U.S. vs. Overseas Bonsai...

PastorJeff

Hello all,

This thread is in response to the Bonsai Subscriptions thread that was started. In there a comment was made that I found very interesting and wanted to see what you think.

Is the art of Bonsai viewed as inferior by other across the "pond"? If yes, why do you think that this is so? What about U.S. Bonsai is better and what is inferior?

I do not ask this to start a fight, but to better understand the difference and perhaps gain an understanding at how to better my own techniques.

Hope this makes sense...

Jeffrey

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Carl_Bergstrom

On the positive side, I think that here in North America we have perhaps the best access and supply of diverse, ancient, and exciting yamadori material of anywhere in the world.

On the negative side, I think that we have a lot to learn from Europe (let alone Japan) about presentation and display interpretted broadly. On the side, we have a few people in this country who are actively improving that situation with every passing year.

Best regards,
Carl

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In love with trees

PastorJeff

I am going to assume that my comments are going to be self-centered as an American, but I thought that some of the best bonsai are coming out of the U.S. Not in the sense of Bonsai that have been around for ever, but in regards to what you pointed out above. I was quite suprised to hear that we have alot to learn from our brothers and sisters overseas in regards to Bonsai.

I think that it goes both ways....

Jeffrey

dbz12fan

I believe this tree says it all. It is from Mr. Iwasaki's garden in Japan. There are many other trees of this quality in Japan. Now, I am interested in seeing a tree in the U.S. that comes even close to competing in quality with this one.

The U.S. has the material, and a few with the talent. Now, all we need is a few hundred years of ramification.

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Charles Bevan
Vero Beach, Fl

Carl_Bergstrom

I was mostly referring to the quality of the raw material waiting up there in the mountains for skilled and ethical collectors to find and bring down for world-class artists to work with. I don't think we've quite reached the point were we are making the best use of that potential on any serious scale.

Best regards,

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In love with trees

mike_p

PastorJeff, we all need to stop worrying about who does good bonsai, and who is better than who, and knocking each other about with invidious criticism and comparison.
There's great work being done everywhere, by very many dedicated bonsaiists. You just have to look around bonsai sites all over the world to see this.
As for those that like to badmouth USA bonsai, I invite them to study the winner list from the World Bonsai Contest. Out of the 100 entries, 22 are from the USA. That's not too shabby. http://www.worldbonsaicontest.com/2004.htm
We need to keep sight of the goal, and the goal should be to constantly improve, and not worry about who is better than who, and what country is better.

Regards

Mike

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Learning the mechanics of bonsai is a matter of rote. Over and over again the processes are practiced until the hands and eyes know the moves.
Learning the art of bonsai may be more like water wearing away a stone, or climbing a mountain where the peak is always shrouded in fog and just out of reach.
Persist, and someday you may see the peak in sunshine. You may pick up the stone and it's a thing of beauty.

MP@BBB Studio

rockm

It's a bit misleading to compare a pine that's been in cultivation for a hundred years with anything. Such a tree is without compare, however, more than one artist is involved with such a plant and no single one can call it his own. It is a cumulative thing, as you have said, that can't be equalled elsewhere. However, the raw material that's being made--or redesigned or maintained-- into bonsai now in Japan can certainly be equalled by many across the globe. Bonsai in Japan is, like many cultural arts there, in somewhat of a decline.

Some in the U.S. are making use of excellent material and making something of it. http://elandangardens.com/bonsaigarden/tree95.htm Artists here are also pioneering some pretty advanced techniques on native species http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/nabf/new...2/bcarticle.htm

Same is true for Europe and Southeast Asia.

RonMartin(deceased)

Amen Mike.
I never thought we were bad. We could improve but we are not at the bottom of the heap.

Carl_Bergstrom

Mark,

This is an interesting example. Dan collects some world-class material, no two ways about it. But I don't see Dan taking these trees to the level of refinement that they need to be world-class bonsai.

And that's OK. Bonsai doesn't need to be a one-person mountains-to-kokufu endeavor. But imagine what the Japanese masters could do with this material over the course of 25 years. When we start to do that with our collected material, we'll be at the forefront of world bonsai. Thanks to a number of passionate collectors, growers, collectors, enthusiasts, and artists in the US, this will happen within my lifetime (God willing) - and I look forward to seeing it.

Finally, I am most definitely not saying that there are no world-class bonsai coming out of the US. I am only saying that we have only begun to tap our potential, and that this room for spectacular improvement and growth should be an exciting prospect (not a depressing or degrading one) for any American bonsai enthusiast.

Best regards,
Carl

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In love with trees