Again,well said! But maybe,just maybe,if you keep at it,you can create a specimen,in your own unique style,that you would be proud to slow alongside a Kimura.

I always thought bonsai was about the tree. If you got a kimura (closer to $100 K Plus US) we would know if you didn;t understand the craft.

John

One of my trees, a shohin, was recognized at a state show. The tree is a twisted-trunk persimmon, styled entirely by myself from a $12 whip in a 4" plastic pot.

But upon hearing how well it placed amongst so many splended trees, my reaction was not about the good job that I did. I instead was proud for the tree. Out of so many trees and whips, it expressed itself above all others. After years of work, it then expressed itself above nearly all the trees in the show.

When I did feel pride, it was for the shohin club that I belong to, that they selected it among so many other shohin to go to the state show, that they decided to "showcase" the tree in the display and that one of our little trees was noticed and recognized amid a forest of famous and exquisite bonsai.

Most shows in Texas are not judged. I think that something has been lost in the effort to be kind to the tender feelings of others. To clearly state that there is confusion about what/who is being judged helps to reconcile our greater loss.

I am always saddened to see trees in a show that are half dead, infested or untidy. If judging shows only encouraged people to prepare their trees before displaying them to the public, this alone would be reason enough to have them judged.

Cheers,
Jim

Merriam Webster:

Artist: a : one who professes and practices an imaginative art b : a person skilled in one of the fine arts

Pretentious: a : making usually unjustified or excessive claims (as of value or standing) b : expressive of affected, unwarranted, or exaggerated importance, worth, or stature


__________________________________________________ ____________


I will never forget one of the first times I was asked what I do for a living. "I am an artist," was my reply. I can still see the face of the woman I was talking to crinkle up with disdain, "that's a little pretentious, don't you think?"

I have been drawing in sketchbooks since elementary school. I told my mom I wanted to be an artist when I grew up.

In High School, I was asked to study with a local potter who saw some of my hand built ceramic pots at a community art fair.

In college, my art professor asked me to teach part of a digital arts class that focused on webdesign.

I have worked in the graphic design field for more than 10 years, on everything from print to web and back again. I have utilized my own illustration and photography skills on multi-million dollar projects.

Today I am working on a series of hand pulled fine art prints, running my own website forum dedicated to orchid culture, and starting what I hope will be a wonderful, lifelong obsession with bonsai. In the future I want to have my own pottery studio, sell my prints, grow my orchids and bonsai, and continue to pursue any artistic endeavor that I find interesting.

And if you ask me today what I do for a living, I will tell you. I AM an artist. If you think that is pretentious, so be it. It doesn't change anything.

A couple more thoughts on the subject...

If bonsai is truly an art, and you are at all skilled in training them, you are a bonsai artist. Don't be afraid to admit it. If you tend a garden, you are a gardener. If you paint houses, you are a painter. If you make art, you are an artist. All this talk of pretentious label making is wrong, in my opinion.

The artist decides what is art, not the critic. The critic decides whether it is good or bad art.

Calling yourself a master, when you are obviously an apprentice, would be the definition of pretentious. Calling yourself anything but an artist, when it is obvious you are an artist, is just as silly.

Well said Jmack. My sentiments entirely!

I regard myself as a bonsai artist. Let me explain.

My daughter is on her final year at university as a painter. She sells her work and is regarded as an artist by her clients. Regardless, she is called an artist by her tutors and peers. She would still be an artist if she never sold a canvas!

I have sold trees to people that have liked what I have done with them. Whether or not they in turn have showed those trees at exhibitions or clubs is a matter for them, not me. I have no problem that.

I am a private person by nature. I don't belong to any clubs. I receive my pleasure from both the ownership of my trees and the work I do on them. But if I did belong to a club I would show a purchased tree without hesitation - because I would like others to see it, admire it and enjoy it.

I buy the best trees I can afford. And, most important, I learn from the study of those trees and what the artist did to make them attractive.

I also grow trees from cuttings and seed. I style all of them to the best of my ability. If I make a hash of them that's down to me, but as a 66 year old, I don't have to time left to see those cuttings of mine mature. So to own a mature tree I have to buy one. Simple!

What's the problem? Trees are out there to enjoy and work on, purchased or not.

The most important thing!! is to enjoy your ART. Not try and quantify it Bonsai is your ART.

I just got into Bonsai, and I'm new to this forum. Going back about 9 pages I agree to an extent with the original post- everybody deserves to enjoy a tree, regardless of how far back in it's history they were involved. Some people may find an interest very late in life, and don't have the time to grow their own Bonsai. I am fortunate to have developed this crush on cultivation early on, as I am only in my early 20's. But even I will never produce a 130 year old tree from seedling.

What bothered me was the idea of a millionair buying this 130 year old imported bonsai, created by some master in a far away eastern land, entering a bonsai contest. Of COURSE he'll win, unless someone with deeper pockets enters. To me a contest is not just about the trees, or the artist, but both. I think the architecture analogy pages back doesn't fit at all. That architect still DESIGNED the building, it's just obviously not feasible to build it all on his own. You can grow a tree, with only your two hands.

A better analogy I'd use is buying a painting. So you go out and buy a painting, a really great one, maybe Leonardo, or Gogh... add a few brush strokes of your own, maybe throw a little glitter here and there. Whalah! Your own masterpiece. Should you enter it into an art contest? Maybe if it's a collectors contest, but an art contest? If you take a 130 year old tree, or even a 20 year old tree, and do a small minor adjustment, it's not really truly your design. Whoever trained it for the last 20 years designed it. It wouldn't be fair to enter it in a contest. Unless it's a contest specifically for bonai collectors and artist's alike. He who has the most money will win. There's a certain point where maybe it becomes your design, but that's a whole other debate. Must you own and train it for 3, 5, 10 years? I guess it depends how far it is already along.

I don't think most contests are just about the trees. Why would you need someone to tell you your tree is the best, when you KNOW you PAID for the best already. But getting recognition for your DESIGN, now that is priceless. You create something that to you is visually stimulating, but you want others to find it as well. That's what a contest determines. If others can dig your design. It's supposed to be fun, but when you win, it should mean something. It should add to inspiration. And that's what everyone's competing for. Not who OWNS the best looking Bonsai, but who DESIGNED it. Competing for that priceless recognition and inspiration. A collectors competition is lame. That's what I'd call a GALLERY, not a competion.

I'll get off my soap box, as I don't even know if anyone is still reading this thread anyways. I really like this forum, and I'm learning alot through it. Everyone is pretty curtious, and kind, unlike car forums I'm used to reading. Well, I needed to get these thoughts out. Hopefully it gives good insight on a newbie's view of Bonsai.

Deaneasy,
so? Someone buys a really valuable tree and hangs on to it for a cpouple of years and doesn't know how to mainatain it, then they will have a bush. You can see lots of this around, folks go out and buy a nice tree, sit and stare at it for a few years, decide they can't handle working on it (one reason or another) and in a few years it is weak and not the same tree. While they believe it is worth what they paid for it, it typically is not.

Buying a tree and showing it the next month? maybe in Japan. The really nice trees in Japan have been worked on by many hands over their lifetimes, sorry, but if you do a really great Job and your trees outlive you, then what should happen to them? The rubish heap? Just about the time our trees get to be good, poof ownership may change through no fault of our own......

It is about the trees, and the tree is the sum of the work done on it. The pinching, pruning, wiring (over and over), repotting, etc, etc, etc. If you don't think the routine stuff is important got out and buy a really good black pine and let it sit on your bench for a coupe of years.....

John