World Class trees (IMO)

[Andrew Robson]

These are what I would consider potential world class caliber trees.

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Photo credit: Bonsai Mirai

I think those two junipers from Mirai are world class trunks. As with many of the collected native trees at the artisans cup, a friend and I agreed that several were 5-8 years away from being world class. The trunks were there, the presentation was there, but we agreed about 5 years of branching refinement would really put them over the top. Just my opinion...

 

[coh]

To be fair one has to see what my two trees looked like when I started them. Ther one can ask whether they ever would become world class. You can tell that I started them when they already wer in a rather advanced stage.

Yes, especially the second one was pretty far along. Obviously someone had spent time developing these before you obtained them, so ideally one would like to know what they looked like at some even earlier stage, and how long it took to get them to the point where you obtained them. At what point would one have looked at them and said, hmm, these have world class potential...

 

[music~maker]

To be fair one has to see what my two trees looked like when I started them. Ther one can ask whether they ever would become world class. You can tell that I started them when they already wer in a rather advanced stage.


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Did you grow those out from the stage you got them until now entirely in bonsai pots? Or did you put them in something larger for awhile?

 

[Walter Pall]

Did you grow those out from the stage you got them until now entirely in bonsai pots? Or did you put them in something larger for awhile?

Always in bonsai pots. See the development in a hundred pictures here:

http://walter-pall.de/

 

[Eric Group]

To be fair one has to see what my two trees looked like when I started them. Ther one can ask whether they ever would become world class. You can tell that I started them when they already wer in a rather advanced stage.


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Thanks for the before and afters Walter! Can you let us know how long these two have been in your care?

 

[music~maker]

Always in bonsai pots. See the development in a hundred pictures here:

http://walter-pall.de/

Ah yes, I've looked through that album before - gorgeous stuff.

I always get surprised when I see that first pic with you standing behind the tree. I keep forgetting just how big it really is.

I'd love to come see it in person at some point.

 

[brewmeister83]

While the two juniper bonsai in the first post are really nice, the only juniper to date that has made me go "wow" is a RMJ by Dan Robinson. First time I saw a pic of it I thought I was looking at one of Ansel Adam's photos of a high desert tree. It still has that "wild" feel to me, weathered bark and all. A healthy dome of green and a polished live vein seems to erase that feeling, no matter how much deadwood it sits atop.

 

[grouper52]

Hi Walter.

I recall, from the Foreward of a book I once saw, a memorable paragraph by a truly great bonsai master (I think you may even know him . . . )

" John Naka is credited with the famous dictum: 'Do not try to make your little tree look like a bonsai, try to make your bonsai look like a little tree.' That's it. Nothing more, nothing less. But how do we know what a tree looks like, versus a bonsai? Well, we give up looking at bonsai, which is the major impediment, and instead look at real trees. In traditional bonsai, we are taught to make a bonsai. But in the naturalistic style we must avoid these stereotypes. It is that simple. The naturalistic style is the antithesis of making a bonsai: it is about making a tree. But then people who are schooled the the traditional, classical, mainstream approach will say our bonsai are wrong. And by their standards they are correct. "

Will

 

[grouper52]

While the two juniper bonsai in the first post are really nice, the only juniper to date that has made me go "wow" is a RMJ by Dan Robinson. First time I saw a pic of it I thought I was looking at one of Ansel Adam's photos of a high desert tree. It still has that "wild" feel to me, weathered bark and all. A healthy dome of green and a polished live vein seems to erase that feeling, no matter how much deadwood it sits atop.

Was it one of these two?

 

[brewmeister83]

Was it one of these two?

Yup, the second one.

 

[M. Frary]

Was it one of these two?

Now how did know that you would know the tree in question?

 

[brewmeister83]

Now how did know that you would know the tree in question?

he probably thought like a search engine...

-Robinson
-RMJ
-weathered, un-polished bark
-looks like Ansel Adams

wouldn't leave too many choices I think...

As a side note (not trying to de-rail thread) I had an epiphany while looking back over last night's post. Penjing and Bonsai (especially the bunjingi style) are heavily influenced by scroll painting and calligraphy where the artist tried to capture the "spirit" of the ancient wilderness. In light of recent events and threads, if we are to talk about American bonsai, perhaps we should follow suit with this tradition. But instead of scrolls, perhaps we Americans should turn to our own Literati for inspiration - i.e. the photographers, artists, naturalists and environmentalists who have tried to capture the spirit of the American wilderness with their work. I think Adams and his contemporaries are probably a good place to start:




I see triangles and deadwood, but definitely no smooth live-veins or perfect green domes. People often joke that Americans are a bit rougher, outspoken, and carefree when it comes to conventions and traditions - why not translate that into our bonsai?

 

[johng]

Now how did know that you would know the tree in question?

Will, Grouper52, wrote the book! or perhaps you were just being sarcastic??

 

[brewmeister83]

Will, Grouper52, wrote the book! or perhaps you were just being sarcastic??

Ahhhhhh... that would make more sense then my reasoning above

 

[M. Frary]

Will, Grouper52, wrote the book! or perhaps you were just being sarcastic??

You got it John!
Sorry Brewster. Sarcasm doesn't come out too well in print.

 

[michaelj]

I actually prefer trees that look like those I see around me.

I do too. Many people dismiss such trees as boring, but I like seeing dwarf trees that look like the ones in my local environment.

 

[grouper52]

Will, Grouper52, wrote the book! or perhaps you were just being sarcastic??

Wrote, AND photographed!!!

I turned over the rights to it all to the Robinson family a few years ago, but with a clause that I can use the photos for various purposes - like posting here.

I read and studied Ansel Adams' book, and little else, when I taught myself photography. I was the first to use Mr. Crow's advice in conjunction with High Dynamic Range techniques and processing on bonsai photography, which resulted in the spectacular results seen in these photos. I am proud of the book, in general, but most proud of the photography. Hard to believe such things came out of this guy, who never did anything very artistic before. Go figure.

G52

 

[JudyB]

Hard to believe such things came out of this guy, who never did anything very artistic before. Go figure.

Well you had great inspiration for sure! If anyone here does not have this book, I would suggest you get hold of one while they are still in print.

 

[Cadillactaste]

Well you had great inspiration for sure! If anyone here does not have this book, I would suggest you get hold of one while they are still in print.

Name of book Judy?

 

[thumblessprimate1]

Here are some that I consider to be top notch trees. I consider them to be very natural yet traditional, but that's just me who's fairly new to bonsai. Pictures from http://www.sidiao.com/index_e.htm , the 2008 gallery.