Jay

Smoke,
Greetings, hopefully you will teach me as much as your former self has already done.

As you know I am one of those 'backyard' Bonsai people. I enjoy Bonsai for many reasons. This does not take away the fact that Bonsai is ART. My talent is still growing, my knowledge of the art still imcomplete and it will probably remain that way. This does not stop me from appreciating what we have here. There are those who practice 'backyard' Bonsai on a whim and those who really wish to improve but for various reasons are slow to do so. I think your last question of "...am I better at bonsai..." is a great one, but should be ammended to also ask,

'Do I appreciate Bonsai more, and do I understand why I do?'

I live outside a small village in a rural section of Vermont. We have a few Art Galleries in town. The level of accomplishment of the artist that are displayed ranges from the well known to the just started out....they are all artists... just some are better at it than others.....

Those of us who 'do' backyard Bonsai need to know that it is OK to go at a slower pace, to perhaps never attain greatness, but if we wish to truely appreciate Bonsai as Art we need to understand why it is.

To answer your question, and the ones I ammended to it...
My trees are better now than last year....my knowledge of Bonsai is better and I have a better idea where I need to go.....but of course that is my opinion

my 2 cents
Jay

__________________
A Bonsai student living with his trees at N 44.37 W 77.49...
Think before you act... then think again... no good comes from rushing