The WINNER is...

Walter_Pall

I took a long look at the five finalists and came to the conclusion that I agree with the public vote concerning the first three.

Then I thought that I may see something that most of you cannot easily see. This is the future image of the trees with a decent pot, table and possibly accent plant.
Why this? Because number one is potted in a nice pot and presented with a good table and overall a nice photograph.
To be fair the others should be seen like this too. It would be unprofessional to ask them to pot their trees just to look better.

The other side: If I have to choose the trees as they are presented than the order stays the same as the public order with me.

So here the public number one again as presented.

Attached Images

bonsaial1_sm.jpg (26.5 KB, 355 views)

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Walter_Pall

number two with a decent pot

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oldmistercrow_sm2.jpg (66.5 KB, 483 views)

Walter_Pall

number three with a decent pot.

Now one can make a fair comaprison. I am pretty sure that the public vote would have been different if this had been shown.

Now I have to take a look at the three candidates

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Walter_Pall

OK: Decision made

I made sure not to know whose trees these are, to be absolutely neutral. I just call them number one two and three in the order they are presented in this thread.

The overall winner in my eyes is number three. It reminds me much of an old tree in the mountains. The design is very well proportioned. For a tree which was just styled it looks very mature already. It will not realy have to change much, just stay healthy, wire taken off, planted into a nice pot and it will be presentable at an exhibit just as styled. The apparent bar branches don't bother me really. I am aware though that they would bother purists.

The runner up is tree number one. Nice, elegant design. A bit too many and too long branches, less would be more. Very finished look. Already presentable at an exhibit.

Third place for tree number two. Good proportions. Good potential. This will be a very good bonsai eventually. But a lot of refinement work still has to be done for iot to be truly presentable in an exhibit. It would have been possible to do a lot more wiring on the smaller branches and tidy this up already.

Ok, that's it. I hope I have not hurt too many feelings.
Now we can discuss this.

best regards
Walter Pall

Carl_Bergstrom

First of all, congratulations to Treebeard! Wonderful styling job.

Second, thank you to Walter for judging and for the comments. You haven't hurt any feelings on this end, that's for sure! I agree entirely with your comments on all three trees.

Third, thank you to Al for getting this whole thing started and for making the fabulous stand for the grand prize. I've really enjoyed the whole process of being involved in this contest.

Best wishes,
Carl aka Old Mister Crow

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bonsaial1

Congratulations Treebeard, and to OMC. Seem you two are always in the thick of the contest action.

In fact, Treebeard you will have to call OMC for the stand, I had already mailed it to him. Nah..just kidding!

I had sent Treebeard a PM some months ago telling him that I thought he would win the contest. I agreed with every statement Walter made and also felt the bar branches did not detract from the design.

We will talk about this in depth in the next couple of days. I wish to do post contest evaluations on the trees, and see where they may have been improved.

Bonsai-al

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no.... really!

bonsaial1

I wish to personaly thank Walter Pall for taking the time from his busy schedule to judge an internet contest.

I especialy like the way you broke the contest down into three segments, and decided on the winners based on the present and future possibilities of the stock presented.

Thanks again for taking the time to keep us informed and helping the forum to be better bonsai artists.

Bonsai-al

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I been kidding the last seven years.
no.... really!

TreeBay

Just in case anyone got lost on the names and photos, the final ranking was as follows:

TREEBEARD #1 - Grand Prize Stand Winner



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BONSAIAL1 - Second Place



Please send me a PM with your choice of the prizes, full name and your mailing address.

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OLD MR CROW - Third Place



Please send me a PM with your choice of the prizes, full name, and your mailing address

Congratulations to all and thanks for participating, whether as an entrant or judge!

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Treebeard

Wow! I'm amazed! There was some very stiff competition there.

some thanks:

Thanks to Al, Matt & Walter for organising and judging the competition and providing the prizes.

Thanks also to all who voted for my tree to get it into the top 5.

I suppose this means that I can't get away with posting any more half-@rsed styling attempts anymore

I will post some more pictures of the tree in the next day or so.

Kind regards,

Chris / TB

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