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bonsaiTALK Master Craftsman
Join Date: Sep-2001
Location: Gulf Coast
Country: Texas
Posts: 772
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Quote:
Originally posted by Harold B.
I seriously think that I will always do this for my enjoyment whether or not anyone ever respects or approves of anything I do.
No one said you shouldn't enjoy it. If you hate it you should at least get paid well for doing it...
When I stand there watering my plants, I look that them with pride. I think about how healthy they look and how proud I am of myself that I haven't killed a plant in the last 2 months or so.
But that's not bonsai, that's horticulture.
Then I hear people attempting to say that you need to sit under this many years of instruction to be respected. Some would say that if you have not had any formal schooling, or training that your opinion doesn't count. Still others say that you need to have a specific type of schooling to put out a great tree.
No one said exactly that, but it does help. Artistic respect, however, is rarely handed out freely. The proof i sin in the pudding - your trees.
When in reality we are all mere humans making up our own rules, regulations and guidelines (snip)... wuld that plant not be accepted because it did not fit the ratios, branch arrangements, zen requirements that have all been set up by mere humans?
No it generally woul;d not be accepted- or perhaps only as "potensai". Bonsai is strictly a human endeavour. While it has horticultural components it's primary focus is on presenting an artistic image. In the dim recesses of bonsia history contorted plants were placed in pots to bring a sense of struggle and harshness to gardens, etc. The art, however has grown beyond that.
Yet we constantly try to convince ourselves that we are the authority on balance, harmony, and asthetics.
Well, yes, aesthetics, etc. are human inventions, at least in this sense. We are not out to strictly copy nature, we are out to interpret it. Just as in painting, the goal is not always "photorealism".
When in reality we have to cut, bend, repot, trim, and force a living thing to grow contrary to what nature does naturally. Just so it will conform into the reality of our own rules.
So you really do get it. ;^)
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Jim Stone
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