|
bonsaiTALK Neophyte
Join Date: Jan-2007
Location: Oakland, CA
Country: USA
Posts: 7
|
Age and beauty
And please don't forget - no one should ever again be required to contemplate or admire any tree more than about 50 years old - so no trees that have finally reached the maturity that allows for depth and beauty.
A great bonsai is not just created by a single person in a 2 hour workshop, it is developed over the entire tree's life. And if well cared for, that lifetime is much longer than a single human life.
I have a tree that was first collected in the Sierra in the late 80's. It's had 4 owners so far. The initial "styling" of the tree was by nature. And now, every time it is shown it is different - due to every styling decision, every decision about when to pinch and at what angle to repot, and where it will live in the garden. I hope that that tree will still be here, growing and developing, at the time that I become unable to care for it. And that someone else will then happily assume the role as caretaker.
Indeed, some of us had the opportunity to see a tree in the Japanese Imperial Collection that belonged to Iemitsu, the 3rd Tokugawa shogun. That means that the tree (originally collected from nature) has been living as a bonsai for at least 400 years.
The way I usually explain it to people: Bonsai are like women, there is no substitute for age.
|