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Originally Posted by Vance Wood
This is not meant to be a criticism but a comment on what I find to be a major flaw in the way many, new to bonsai, come at the art. It is this one state of mind that forwards the idea which seems to say you can find your own way in bonsai and come up with your own styling etc.
By attempting to isolate one's self from what other artists are doing is to say you think you have a better idea, which may be so, but this of itself demands proof. Is this the reality of a truly artistic mind, capable of producing really outstanding work, or the verbalizing of an ignorant point of view working under the assumption that their meager knowledge and their great passion and intellect will soon surpass everyone else participating in the art?
The short of it is how do you know what you like if you have never seen what those looked upon as great have done or are doing? At some point you must have seen bonsai, good, bad, or ugly and been moved by the image to do the same. I do not think it is likely that the image of a bonsai appeared to you in the clouds as the image of the cross appeared to Constantine, saying go and conquer in this image.
I know (Graydon) you have not taken this that far, but there are those who have.
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Good response Vance. Your points are to an extent valid. I'm glad you understood my response. I guess I could have been more clear in this part - that type of isolation was not what I was eluding to achieve (perhaps other have and do). I am trying to isolate myself from the crap that is printed and posted online. Although I have the books and the magazines I see them as more of a reference or rules of thumb. What I was trying to say is that unless you have seen the tree in person you have not seen the tree. What you have seen is is another artists (or regular person) view of the tree. It may be a photo of the tree with the best intention of the photo taker but it's just not the same - at all.
An example - have you seen the Mona Lisa at the Louvre or a photo of the Mona Lisa? It's a masters work, one of the most common examples of fine art in the world. Almost every educated person could point it out and name it as well as da Vinci, the creator. I have not seen her, but hope to do that one day soon while my eyes still work well. Do I appreciate her? Yes. But not as much as when I stand in front of her in all the glory that she has to offer, just as da Vinci had intended her to be seen.
The only other way I could see this is that Al is correct in more than one way and "the internets", books and magazines have really dumbed us all down, satisfied with staring at low resolution interpretations of someone else's work, perhaps missing the entire point of the tree and the artist. If these are "great" trees, truly "masterpieces" by old and new masters then they must be seen how the artist wanted them to be seen - in person. Viewing them at the proper height and distance would be good as well.
So proper in person exposure is the only cure for overexposure, get off your butt and go to a show, go to a collection and see a tree. This is art and that is how art is appreciated.