Anton Nijhuis wrote:

I remember the article well and looked back on it after reading the
post. I had a mixed reaction when I originally read the article and
still do after exploring it again with your comments in mind.
The final results may look great but is it still a crappy tree? It is a
wonderful example of art but..........

Is it only a façade? Things hidden behind things etc.
The main trunk branches etc. are shaped but do they possess the
qualities of a good tree, as defined by our peers. Will this tree ever
grow into a good tree?
Of course I can only respond through pictures and would love to see the
tree in reality.

This is probably a big difference between european and american artists.
Americans tend to be more influenced and probably more inhibited by
classic japanese bonsai, even more so then the japanese, this is
probably due to the fact of lots of japanese imigrants in the US. I
can´t say if it´s good or bad.
This way of styling bonsai is accepted in Europe. It gives new
possibilitys, what else could have been done with the tree in the article?
One must also ask what is OK what is not, after all there is always a
bit of illusion in bonsai styling. I´v seen a fantastic classic bonsai
in BT where they wired all the secondary back branches on a big branch
to the front, to make the foliage cloud look fuller. Looking at the tree
from the front it looked great. From the side, maybe not so much. If it
looks good it looks good, it is as simple as that. It is the end result
that matters not how it was created. It would almost be like saying: "I
don´t like this tree because when I saw it in training it was poorly
wired."
I also think there is a 3D perspective to take in account. Some trees,
like a bunjin can probably look good from all sides. I´ve seen trees
that has two fronts. And there are probably formal upright trees wich
must be seen from the absolut front where a few ° makes a difference.
I´m not always fond of this kind of work. Sometimes the end result is
just a green blob on a trunk but like Dales teacher said: "Sometimes the
magic works....and sometimes it doesn't" ;-)

Henrik Gistvall, Uppsala, Sweden

************************************************** ******************************
++++Sponsored, in part, by Evergreen Gardenworks++++
************************************************** ******************************
-- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ --
+++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++