bonsaial1

First of all I voted no. Not because it is not Penjing, because there were not enough choices. Almost the same as Will's question. Of course if you do not know what it is, how could you be expected to offer that as a choice.

I vote saikai. Same thing basicly, but enough differances to not call it penjing.

Saikai: landscape scene in a bonsai tray or basin. A scene planted in soil within the pot. Trees need not actually have any particular flavor to make the scene interesting.

Penjing: Landscape scene in a thin marble tray with no actual covering of the entire tray. Negative space is left to enhance the composition by providing the viewer with some of the scene but leaving out enough to simplfy the image. The white space could represent and ocean, or a river, a back eddy in a lake, or the ocean compleatly surrounding an island.

Penjing are most traditionaly done with water eroded stones. They could be from the ocean or a river. They will be like in color form and texture. This scene seems to be done with igneous stone, (lava/ bowl rock)

Most penjing will be composed with trees with a decidedly Chinese image, thus borrowing the Chinese term for the composition. Saikai tends to be a more Japanese term. These boxwoods have no Chinese flavor in my opinion. But man this could be an image I have seen hundred of time while passing thru Pacheco Pass near Casa De Fruita. I hope that was your inspiration, because if it was you nailed it. This captures perfectly the large spread oaks in the rugged terrain of those mountains thru that particular pass.

This is a nice Saikai Mike, good work, Al

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