1. The recent republication by Art of Bonsai Project of the excellent "Art of the Mudman" article, which you probably recall placed fourth in our 2006 Articles Contest, was not accompanied by any recognition of the source or original publication date of the article at bonsaiTALK. It was instead presented as an Art of Bonsai Project "Feature." It is clearly not a Feature of that website nor in any way exclusive to it. Moreover, the Art of Bonsai Project representation contained detailed captions that I provided as an editor that were not in the original submission. I respect the right of the Contest authors to get whatever publicity they can for their works, and encourage them to do so, but this reprint was not presented accurately.






2. The bonsai display contest that you today bring to the attention of the bonsaiTALK Community's membership (which you describe as a slightly different contest) is also not unique. It's in fact based on an idea that I shared with you and Art of Bonsai Project editor, Will Heath, on October 29, 2005, when you were cc'd on a letter to a prospective Display Contest sponsor. (I had originally included the emails and dates here, but you've seen them and it really serves no point. Drop me a PM if you don't recall and I can mail them to you.)




In a follow-up email on October 29, our then-Contest Coordinator wrote to me asking about the Display contest and wondering if he would have an opportunity to run it. I believe the Art of Bonsai Project certainly should have the opportunity to run whatever contest it chooses, but I recognize entire paragraphs in the posted rules as my own (not the ones with the typos!). Seeing this contest presented as "something different" is in my opinion not accurate. Something borrowed, perhaps.


3. Over the last month or so, an Editor of the Art of Bonsai Project has been pursuing a smear campaign against this site and its members in other fora. I'm not going into details on this point in public. If you want to know more, drop me a PM.