." In our Gallery, we're constantly seeing virtuals illustrating
members' improvements upon improvements.
I'm not intimating that we should quit what we are doing; only that we
ought
to add a heaping portion of humility to our work.
Marty.

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