stevehtx

>I would say that the aim is more along the lines of "to convey a sense of tree-ness."

I have to agree with OMC. Bonsai is not only about expressing a feeling of age and wisdom. There are many types of trees in the world in which we perceive other qualities as well - calmness, perseverance, balance, youth and exuberance, strength in hardship, elegance. Since we can perceive all these qualities in the world of trees and bonsai is an emulation of this world of trees, then it stands to reason that it is possible to recreate all of these qualities as bonsai. A tree designed to express youth and freshness is no more or less a bonsai than an aged tree showing hardship - given that both are produced with equal regard to the guidelines and rules of bonsai. It's simply a different expression.
Is Picasso a greater or lesser artist than Van Gogh because he painted in a different way?

Most people will be drawn to a certain character of tree. I personally like the top-of-the-mountain, blasted-by-nature, lots-of-deadwood kind of tree and have VERY few trees in my yard that express balance or fragility or calmness. But that's just my character. Someone else would look at my trees and see nothing that interests them at all. At the same time, I could not walk up to someone else's quiet, calm and balanced trees and speak ill of them for not having deadwood and a sense of long-suffering perseverence. His trees as bonsai should be celebrated in the same way that I celebrate my vision of bonsai and the trees I care for.

>Ok, if the point is not an illusion of age, what about the illusion of being established? The kind of thing that a well-formed root base will evoke?

The illusion of being established is simply one of the guidelines. Everybody who teaches states that one of the first things to look for is a good root spread. A tree without stability in the pot, whether young or old, is not a desireable quality.

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Thanks

Steve Delaune
Houston, Texas