Another Mirai Tree Sale in a few days

[Maiden69]

Been able to see those trees in person will inspire the hell out of you. You can see them in a video, in pictures, whatever... but when you see them in person, the three-dimensional perspective that your brain perceive will surely allow you to somehow replicate it into a bonsai tree. Given that you have the talent and proficiency to pull it off.

 

[BillsBayou]

Here’s the equation
Value = A+ABc+R(n) +B(n)+ Base(in”) + Height(in”) + Style(L*W*H)+ Container (L*W*H) +Ceramicist(age , material , cost) / 2.
A=Age
ABc= Age in bonsai container
R=ramification (number of ramifications) per branch
B= Number Branches
Base= Base of nebari
Height
Style (length , width, heigh of silhouette)
Container size
Ceramicist = ceramicist ( age , material ,cost ) can be also applied to a stone slab

Several components will need to be multiplied by design modifiers. For example "B(n)*D(B(n))" where we take a design's number of ideal branches and compare it to the number of branches on the tree. If you're shooting for literati and you have more branches than a 50-year-old broom-style, then the D-score will be low. So "B(n)*(0.01)"

Similarly, a base_width:tree_height ratio should be very high for bald cypress and banyan ficus, but lower for maples and pines. We'll need to factor this into the Value() function.

It's easy (and fun) to take shots at Mirai's approach, but basically they're trying to reach some form of consistent evaluation for a given tree, as opposed to the completely arbitrary approach that is the norm for buying and selling bonsai in the U.S.

I had to come up with a similar table for valuing the stone slabs I carve. The table uses ideal dollar values per inch width and inch height. Each axis increases in value on a slow exponential curve. Going from 48"W x 36"H to 49"W x 37"H is much more expensive (by ratio) than adding one inch to the dimensions of a 18"W x 12"H stone. Then there is an adjustment factor for how well the finished product hit the "Q" factor of design. Boring stones take a price hit, while exciting stones get a bump.

It is understandable that pricing trees, while subjective, should at least have some sort of guiding principle.

 

[BillsBayou]

Been able to see those trees in person will inspire the hell out of you. You can see them in a video, in pictures, whatever... but when you see them in person, the three-dimensional perspective that your brain perceive will surely allow you to somehow replicate it into a bonsai tree. Given that you have the talent and proficiency to pull it off.

Doing the same thing with a bald cypress wouldn't be a bad idea. The problem would be keeping my work table from sinking into the muck or dropping my tools into the river. Instead of "Bill's Bayou In The Wild" the series could be called "Bill's Fallen Overboard Again". The good thing would be the difference between Ryan trucking up a mountain with a tree on his back and me paddling my kayak with my tree free-floating in the water behind me. As long as the alligators and cottonmouths behave, it shouldn't be an issue.

Ryan talked about the high altitude, the lack of moisture, UV light bleaching the wood. Doing the same on the Blind River in St. James Parish would be very different. High moisture, heavy rot, low light in the undergrowth, moss and mold prevalent everywhere. It has an earthy scent with just a hint of methane and hydrogen sulfide.

 

[Maiden69]

@BillsBayou I watched a few of your videos, the one collecting a bc as well. A few nice trees around you, but I wouldn't want to caught there. I spent a few hours in a swamp doing some training, not a place I would go in for fun and relaxation. In one of Mirai's videos, I think once of the first BC streams he did, they have a montage of a few very old BCs in different swamps and waterways, I think mostly from Florida. They are awesome trees on their own, this is why I decided to work on them. All the BCs I have seen here in Texas near rivers don't compare, they have the flare at the base from being submerged or close to water for their entire lifespan, but nowhere near the monster BCs that I seen on the internet.

 

[BillsBayou]

@BillsBayou I watched a few of your videos, the one collecting a bc as well. A few nice trees around you, but I wouldn't want to caught there. I spent a few hours in a swamp doing some training, not a place I would go in for fun and relaxation. In one of Mirai's videos, I think once of the first BC streams he did, they have a montage of a few very old BCs in different swamps and waterways, I think mostly from Florida. They are awesome trees on their own, this is why I decided to work on them. All the BCs I have seen here in Texas near rivers don't compare, they have the flare at the base from being submerged or close to water for their entire lifespan, but nowhere near the monster BCs that I seen on the internet.

