[IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines
Iris Cohen wrote:
Maybe I am reading the wrong magazines. I have two pet peeves. One is that they have this photo essay of the Big Expert who takes a $3000, 300 year old juniper with lots of deadwood & turns it into a masterpiece. I need an article which tells me how to turn a $25 juniper in a 4 inch pot into a masterpiece. Probably. I´ve found Bonsai Europe to be more in line with what you´re looking for. Of course there are fantastic yamadori-trees styled in incredible ways but also quite common nursery stock trained to bonsai. Henrik Gistvall, Uppsala Sweden ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
[IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines
Maybe I am reading the wrong magazines.
I share your feelings, Iris, although I don't think you could sell magazines by exclusively showing mediocre nursery stock transformed into transplant-shocked wired-up mummies. But..... That's what clubs are for! I learn absolutely nothing from photo-spreads of gigantic collected trees turned into gigantic carved museum pieces. But I learn a tremendous amount from seeing the bonsai of friends develop over a period of years. I see what they did, compared to what I did with a similar tree (which might have collected on the same trip or at the same nursery). Also, friends are great for studying your tree and making cryptic comments like "Oh. I see you removed *that* branch. Hmmm. Interesting choice." -- Nina Shishkoff Frederick, MD ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
[IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines
----- Original Message -----
From: "Henrik Gistvall" Subject: [IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines Iris Cohen wrote: Maybe I am reading the wrong magazines. I have two pet peeves. .. Probably. I´ve found Bonsai Europe to be more in line with what you´re looking for. Of course there are fantastic yamadori-trees styled in incredible ways but also quite common nursery stock trained to bonsai. Henrik Gistvall, Uppsala Sweden I second that. Bonsai Europe is a fantastic magazine and the trees are all the same stuff I grow in OHIO. LOTS of color, great articles, great pics. Well worth the extra "shipping" money. Regards, Dale Cochoy, Wild Things Bonsai Studio, Hartville, Ohio http://www.WildThingsBonsai.Com Specializing in power wood carving tools. Yakimono no Kokoro bonsai pottery of hand-built stoneware ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
[IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines
Nina Shishkoff wrote:
Maybe I am reading the wrong magazines. snip That's what clubs are for! I learn absolutely nothing from photo-spreads of gigantic collected trees turned into gigantic carved museum pieces. But I learn a tremendous amount from seeing the bonsai of friends develop over a period of years. I see what they did, compared to what I did with a similar tree (which might have collected on the same trip or at the same nursery). Also, friends are great for studying your tree and making cryptic comments like "Oh. I see you removed *that* branch. Hmmm. Interesting choice." -- Nina Shishkoff Frederick, MD The thing I learn from articles in Bonsai Today, for instance, is not how to make one of my trees look like one of theirs, but how to look at a tree. For instance, a number of articles in BT include very detailed descriptions of why the artist chose a particular angle of planting, factors that went into the decision about the front, etc. For me, paint-by-the-numbers doesn't work. I want to design my trees to look good, with designs that work artistically. Looking exclusively at pictures of trees that are at the same level as mine won't do it. I need to have goals to work towards. Having images of well-developed trees, along with seeing others' trees, does this for me. Craig Cowing NY Zone 5b/6a ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
[IBC] Those Bonsai Magazines
Maybe I am reading the wrong magazines. I have two pet peeves.
One is that they have this photo essay of the Big Expert who takes a $3000, 300 year old juniper with lots of deadwood & turns it into a masterpiece. I need an article which tells me how to turn a $25 juniper in a 4 inch pot into a masterpiece. I tend to agree, Iris. I had a brief discussion with someone on this not long ago about Bonsai Today, after I complained about issue #84 (which I did NOT buy): It seems to me that the how-to-do it stuff on trees are increasingly getting to cover repair and maintenance of trees that 99% of BT readers will never own, and will seldom see, much less have cause to do. The massive surgery on some of the trees in the 4-parter in #84 is an extreme case in point. First, I really doubt that any of those trees will survive that kind of torture for more than a few years, and second, the folks who buy magazines and read them avidly aren't capable for the most (read MOST) part of undertaking that kind of operation. The folks who ARE capable have no need for a how-to magazine. Most of BT's readers aren't taking a good bonsai and making it better. They're struggling to create a bonsai from untrained nursery stock. They wouldn't DARE cut off as much root as most of the BT articles would have them do (for example). And if they tried to do it, they'd lose the tree because they don't know yet how trees (or radishes) grow. There also seems to be a growing amount of hero worship in the text; I thought the writer of the piece on Kimura's tree in #84 was going to be shown kissing his feet! Now, you know that I am NOT a Kimura fan, so take that with that amount of salt, but still it is blatant kiss ass to keep calling him "the master." I've begun to wonder if he owns part of the Japanese parent of the magazine. When I buy BT today, I do it primarily for the gallery, but even those seem (except for Ernie's trees in this issue) to be lacking. I think it was #83 that had galleries of European trees??? I, at least, thought those were decidedly inferior. (Mota's olives in #82, on the other had, were excellent.) You're right, I'm only one person, but the feeling is shared by a couple of folks in my local club. The BTs stocked by the local Borders have gone largely unsold the last few issues. I think 82 sold out (they only get 3!), but 83 did not, and 84 is languishing. The club bought one copy of it to raffle off at our show last weekend -- ONE ticket (!). (We made $75 on raffle tickets.) In sum: Traditionally, BT is great at how-to articles, but the more recent issues _seem_ to be presenting how-to info on stuff most folks won't (or can't) use. Maybe they think all the basics have been covered, but as you can see from the IBC, folks need to know the basics. Of the other magazines easily available in the USA, International Bonsai is the only one that presents as much informative material as BT (ABS and BCI are too filled with organizational stuff). At least recently, IB's material has been more useful. That's the end of my earlier diatribe. I noted recently that the current BT #85 seems to be more back on track. It even has a useful beginner article on pinching and trimming. The early issues (which no one can find anymore) had a lot of beginner-type stuff in them; maybe today they can at least have an article or two that doesn't feature some mega-star working on a mega-tree. It's kind a like Ma Housewife reading about Lucy Liu's beauty secrets: YOU WISH! The other problem is that the books & magazines have step by step articles on how to take a tree from day one over a period of six years & turn it into a bonsai. But either I didn't have this tree six years ago, or I didn't have the magazine six years ago, and the tree is six years old. I need an article that tells me what to do with it today, not what I should have done six years ago. Sometimes you can extrapolate, but it is usually difficult to tell what is going on when you walk into the middle of Act Three, Scene Two. I'm sure you're familiar with Bill V's International Bonsai. Jim Lewis - - Tallahassee, FL - The phrase 'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman ************************************************** ****************************** ++++Sponsored, in part, by Mike Page ++++ ************************************************** ****************************** -- The IBC HOME PAGE & FAQ: http://www.internetbonsaiclub.org/ -- +++++ Questions? Help? e-mail +++++ |
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