Chamaecyparis - Looking for critique

John Dixon

Looks like Aaron Is cracking the whip on me!!!!

Two trees I saw this weekend seem to be relevant here. Look at the attached photos and see if your material can accomplish something similar. I really think they are great suggestions for your bonsai.

If I get a little time, I will try to do a virtual.

Take care,

John

Attached Images

	cedar.JPG (24.6 KB, 58 views)
	juniper.JPG (18.7 KB, 64 views)

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John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

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John Dixon

Stefan,

Just a quick virtual for consideration. I would definitely go with a longer shallower pot, or better yet, a slab.

Good luck with it.

John

Attached Images

1129053729_image.jpg (52.3 KB, 48 views)

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John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

node

I choose this pot because it was the shallowest I had at hand. I guess it will be a year minumum still until the whole thing wil fit on a slab. Maybe one could consider this a transitional stage. Mostly I thought the picture had turned out quite nicely

Also I was still a bit unsure wether I really wanted to go Bujin on this stick in a pot. Somehow for me personally it did not feel quite right.

Seeing your Juniper Example on the slab however gives me a clearer idea on this direction. Maybe I should make a choice and go for it.

Im looking at the whole thing more as a training exercise, just to see the possible directions I could go, the reasons for them. What people see, compared to how I look at the tree.

You have all been very good to a rank beginner in this thread, and while the tree might not be much to look at, I am learning a great deal from this.

Stefan

__________________
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. - Mark Twain
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaak Asimov
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell

John Dixon

Stefan,

Above all else it is yours, so make the decision that pleases YOU.

My best advice is for your to consider all options, ruling them out one-by-one until you are left with only one. Then decide on whether to go that route. If you do - good luck, if you don't - then the material will make the decision for you.

You mentioned that you are treating this like a training exercise. The Army went by the motto, "The more you sweat in training, the less you bleed in combat". I would guess that the same philosophy - albeit it with a gentler mentality - applies to bonsai. You are wise to consider it like Sun Tzu; plan long, strike quickly.

Good luck with it,

John

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John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

node

hmm, Sun Tzu

"Regard your bonsai as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys.
Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!"

"Though we have heard of stupid haste in bonsai, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays."

"In the practical art of bonsai, the best thing of all is to take the tree whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to collect a tree entire entire than to destroy it."

"If you know the bonsai and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred stylings. If you know yourself but not the bonsai, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the bonsai nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."




...

__________________
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. - Mark Twain
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaak Asimov
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell

pootsie

Thanks John. I just might put that up on bonsaiQUOTES, unless you'd prefer to have your name on it.

pootsie

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p.s. My cat is a bonsaiTALK Master.
Columbus Bonsai Society

John Dixon

Well ole Sun Tzu said it, so he should get the credit.

I just remember it from the Art of War, and it sounded good

John

P.S. Yesterday at work I was reminded of an even more appropriate saying. I might be posting it myself!!!

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John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

Stay off the trails of others, that's where the booby-traps are.

node

Another little update...

To be honest, except for another root pruning to get it lower in its pot I haven't really looked at this tree for the past year or so. From a Bonsai perspective I've been trying to develop an eye for material with a bit more potential.

So last weekend it caught my eye, and I started wondering if the space it was taking up was really worth it, but finally decided I'd simply use it for some wiring practice.

It's still nothing to look at, but it is the first tree I've managed to wire up totally without one single crossing wire.
I wouldn't say it's faultless and it's not a difficult tree, but it's the best job I've managed to do so far.

Pretty chuffed,

Stefan

Attached Images

Hinoki_LDR_01.jpg (48.3 KB, 61 views)

__________________
Whenever you find that you are on the side of the majority, it is time to reform. - Mark Twain
Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right. - Isaak Asimov
The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. - Bertrand Russell

anttal63

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Antonio . . .
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