Brent
Mame
I check the Ebay trees about two or three times a week to see what the competition is up to and to judge how to price trees, what the market has to offer, etc. There is a perennial question that arises for me as I look at most of these trees: Why aren't they 'worked'? Of course, most of this stuff is garbage, but in a hour or two, I could prune and wire a lot of these trees and make them twice as valuable, something with a bonsai potential you could see. Why isn't this done?
It can't really be that hard, or can it? To me it's insane to offer a tree for $500 and not at least make it presentable. Is it because they don't have to? I see bids on these trees, and assuming the bids aren't bogus (which they may very well be), people are buying this stuff. But it seems to me they could make a lot more money simply investing a few hours in detail work. I just don't get it.
This is a question that has bugged me for a long time. Is the styling of trees really more difficult than I think it is? Admittedly, and all humility aside, I have a knack for tree design, but is this such a rare commodity, that not only a majority, but an overwhelming percentage of folks just don't get? I have spent the last twenty five years codifying and explaining just how to do this, and there is an enormous amount of information on tree design available, but even among my bonsai friends and compatriots, I often get blank expresions when I ask them what they see in their trees and where they would take them.
I can understand this in beginners, but there are people who have been in bonsai a decade or two that can't seem to create the illusion, maybe a good cookie cutter at best, but a real creation?
What do you think?
Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com
new blog entry coming up soon, more on pines!
It can't really be that hard, or can it? To me it's insane to offer a tree for $500 and not at least make it presentable. Is it because they don't have to? I see bids on these trees, and assuming the bids aren't bogus (which they may very well be), people are buying this stuff. But it seems to me they could make a lot more money simply investing a few hours in detail work. I just don't get it.
This is a question that has bugged me for a long time. Is the styling of trees really more difficult than I think it is? Admittedly, and all humility aside, I have a knack for tree design, but is this such a rare commodity, that not only a majority, but an overwhelming percentage of folks just don't get? I have spent the last twenty five years codifying and explaining just how to do this, and there is an enormous amount of information on tree design available, but even among my bonsai friends and compatriots, I often get blank expresions when I ask them what they see in their trees and where they would take them.
I can understand this in beginners, but there are people who have been in bonsai a decade or two that can't seem to create the illusion, maybe a good cookie cutter at best, but a real creation?
What do you think?
Brent
EvergreenGardenworks.com
see our blog at http://BonsaiNurseryman.typepad.com
new blog entry coming up soon, more on pines!