I know this will bring a lot of flames my way, but I recently went and looked at a book I own, and although Kimura is amazing and fearless with the techniques he uses, sometimes I find he goes overboard.

In the book, The Bonsai Art of Kimura, (this book has a different cover than mine) he styles a few collected specimens, one notably "the Dragon".
In this example, I found that he kept far too much of the old wood. I find he does that in many of his examples and sometines it looks messy.

Please don't take this as a personal attack at anyone here, this is a personal opinion, and is open now for discussion.

What do you think? Master or Fanatic? (both?)
(i tried to locate some images, but came up empty handed...except this one...

Thanks for adding the poll...
Come on people!
you must have and opinion!?
or are you all screaming
"KILL THE HERETIC!!!"

There was an interesting thread about this very thing on the IBC a couple months back. Someone had asked the very same thing. Walter Pall, who makes no bones about having an opinion on everything, said that this is in a style known as " The driftwood style". The emphasis is on the driftwood, while the foliage softens the edges. I think you will notice that the book was written fairly recently, but the trees had been styled in some cases back in the late 80's. I think Kimura has recieved a lot of flak for his deadwood creations and has even been credited with the "Juniper Demo Syndrome". Meaning: make a tree in a demo at a convention as fast as you can, and if you have an unruley branch just peel it and make jin out of it. I think the trend for deciduos trees is coming back stronger than ever. Mostly due in part to Walter Pall. Mr. Kimura has been moving away from so much deadwood in a lot of his more recent endeavors. I like most of the stuff he does now.

Regards, Bonsaial

"What do you think? Master or Fanatic? (both?) "

All bonsai practitioners are fanatical, didn't you know? I leave it to others to call him master but he is certainly good at what he does. I can appreciate the artistic and horticultural ability it takes to create a bonsai like this but I'm not a big fan of deadwood in general. A little on the right tree can look good and tell a story of a hard life but like all things can be taken to extremes. Most of my conifers don't have any deadwood and I plan to keep it that way.

Tony

There just ain't nothin' natural about all that damn dead wood!





Kimura does one heck of a nice job of representing trees such as the old Monteray cypress and the White Mountain Bristlecones (or their Japanese parallels, which I've never had the opportunity to see.)

I don't like all that driftwood myself, and I don't feature it heavily on my own trees. But the man is clearly a master at what he does, and what does is masterful art. Who other than Kimura would have thought to make the trunk the frame for the tree rather than the other way around?

It's just totally different than what Walter Pall does - and I guess I find myself drawn to more pastoral subject matter, for better or for worse.

All the best,
Old Mister

I've seen some work he has done on non-driftwood trees, and he does a tremendous job.
He is a master at the craft, but it just seemed that every tree i looked at that had a pile of driftwood attached to a sapling(sometimes it looks like that) i knew right away it was Kimura.

I guess i got overloaded by it.

Great points folks! glad to see i am not the only one!

This sounds to me like you are trying to put the jenie back in the bottle. Three chioces for a bonsai artest as diverse as Kimura
In my openion Kimura is what he is becaus lots of people like what he has done with trees. Now that dosen't mean everyone has to appreciate Kimuras art work, you don't even have to like it but...you can't deny it either.
sincerely

I spent 5 days observing Kimura in Dallas. I also participated in his workshop. The man is a Bonsai Master.

It would be foolish to think otherwise, the man is form Japan, has been certified- spent something like 9 years as an apprentice, is one of the most respected and popular artists there. He also happens to have a degree in Botany, as well as a brilliant mind for inventing things, most notable his own power tools. He would not have acheived this level of success if he were not a Master.

You would learn very little about the man from a book and a few Bonsai Today articles. I've been a long time fan of his work, studying every article I've been able to get my hands on but many of my own preconceived notions were dispelled in his visit to Dallas this year.

I have not apprenticed under him or anything, I do not make the claim that I am his student, other than by study of his published works and our brief encounter, , although there are several artists running around who do... But working trees for 12 hours, five days straight leaves a lot of time for questions, not all of which were bonsai related.

Back to the point. A wider study of the published material reveals that he has been producing more traditional works all along. Obviously the more fantasic material receives the greater attention.

Bonsai professionals in Japan are specialists. Kimura's medium happens to be evergreens and conifers. To compare him to Walter and pass any kind of value judgement is pointless, and comparing apples with bananas.

He produced some wonderful trees in Dallas, several of which were much more "attainable" and did not feature deadwood. Notably, a multi-trunked boxwood, and a Shimpaku Juniper that Mas Ishii was supposed to work on.

And yet these works could be identified as being Kimura's. The man has a recognizable style, yet you would fault him for achieving what most artists seek.

As has been illustrated by the picture , it is legitimate, when representing evergreens growing in a harsh mountainous environment, to exhibit larger quantities of deadwood than living tissue. Use of this theme is just as legitimate within the context of the bonsai definintion and historical perspective as any pretty pastoral inspired tree in a pot.

He does not turn any unruly branch in to deadwood. If the branch has no artistic value he will, instead, just cut it off. Further, he DOES modify the deadwood to fit his artistic image, reducing it where needed.

If anyone wants to critique demonstration skills- those of Kimura or anyone- I would suggest doing one. Do it in front of a video camera. Do it in front of your kid. Do it for your dog. Select the material yourself- forget about the issue of what some demonstrators are handed for material. Style it into a viable image withiin a set period of time. None of this nonsense about instant bonsai demo's - that is what the public expects.

Now put yourself in Kimura's place- taking 6' material and bringing it to bonsai dimensions- less than 3'... and creating the imagery, including impeccable wiring and branch placement and finished deadwood- carved, polished, bleached. Do this 5 days in a row plus at least a workshop each day...

While innovative, he follows many of the traditional rules- this does not come through on paper so much as when he is explaining his work. It is apparent that he has a solid handle on the concepts of Japanese and Chinese traditions- both bonsai and culture.

While you may not like his sculptural works, which is everyone's privelege, it is foolish to think they are the work of a fanatic and not an exceptional artist.

It is even more foolish to think that the man is not a Master. Very few can challenge him on any one skill let alone the combined skills of creativity, artistic vision, bonsai technique, teaching capabilities, passion and horticultural skill.

Jim
TX

Excellent post Jim.

I honor the amount of study you have put into learning and following Kimura. I didn't mean to say that the man was not a master. It is obvious that he is.
My judgement, as you pointed out, is based on media. Magazines and books. As you said also, it is not enough, since most of these media show only the one side that most people want to see. The dead/drift wood creations because they are so striking.

In seeing all this, it only seemed that it was the bulk of his creations, and that in this, it also seemed that is all he wanted to concentrate on. Thus I posted the "Fanatical" reference.

I am glad to be corrected and enlightened in this. I never lost respect for the man, as a bosai master, but only seeked to know what others thought of this.

I have sen more traditional work of his, and in my eyes, it is more pleasing to look at, but again, that is opinion and personal preference.

he got your attention and he made you think.
as an art form,it works.
i like some of it.