A Primer on Bonsai Display

[tmmason10]

That's not all that elk do in the fall . . . the bugling is to call the ladies. Makes you wonder if there was more to that display.

Ha, I thought spring time was mating time for most animals.

So I guess, these types of thoughts produced by e display, is what entitled it to win.

 

[Smoke]

Dave thats something Al has hit on before, the display is it, it can include an"inferior" tree.

Watch it now...I never said "inferior tree" I just said it may not be the best tree in the competition. A person should still bring a very good or at least the best tree they own.

Kathy has said there may come a time in the near future when judging this event, it could come down to what the tree has to offer. Our displays are getting better and we are pushing the envelope so naturally the tree will have to play a much larger place in the whole creative process.

 

[jk_lewis]

FYI - Here is Andy Rutledge's take (part of it) on displaying bonsai:

http://www.artofbonsai.org/feature_articles/display101.php

And another -- again mostly "traditional":

http://www.bonsaiprimer.com/display/display.html

Mary Miller has a discussion here:

http://www.bonsaimary.com/Displaying-Bonsai.html

Morton Albek discusses displaying Shohin (get his book!):

http://www.shohin-europe.com/DISPLAYartickles-settingupthedisplay.htm

 

[rich415]

For those who are interested, more info can be found here:

http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/magazines/2010/v33_06.pdf

and Here:

http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/magazines/2011/v34_01.pdf

Rich

 

[Smoke]

I'll bite Al,
"Speaking of dragonflies, here is a scroll I recieved from Japan the week before the tsunami. What season is this?"

My first reaction was summer, for that is the time when they are most abundant in my perrienal garden......this was confirmed by a google'd definition:
"In Japan the dragonfly is associated with early and late summer and early autumn". Cheers G

I'll play. When I saw this it reminded me of growing up on the beaches of Cape Cod. Reminds me of the dunes, so I'll guess summer.

On a side note, any tips on where to purchase these kinds of scrolls?

Pampus grass blooms for the most part in Sept. and Oct. So late summer, early fall.

Watch ebay for scrolls , be prepared to spend at least 300.00 to 400.00 for the ones suitable for bonsai display such as this one.

 

[dick benbow]

what a wonderful thread. we have a first baseman on the mariners named smoak and when he's hot, it makes for a great game. Our smoke here makes a big difference in helping others to be better at their game. cheers to both

 

[TheSteve]

what a wonderful thread. we have a first baseman on the mariners named smoak and when he's hot, it makes for a great game.

Lately he hasn't generated enough heat to register on an IR camera.... the combined no hitter the other night was sweet though...

 

[rock]

Kathy has said there may come a time in the near future when judging this event, it could come down to what the tree has to offer. ....

Kathy is great ...More from her mind...

http://youtu.be/xHHkQiVnGu4

 

[milehigh_7]

Al, I have more study to do but thank you so much for all the time you have put into teaching us. I for one appreciate what you do!

 

[ArthurPerkins]

I think this is a good question. I used to think about the USA as being one locality. Japan as one locality. I figured that Japan has calligraphy on scrolls that I can'r read, so what may work for them certainly won't work for me. Then I really started to get into understanding more about this process and found out that the USA is a big place. I now think that the US can devided into about five regions. There things that people understand living in the gulf, that they won't understand out here in California, and so it goes with all the regions in the US.

Small copper insects and birds are found in Japan used for Ikabana and bonsai too. Crabs in Japan as well as turtles are very popular, but why not a crayfish for someone displaying in the gulf area. My best friend won the display this year with an American Elk as his accent piece. This was very encouraging for me as this was a signal that America can move in a direction more suitable for us as a people and not be so tied with the Japanese tradition. ( Had the Ragles been there judging, he probably would not have won, this strayed too much from tradition).



Grasses are either dead or dying or they are green. Grass as an accent is easy in spring and summer. New grass is easy to see as spring and green grass fully formed is summer. Grass starting to turn brown is suitable for fall and brown dead grass would work for winter. There are certain plants that bloom at certain times of the year, like crocus and forsythia, Japanese quinces, persimmon, irises, narcissis and things like that. A small pot with any kind of bulb (no one is gonna see the flower or the plant so species does not matter, just time it correctly for effect) showing some cracked soil on top with the green emergence of something barely exposed in the cracks.

Think of your accent plant as a beautiful woman. I would much rather see a beautiful woman in very sexy lingerie leaving much to the imagination, then to just see some raw porn and ruin the excitement of using my brain. Don't sell your viewer short. They will get it very fast if you package it correctly, they are not stupid. You just have to use some imagination to come up with the right story with what you have to work with.



We are not locked into a Japanese season. Keep in mind that the country of Japan is a very small place. For centuries this small Island Nation has been crowded and bringing a small piece of nature indoors goes along way into keeping ones sanity. The Asin people are very in tune with nature all around them. We in the West are not.

Do you know what time of the year swallows return to San Juan Capistrano?

What time of the year do the monarch butterflies come back to Monterey California?

What time of the year is a pomagranite ripe?

When do we pick persimmons?

Do white egrets migrate?

These are things our Mcdonald's mocha in 45 seconds crowd could not care about concearning themselves with. So if we did a display of a monterey cypress with a scroll of a butterfly and spring grass it would not resonate well with those that know the monarch butterflies come back to Monterey in Oct. Of course there will be those that love it because they know nothing of butterfly migration and just love it cause it has a butterfly and green grass as an accent. In japan if you make a faux pas like that, most asians are very keen on their nature surroundings and so this would be talked about standing in front of the display while you hang your head in shame or go to the bathroom with the hara-kiri sword to do yourself in. Keep in mind that younger generations of asians are not so tuned in to this thinking as they were 100 years ago.




The moon is a complicated thing. The asians have many referances to every aspect of the moon from waning and waxing crescents, a bat flying across the face of the moon. The racoon dog (tanuki) under moonlight, owls and all sorts of ways the moon is depicted. Clouds, rain, misty lightning and dragons. I really am no expert here and so I would be just grazing the surface with what expertise I have. I might suggest trying to find a book on the moon and its meaning to peoples of the world. Surly there must be a book about this if it seems important to you.

Speaking of dragonflies, here is a scroll I recieved from Japan the week before the tsunami.

What season is this?

Thread displays lots of information. Stories is all about imagination and representation. How well your mind thinks and how well you express will only reveal depth of story. Really thanks for post