Tree of the Day - Thursday August 11, 2005

John Dixon

Aaron,

"the trees need to match their environment better"

That is exactly what this composition needs. Well said. Like I said with Al, I'm not sure that more "ruggedness" in the rock is necessary. My thought-process leads me to imagine a person "walking" up to this spot to take in a mountain view, just a little winded. I don't see them hanging on by their fingertips or rope-climbing/rappelling. Just my observation.

As far as the count, it looks like a total of five to me, two being the area you questioned.


Cheers,

John

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John Dixon

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

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Attila

Al, you are reading too much Robert Steven lately! BTW, I am doing the same.
The problem is, that all of a sudden, everything I see seems dull and boring, unless is up to Robert's standard.


Good points, nevertheless.


The work has some merits, though. In spite its shortcomings, it has a certain evocative power, that should not be overlooked.

Will_Heath

Sometimes just tilting the whole can help a little.



WIll

Attached Images

TOD_11AUG2005.JPG (38.6 KB, 74 views)

mike_p

My belief is that this was posted as "potensai", and as such, it has potential. At this point, it's just a beginning, and needs a heavy dose of the 4th dimension of bonsai, T---I---M---E. Time, TLC. and artistry can make this piece into something worth viewing.
I hope the owner takes all this in, and someday in the future posts a new and improved image, along with the old.

Mike

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Aaron_K

Hi John,

I agree with you also that this could (in terms of the rock) be a lower lying hill side, and your hike/climb analogy. Had the trees reflected that and not been placed at windswept angles I think the composition would have been more convincing.

Granted, I too think this is presented as a potensai as these are young juniper specimens, but if left in their current positions, they would still quite possibly present the same issues raised by others here in the future.

I think the "problem" as it stands at the moment, is essentially uniformity. The top tree line doesn't mirror that of the bottom, which then makes you then question the rock itself. Is this meant to be a mountain peak scene battered by high winds? Or is this a more a hill top, lower down the mountainside, with lush plentiful foliage, trees in a tranquil form and the rock face eroded by rainwater/melted snow washing down from the upper reaches?

Will, I like very much what you have done by simply rotating the entire composition. I was mulling the same idea over in my head too earlier. Now all the trees appear to be uniform in a windswept scenario with the far right trees now seeming to be clinging on to the rock for dear life, and the whole thing feels more ravaged.

I too hope the artist takes all these criticisms and uses them to his/her advantage, to give this work a direction and more importantly - to tell a story.

All the best,

Aaron

bonsaial1

It is up to the artist to try to convey a feeling without actually smashing the viewer up the side of the head. I feel that in this case the artist was trying to convey a mountaintop forest scene. The heavy and large stone providing the viewer with nothing but a view of a mountain top.

To achieve a more lowland Appalachia feel, I would use a piece of stone in a flat bowl shape and add larger contours with soil mounding and smaller stones. This while being used with miniature grasses and the like would allow the viewer more freedom about the scene. It is akin to having "insert appropriate image from childhood here" in front of the composition. The stone in this case ruins the image for most viewers. At least in an artistic view. The largeness of the stone in comparison to the very juvinile trees does not help convey a sense of grandure here. I like the previous posters use of the term, " Green Halo". This depicts what is going on here superbly. Small juvinile trees stuffed into holes in a big round rock.

I submitt this photo for a review. This is a picture of a single juniper in the crevice of a piece of granite. It conveys exactly what goes on in the lowland foothills surrounding the Sierra Nevada mountains. Mind you, the foothills I speak of may still be over 8000' feet in height in some cases. Still realitivly low for the surrounding range.

This is very simplistic and less is surly more here. It relies on the viewer to add the rest of the image to complete the scene. The stone is large enough to give the feeling of immense size while being small enough in relation to the small juniper to make it feasible to move into an exhibit. The rock weighs nearly 150 pounds. The shape of the rock adds much to the effect being rather sharp on top, almost tear drop shaped. The perfect find for a scene such as this. Very evocative work, something I have never seen before. Artistic bonsai by Bob Hilvers.