Here's a good candidate for a dig:

 

[rockm]

@BillsBayou I watched a few of your videos, the one collecting a bc as well. A few nice trees around you, but I wouldn't want to caught there. I spent a few hours in a swamp doing some training, not a place I would go in for fun and relaxation. In one of Mirai's videos, I think once of the first BC streams he did, they have a montage of a few very old BCs in different swamps and waterways, I think mostly from Florida. They are awesome trees on their own, this is why I decided to work on them. All the BCs I have seen here in Texas near rivers don't compare, they have the flare at the base from being submerged or close to water for their entire lifespan, but nowhere near the monster BCs that I seen on the internet.

You need to get to deep east Texas, Lake Caddo east of Jefferson and Marshall, or the Sabine bayou, Big Thicket down near Orange/Beaumont up against the Louisiana border.

 

[Maiden69]

Here's a good candidate for a dig:
View attachment 455907

yeah, sure... let me go dig it. You got the money for the bail right?

Trees like that you can find, I was talking about something like this. You won't find big cypresses that really inspire you.

 

[BobbyLane]

found pics of one of the nursery lindens from a 2018 stream

 

[BobbyLane]

not too shabby at all for a nursery tree, but im guessing that if someone posted it on here, they would be told to cut off a lot of those thicker branches. he opted to style it like how it would be growing in nature. one aspect of his work I like. it looks like a 'tree'.

 

[Maiden69]

not too shabby at all for a nursery tree, but im guessing that if someone posted it on here, they would be told to cut off a lot of those thicker branches. he opted to style it like how it would be growing in nature. one aspect of his work I like. it looks like a 'tree'.

Ryan has opted to follow nature shortly after opening Mirai, if you look at almost all the deciduous trees he has worked on, none of them follow the triangle/dome shape found in most Japanese trees. He works more on what he calls billows as the tree would grow in nature. He restyled one of his first conifers (can't remember which) that he did right after coming from Japan, and he commented something along the lines of that the Japanese style he did was straight from Kimura's garden, but that after a few years in the US he realized that the style was unsustainable and unrealistic for that tree. He does say that he still loves to do traditional style bonsai, but I have only seen it on conifer work, not deciduos.

 

[Hartinez]

Crazy to see the scale of this tree! It’s so easy to lose sight of that without perspective. Just a gorgeous tree.

 

[BobbyLane]

Some cool compositions here, worth a watch. I can see now why its not 'free' to have a walk around mirai. seems like so much effort, hard work and time goes into some of the 'special' pieces

 

[Sansokuu]

Some cool compositions here, worth a watch. I can see now why its not 'free' to have a walk around mirai. seems like so much effort, hard work and time goes into some of the 'special' pieces

Better be a pretty fancy tour for $100.

 

[ABCarve]

Better be a pretty fancy tour for $100.

If you have a $100 to look at trees you probably have $2-5K to buy one.

 

[yashu]

Some cool compositions here, worth a watch. I can see now why its not 'free' to have a walk around mirai. seems like so much effort, hard work and time goes into some of the 'special' pieces

That one spruce (I think) with the roots pulled up through the drilled slab and the tree itself coming out of the bottom is amazing in every way.

But yeah, $100 tour

 

[Shogun610]

Better be a pretty fancy tour for $100.

The propensity and the nuances of the blah blah and blah … hoisting the blah blah blah is very reminiscent of the containerized vessel bleh bleh bleh

 

[jimib]

Better be a pretty fancy tour for $100.

Those are Disney prices

 

[BobbyLane]

what does the tour include, do you get to pick his brains also? or are you just walking around at your own leisure..

 

[BobbyLane]

If you have a $100 to look at trees you probably have $2-5K to buy one.

Id imagine his target market will have no problem with that outlay
I'll just sit back with a cuppa tea and watch on youtube

 

[Shogun610]

what does the tour include, do you get to pick his brains also? or are you just walking around at your own leisure..

You get to ask him questions and make statements and all he say back is “sure , sure , sure , sure”