Special Announcement - Spring 2005

bonsaial1

Bonsai-al Spring Artistry Contest



What I plan to propose is an artistry contest. This contest will focus on display, and all the artistic concepts that make it work. All materials will be furnished by the entrant and be assembled by the entrant. There will be no rules governing what can be included, and the display can be as intricate as the entrant wants.

The display will be at least of the “three – point” design, and can include all aspects of bonsai artistry including but not limited to; bonsai, accent plants, Suiseki, scrolls, mud men, iron or bronze figurines and stands. The focus of the display is harmony. How well does the display look and does it tell a story. Does it depict a season, harsh growth location, or tranquil meadow? Does the story depict water, stream or lake?

Suitable backdrops will be of importance here. Stands will become ultra important. The size of the stand becomes important in the display as well as the health and overall grooming of the plants.

This contest may be held twice a year to help show the plant in winter form, mirroring the shows in Japan. Entrants will also be allowed to enter multiple entries. As long as each display meets the minimum requirements, multiple entries are encouraged. The displays are being judged not the entrant. The focus is on the display and not the artist, though the artist will win the prize.

I have several ideas for a judge on this contest, and will reserve names till notification. The contest will run for about two months to give everyone time to assemble displays according to the springtime in your location. Probably starting around March first and ending around the end of May. Judging to follow soon after. Judging will take place from all entries and will not be narrowed down by popular vote. I feel someone qualified to see and recognize significant details in the display should judge artistry. Popular vote is too skewed.

There will be only one winner. There will be a prize of value to make this contest worth entering. I will see to that. Honorable mentions will be given to fifth place.

I have posted this message at this time of year to let everyone know what is coming down the road at bonsaiTALK and to give everyone time to assemble all the necessary items to build such displays. Trees should be picked now and groomed for spring. Suitable branches should be pruned in fall to give maximum budding in the spring for the plant to look it’s best. Suitable accent material should be gathered to assemble in the spring for suitable effect. Pots should be cleaned and kept in top condition, or bought for future repotting of the plants intended for use in your displays. In other words…you should be putting the displays together in your heads now and working towards that end to be ready for the contest. If you wait till the day before the deadline, you have no chance of really making the display look unified. It has been said by many Japanese masters “ they wouldn’t even think of displaying a tree in an exhibit without working on it for two years.”

Photo's to follow to show what kind of contest this will be, and what to be shooting for. This years contest tree may be in this display, who knows?

Is everybody ready to rummmbbble?

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III Bonsai-al

Attached Images

	shohin.jpg (23.0 KB, 51 views)
	threepoint1.jpg (18.4 KB, 45 views)
	threepoint2.jpg (13.2 KB, 38 views)
	tok1.jpg (15.1 KB, 32 views)

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bonsaial1

Special Announcement no. II

I have a judge!

The judge for this special bonsai artistry contest will be none other then Andy Rutledge.

Andy is no longer a member of this forum and so can not see the pictures. All the contest entries will be submitted to Andy Via email, and sent without name. Andy will have no clue who the picture belongs to. Andy will collate and choose the winner and four runner-ups from the entries.

I have been corresponding with Andy during the bonsaiTALK hiatus, and nailed him down as the only person to judge an event such as this.

Plan your displays early and get those trees and accents ready for Spring 2005. bonsaiTALK, the only place where bonsai artistry takes a center stage.

More rules to follow in 2005...

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III Bonsai-al

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TreeBay

This before I read your last post that came through at the same time.

With the proposed judging and submission method, I just don't understand under what bonsaiTALK has to do with it at all?

Not that it wouldn't be a good contest, or that anonymous submissions couldn't be handled another way so that Andy could see them here.

Otherwise, maybe it would be better to take it to Palaver or BTOJ, or somewhere Andy Rutledge can operate.

Regards,

Matt

PS I understand Andy Rutledge has his own reasons for not participating in this forum.

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Brent

Al

I'm confused. If the submission is a photo, what does spring necessarily have to do with it, except as a deadline? Unless you want a theme for the contest? If that is the case, I think you better make it clear. If not, then fall and winter scenes would be acceptable. I am sure there are many of us that have trees that are in show condition before spring and thus might want a winter or fall scene.

Brent

Carl_Bergstrom

Hi Al,

Sounds awesome. I like the idea very much.

I don't really have a tree that can be in truly showable condition by spring , but I'll try hard not to let that stop me from entering. Working on display should be fun. I can't wait to see what people come up with, both in terms of material and in terms of artistry.

Question: Do I need to own all of the material displayed, or is the goal to focus on the presentation irrespective of who owns the tree?

With my best regards,
Carl

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Ralph

Sounds like a good contest. If the contest continues to run annually, or bi-annually, you can continue to improve upon the display as your abilities and material improves. I like that. Perhaps it may be allowed for those that reside south of the equator to submit trees from thier respective seasons as well?

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Emerging from winter slumber
Bonsai trees burst buds anew
Spring is upon us!


-Paul S.

bonsaial1

Matt, this contest will be no different than any other. I want the folks here to feel comfortable posting "here". The photo's will be emailed by me to Andy and he will keep them in a folder and judge them at the appropriate time. Pretty simple, I think.

I think the participation would be pretty small if it were at some other venue.

Further...I want to keep this to bonsaiTALK members.

Carl, I would think that it would be better if it were materials that you owned, but ownership has nothing to do with artistry. The only problem I see would be that some may have access to some really great stuff, while others will have little to work with. This will be an exercise in making best with least!

We will give it a go next year and get ourselves wet, and see where it goes.

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III Bonsai-al

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bonsaial1

Brent, Spring is a good time for flowers and fresh leaves. It is also a good time for accents and fresh buds. I plan on having a winter show in late 2005 or early 2006 to coincide with the Japanese shows.

Nothing special about spring except its a great time of the year, and the plants look nice after repotting and winter grooming. This contest will happen in the spring of 2005, so if you have something that you want to do now with a particular plant, be my guest and set up the display, shoot it, and use it in the spring. Could be a great picture when the season is different in the world.

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Carl_Bergstrom

OK, fair enough. While the issue for me is show-readiness rather than overall quality, it is true that if I were to borrow a tree to photograph next spring, I would borrow a national show caliber tree, not a mediocre one like the stuff in my back yard.

Instead I'll see what I can do with my own personal collection of mediocre material. I just don't want to rush the transition into a show pot - and there's no way to rush that all-important tertiary branching. But it will be fun to work on the presentation side. For me, picking an appropriate scroll or scroll substitute will be the hardest part of the challenge. I'll start thinking now.

Best regards,
Carl

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