Attached Images

hbs34.jpg (17.2 KB, 73 views)

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mike_p

Sometimes, constructing a rock will allow you to create the shape and planting areas, and give you more lattitude.
The link is to an article I did in 2002 for Andy Rutledge's Bonsai Today Online.
I donated it to the raffle at the GSBF convention in Fresno in 2003. It went to Southern California, and I hope it's doing well.
Mike


http://216.65.36.71/subscriber/mountsofmind.htm

__________________
Bonsai is not a hobby.
Bonsai is a way of life.
MP@BBB Studio

There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way
Gautama Buddha

John Dixon

Al,

Thanks for the image. Very imaginative work. Less is more works there wonderfully. Never seen anything close to it, in person, but it is not hard to imagine a seen in nature exactly like that.

The TOD image here does remind me of the Grandfather Mountain area. It is very smoothly contoured in many areas, The same can be said for Mount Mitchell. It took a while, but I found the pic I took a couple of years ago of my kids at Mt. Mitchell. Look at the "cropped" pic. That rock looks a lot like the view in the TOD subject, albeit just a boulder. I can assure you that whole peaks are similar.

I guess that's the best way I can explain my opinion on this. It's just concerning the "rock" though, not the rest of the composition.

John

Attached Images

Ash Casey Mt Mitchell small2 11-2003.JPG (66.3 KB, 58 views)

__________________
John Dixon

Si vis pacem parabellum

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

bonsaial1

Maybe my use of the word "Jaggedness" is not the right term here. Maybe I should have used the word "texture".

I might like to take this thread in a different direction here if I may?

Mind you these are very personal feelings here and not for everyone. Some might say what the heck are you talking about Al, that is just BS.

Ahhh.. but when you think about it, it will start to make more sense as you get deeper into the art of bonsai. Something that most artists in other mediums will relate too.

here I go....

I have a real problem with using the cheap American equivilent of something that has been used in the medium of bonsai for centuries. I hate purchasing a very expensive bonsai book only to have the same table displayed under every tree in the book over and over again. The photographer obviously knows nothing of mating table to tree composition or the publishers of the book have one stand to display with all the trees. ( article on tables and trees to come later).

It also bugs the heck out of me to see cheap pots used to display really nice trees, and not try to make the effort to really match the tree to the pot. If you don't know how, at least learn the process on the most advanced tree in your collection, ask the reasons why a certain pot works and why certain pots don't. After learning the process one will be better equipped to handle this in the future.

Accent plants have been used in China and Japan for centuries. For the most part, they have been used for their unusual shapes or rareness. They do not go down to the local walmart and see if curly rush is on sale, jab that into a pot and say , Wow, look at my Kusamono. There needs to be some homework done, seek out the plants that are traditional and find local sources for them. There are many local native alpine type plants here in the USA that will make very nice accent plants and not look like you stole one of the fellows out a color six pack and let momma have the rest for the front porch.

I think John Quinn's avatar photo is of the butterfly orchid, very easily found in Japan, less so in the USA. In fact, I think it is illegal to export from Japan now. I have three sources for the orchid here in the US of fellows that propagate them here. They are about 18.00 bucks for three bulbs. They would probably die in Fresno, so I have not put them on my wish list yet, though I would love to grow them.

Finally rocks for bonsai. For me....personaly there is nothing cheaper than going to the local rock mart, getting a big chunk of feather rock (pumice) gouging some holes in it with something as discreet as a screwdriver and calling this a rock planting. (K-mart was selling these in 1965 when I was a kid.) Those of you over 50 will remember the times. Same goes with mexican bowl rock, though at least it has some texture, and can look well if treated properly.

Now I am not a prude either. I realize that not everyone has a pocketboot large enough to get their eager hands on a pile of Ibigawa stone. But.... we might take that piece of pumice and carve some texture into it. Some rivulets and flat spots along the height. Maybe a few overhangs and the like. Maybe put a mixture of peat muck on the stone covering a large portion and just letting a few places of stone texture to peek out. We may enoculate it with a mixture of ground up green moss from moms blender that she doesn't know about. Maybe some patches of green moss pinned to the stone with some Greek oregano, and lemon thyme thrown in. Maybe a small tuft of mondo grass here and there. Some small sedums and maybe some fiberoptic grass.
Plant a few trees within the hollows within the carved rock. Water the rock for about two years to blend in all the texture. This stone now will seem to be "living" and not sterile as the stone pictured above. This composition needs the element of time as Mike P. has said, but there many ways to give the illusion of time without spending decades to get it there.

I have said many times bonsai is all about smoke and mirrors, and have had that thrown in my face a time or two by one here. When one masters the smoke and mirrrors, one is on the way to artistry.

Al

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no.... really!