bnsaijim

I think bonsai have more of a "pedigree". It is difficult to be a pure "collector" unless one hires the original artist to move the tree along or maintain the finished bonsai.

Looking at people who had taken workshops with this guy or that and seeing many of those trees never really progress- "Master X styled it like this so this is the way it stays... " kind of makes me think this.

If the tree ends up being a knockout 5 years later- perhaps because the artist had the foresight to provide training directions or a drawing... is it really to his credit?

Or...A hired gun comes in and decimates the workshop trees because he isn't from TX and doesn't understand our climate, our species... maybe he SHOULD get the credit...

I have a TX Ebony "ruined" by a certain carving afficiondo. Colin Lewis showed me a way to fix it. Who gets the credit?

I had two artists work on the same tree once- a buttonwood... Dennis Makashima, who did not know the species, which worked out well because he kept to his "place"- helped me analyze the tree and it's virtues and defects and Gary Marchal who further helped it along guiding major branch placement and describing a form true to the nature of the tree. BUT I made the decisions and did the work ultimately combining traditonal Japanese and American approaches. Who gets the credit?

I stopped taking workshops for this reason. I'd rather work with someone (i.e., Colin Lewis) on an ongoing basis that is more inclined to lead me to THINK to style trees in the best way rather than hum along running trees through the "Bonsai Master Mill".

So, while I may include a teacher's name to the pedigree of a certain tree my name rides along with it for better or worse.

The one exception I have is the Banting cypress - I stay true to his styling to the extent possible. It is inevitable that my mark is made on it however, the ultimate image is solely his.

Jim Stone