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Banned 08JUN2005
Join Date: Dec-2001
Location: Benton County
Country: USA
Posts: 1,099
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Gallery Ratings
Just got back (figuratively speaking) from looking at a number of trees in the Gallery. VERY interesting. In view of my rapidly improving photography technique, I think I'll submit a couple of pictures of my trees!
Now, what really piqued my interest was the idea of rating the trees. But, what I couldn't figure out was the rating system, if there is one. I don't know whether a 5 means an average tree, world wide, an average tree for an American newbie, a failure, with 7 meaning "passing", a mild compliment for the average bonsai practitioner or a gross insult for anybody.
May I propose (drumroll, here, please) a rating system:
10 - Reserved for Japanese National treasure trees. The very best Kimura trees in "Bonsai Today"
9 - World Class trees. Appropriate for "Bonsai Today" Gallery. The very best European trees.
8. Excellent Trees. Very good exhibition trees at Regional or Local Shows. Well groomed trees selling for several hundred dollars with a good overall impact, but not truly remarkable.
7. Good quality trees suitable for exhibition at local club shows.
6. Trees recognizable as Bonsai but with easily recognizable flaws or a total impact below exhibition-appropriate quality
5. Flawed bonsai a few years away from being "mature" or with serious flaws or poor overall quality
4. Trees little past the stage of being good material or with such poor overall impact as to be scarcely recognizable as being legitimate bonsai. The average dept store "Mallasai".
3. Poor quality "sticks in a pot". Trees with such serious flaws as to be best taken back to "pre-bonsai" material status and fundmentally restarted.
2. Trees not recognizable as legitimate bonsai. So seriously flawed as not being worthy of any effort to improve.
1. Seedlings, new cuttings.
With some sort of standard to judge against, I'd be willing to invest some time and effort into rating and commenting on the trees in the Gallery. This may not be the right scale to measure against, but does anybody else think we could use one?
Fred
Fred
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