bonsaiTALK Community - View Single Post - Artistry In Bonsai: A Simpleton's View

Artist or Talented Artist

You have all the components for a forest bonsai. The trees are differing heights, and the trunks are varied. You have seven trees because you heard that forests should be in odd numbers. The trees are healthy and ready to be placed in the appropriate container, which you saved up to buy for 6 months. The next weekend the trees are assembled in the pot and you display the forest for the first time. The onlookers cock their heads and have a puzzled look on their faces.
What went wrong?

All the steps were followed; all the rules of bonsai are there. Your planting looks like the one on the left.

Somehow this artist forgot the viewpoint of artistic composition. Using the same trees, and placing them differently in the pot, a much nicer composition comes alive. This forest also makes use of negative space, which creates drama for the viewer. This negative space is the only artistic touch that helps make this bonsai tell a story. Remember, storytelling in bonsai is what it is all about. Now your forest looks like the one on the right.

Maybe the viewer sees themselves in a meadow between the trees, or maybe there is a deer grazing in the glade. Maybe it is just a place “to let the birds fly through”. Thanks, John.

To sum it all up…
One can have all the pieces to make good bonsai. They can follow the rules to the letter. But..if they are not assembled artistically the tree will fall flat.

Regards, Al Keppler