bnsaijim

John,

When I tried to discuss a flat top cypress with several Japanese a few years ago they refused to consider it. Not even "good bonsai" or "bad bonsai" "NOT bonsai" and at least one had seen these growing naturally.

This is not a new idea- it's been a ragging subject for the last 10 years on the internet and for decades in print. I think the argument is a distraction. A BoonDoggle. A Holy Grail...

I think that there is only an achievable American style (a term I have come to find annnoying) in the sense of

1. ANY bonsai should reflect naturalness and a high regard and thoughtfullness to detail. You can't teach a pig to sing i.e., your japanese trained friend. But perhaps there is an in road for some respect...

2. That being said, what the hell is an "American Style"? If it is an excuse for bad material, bad cultivation, bad styling i.e., the way "Chinese Style" is bantered, then your friend's comments may have some limitted legitimacy. How often have we seen sub-standard material or soemoene who is too lazy to learn to wire properly offered up as "Chinese Style".

3. I would contend that it is the absorption and utiliztion of one's own repertoire of natural images. What I fear is that one day we'll be faced with imagery of immature looking broom styles because developers have completely raped our landscapes of all our truly ancient citizens of the forest in favor on a mono-culture landscape.

4. I tend to agree with Ron. Concentrate on being good bonsai artists and forget style. If Reiner Goebel and Nick Lenz both style a Larch similarly, is one "Canadian Style" and the other "American Style" simply because they reside on different sides of the St. Lawrence?!? (mental health stauses aside! ;^)) If I style an elm and Colin Lewis styles an elm what is it? Are all his old trees "Euro -style" and the ones post 2002 now "American".

5. "Style", in a personal sense, in most any endeavour is accepted as developing once one has mastered the basics, honed one's craft to the point of contemplation and attention to detail. When you start drawing on your own emotions and visual "catalog" it will show through. My wife comments that my trees don't look like anyone elses' with a quick qualifier- they're good as or better than others I have seen but "different". I attribute this to spending years in the Adirondacks looking at lakes and vegetation subject to heavy snowloads and acid rain. Follow up with equal time in the Deep South and all it's natural wonders... Put this against trees from folks enamoured of cookie cutter Japanese style and Kimura/Robinsonesque carving nuts, I would have to agree.

6. I guess my concluding argument is master the basics first, which then allows attention to minute detail - this in itself requires contemplation- and building your own influences. Use the material you have access to- whether it is "traditional" or "Japanese". Certain material will lend itself to certain styling- it will "talk" to you, tell you what it wants to be...

As for your "close-minded" friend, you may want to point out that a large proportion of the material they use for bonsai is not "native" to Japan - try "4 Seasons of Bonsai for good examples... There are more examples of "bad Japanese bonsai" than "good", which is true of anywhere. Additionally an examination of the changes in Japanese bonsai styles over the years is a good read on how just about anything can be "Japanese" bonsai- "naturalistic" or otherwise. How does he contend with the ghosts of Japanese style.

The zinger in my mind is that close-minded attitudes such as that exhibited will define the difference between a good "technically competent" artist and a true Master. While one does not have to integrate everything one encounters into one's own style respect and understanding can only enhance in what is supposed to be a meditative, patient, gentle and evolutionary art form.

j

__________________
Jim Stone
Seki Bonsai Studio
sekibonsai.com
Santa Fe, TX