Common Myrtle

[Ken Duncan]

Hi Al,
I like your Myrtle very much.
What would You think of changing the angle?
Ken

 

[catfish chapstick]

Can you expound on how puny branches on a tree like this can be an artistic device? I'm not saying you are wrong, I'm just saying that I would see you having a hard time convincing any school of thought that this could be an artistic device on material like this.

Let's not forget that the goal of bonsai is to create an image of a tree that looks like it is not manipulated by man. Scrawny branches without any real movement on trunk like this just scream out "manipulation by man".

But Al knows this and is working towards refining the branches.

everything is an artistic device if you intend it to be

here's an exercise, get together with one or more of your friends that are not into bonsai. show them a slide show of all your favorite bonsai you have ever seen and ask them how much like a "real" tree any of them look on a scale of one to ten. to a person who isn't submerged in bonsai virtually all of them look manipulated. for that matter look at your own trees and ask yourself "if i encountered this thing in nature how astounded would i be?"

all i'm trying to say really is that the glass is not half empty here, its more that half full in my oppinion. the tree is on its way in a big way.

anyway, how often in nature can you find a smaller branch low on a large trunk? its not uncommon, especially on trees that undergo some destruction which Al's tree clearly has.

 

[R_F]

everything is an artistic device if you intend it to be

Now you're just taking the easy way out

here's an exercise, get together with one or more of your friends that are not into bonsai. show them a slide show of all your favorite bonsai you have ever seen and ask them how much like a "real" tree any of them look on a scale of one to ten. to a person who isn't submerged in bonsai virtually all of them look manipulated. for that matter look at your own trees and ask yourself "if i encountered this thing in nature how astounded would i be?"

Ummm....it's assumed that bonsai is an "interpretation of trees in nature". So it's safe to say that were not expected to have exact duplications of trees in nature. If that were the case there wouldn't be any need for all the things we use to shape our trees, i.e. wire, scissors, etc. We would just stick an unshaped tree in a pot and whammo Bonsai!

all i'm trying to say really is that the glass is not half empty here, its more that half full in my oppinion. the tree is on its way in a big way.

I totally agree with you on this. This tree will be very impressive in the future.

anyway, how often in nature can you find a smaller branch low on a large trunk? its not uncommon, especially on trees that undergo some destruction which Al's tree clearly has.

You have a point here....however ALL the branches on the trunk are like that and given the current silhouette of the tree it just looks...well...awkward.

Good try convincing me catfish

 

[Jason Crump]

I would love to see some updates on this tree!