bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Is a bonsai ever "Finished"

I think the problem with the question 'when is a bonsai finished?' comes down to what is the bonsai? Is it the tree or the image? In my opinion it is the image you have created using a lving tree as your medium to do so. Reaching the design you had planned for makes the existing design finished, and thus the bonsai is. If you then go for a drastic re-style the tree lives on but as a different bonsai, not the same as before. It is now totally different and thus the original image has been finished; it can no longer be built upon or changed with the seasons. But the tree is still alive, so the only finished bonsai may not be a dead one.

Al

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I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on...
Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth

3-Jul-2006	#8
Alasdair bonsaiTALK Master Chief Join Date: Aug-2004 Location: Aberystwyth Uni Country: Wales USDA Zone: 8 AHS Heat Zone: 0-1 Posts: 1,101	I think the problem with the question 'when is a bonsai finished?' comes down to what is the bonsai? Is it the tree or the image? In my opinion it is the image you have created using a lving tree as your medium to do so. Reaching the design you had planned for makes the existing design finished, and thus the bonsai is. If you then go for a drastic re-style the tree lives on but as a different bonsai, not the same as before. It is now totally different and thus the original image has been finished; it can no longer be built upon or changed with the seasons. But the tree is still alive, so the only finished bonsai may not be a dead one. Al __________________ I can feel another "I wish that was my tree" moment coming on... Currently studying BSc Plant Biology at the Universty of Wales, Aberystwyth