Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Vance Wood
I am kind of surprised that you are coming from this point of view Chris. It is my understanding that Boon lives in California but yet you consider him your teacher, or am I wrong? If this is so then you must have been exposed to Boon through one of his many trips around the country, and continue your study with him on a fragmented basis when he is in KC. Forgive me if I am worng and please don't think I am trying to take a shot at you, I am just getting some mixed messages that seem to contradict your previous points of view.
|
You couldn't be further from the truth, Vance. If you had read my many posts carefully, you would see that while I met Boon when he came to KC for a Master Weekend (and that would be one redeeming quality if the majority of "Masters" were truly masters with great teaching talent), I have since paid considerable sums of money in travel and tuition and a large investment in time (vacations spent away from the bride) in order to travel to California and be taught in depth by this great man.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Vance Wood
If growing good quality bonsai is the goal then it is necessary that one is exposed to the kind of people that are capable of producing these world class bonsai and willing to teach those with a desire to learn. If you do not have anyone of such calaber in your club or area what options are left open to you? You can move or you can kidnap the object of your desire  |
But really, Vance, how much of the way that teacher actually
does bonsai can be seen by the people who come to these things? If the bonsai artist whose personal collection is fantastic and varied, and developed through decades of perseverence, has a slash-and-burn, fastest-wirer-in-the-west style of demonstration, how much can anyone learn from that? And does that style of presentation really bear any resemblance to bonsai? When my teacher came for the event, he spent the time cleaning a Japanese black pine and teaching about it. Very little was actually done to the tree, partly because it was out of season, but I learned more from seeing that than I ever could have learned from some demo on a piece of nursery stock.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Vance Wood
It is true much that takes place in some of these dog and poney shows is not good, but it is not necessarily the fault of the invited "Master", as much as it is the fault of those who invited him. The club expects the instant masterpiece, and in workshops an almost finished bonsai is the expectation of almost every attendee. We expect to see the entire ball of wax demonstrated in a single sitting. Then we are surprised when the tree dies?
|
I am never surprised when those trees die. It's enough indictment in and of itself.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Vance Wood
So what is the value?? Inspiration if nothing else. Just as in an Evangelical meeting it is the inspiration that carries the attendee, not the constant hand holding. If one is truly sold out for God they don't need to have the fires stoked all the time, or at least they should'nt. But you know the funny thing, when they fail it's always the teacher's fault and none of the blame falls on them. So it is with bonsai, we want miracles, we expect miracles so we demand the miraculous.
|
Actually it's never the evangelist's fault when the convert fails, it's the local church's failure as Bone-sigh has said. How many local clubs are prepared to really
teach bonsai to "new converts"? The inspiration that comes from most demos bears so little relation to bonsai that it might as well be a vision on a grilled cheese sandwich.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Vance Wood
It seems to me it is better to see how some of these masters work first hand and understand that they too are human, than it is to sit and wonder and wish. If we find that some of them have feet of clay, that too is a good lesson less we find ourselves out standing in our fields-----in mud up to our knees. But in the end it comes down to choices. If the opportunity arises to attend one of these classes/demonstrations and you think this a useless exercise then don't go.
|
Well that's the problem then, isn't it? Demonstrations by their nature are not how true masters of the art work firsthand. Of course they are human and have feet of clay. Of course they make mistakes or do too much or do too little and the tree struggles. And if the new member wins the raffle and the tree dies, do they learn that "Even a monkey falls out of a tree sometimes?" No, they learn that bonsai is hard and they didn't know enough to save even a tree styled by a "master." What kind of inspiration is that?
And if "Masters" have feet of clay, then why is it we only see their successes in the books, not the struggles or failures? Why do we never see the
process that makes for great bonsai? Because it's hard. It may be tedious. It may require patience. And it makes poor theater. Vance, I have never seen, for example, you do a demo. But I have learned a good deal about the daily care and training of mugho pine bonsai from your posts here. The two bear no resemblance to one another, unless you are a remarkable teacher. And if you are, then your demos don't bear much resemblance to most demos being done in the U.S.
Why is it we demand the triumphant, the miracle, and why are most of them only too willing to comply? Because the appellation "Master" has such an allure? Sorry, but I will take the average guy or gal quietly teaching the best they know over most of the roving bands of "Masters" available in the U.S today.