Granville

Hello to all
Great discussion going on here.
I find it ironic that the 'naturalistic' approach is considered a departure from the 'norm.' After all, in the beginning weren't bonsai meant to represent a wild tree in nature? Perfectly manicured trees are more like impressionistic representations of trees than what I would call 'naturalistic.' Don't get me wrong, I like classically styled trees as well.

I think what is being discussed here isn't Japanese vs. American or European, it's more like traditional vs. non-traditional. And there's room for both. Some trees don't conform to all the rules and Japan is the originator of "the rules." But, I'll bet if you really look at some of the classically styled trees, you will find that even they break the rules on occaision. A jazz musician must first learn the standards before he starts improvising. Likewise, the aforementioned artists have learned "the rules" and are free to improvise. I love their work as much as the more traditional artists.

Throughout history, art forms have broken with tradition and started different movements. Look at Picasso and DADA- "art doesn't have to be traditional.

-Granville