GSBF Convention, 2007

[Smoke]

Kobayashi nearing compleation. He started at 8AM and finished after 4 PM.

Translation provided by Hideko Metaxis, and she was very good at fielding questions by the crowd as well as asking the master his point of view.

Kobayashi is finally finished and presents his work.

Peter and the Master pose behind their juniper....but wait! something is wrong....

 

[Smoke]

Peter is so much taller...He should never tower over the master. he crouches down to shine the spotlight on his Teacher!

A good laugh by the master and his pupil.

the secret to Kobayashi Sans new height!

The digger, Mr. California Juniper, Harry Hirao and his friends for life.

 

[Bonsai Nut]

The last two photo's are of Greg Peterson ( Big Kahoona here) and his tree. The guy in yellow is my good friend Peter Macasieb (maria kapra at BT) helping Greg out with some wireing.

So Al... think I should split that trunk? I don't see an alternative. And we didn't get around to any wiring. Peter helped with all the deadwood carving. When he arrived everything was still stumps so we took turns working around the tree reducing all the stumps and cleaning out the termites.

 

[Dale Cochoy]

Thanks for tyhe posts Al.
I was kind of suprised about only THREE people for Kobayashi's "Bring Own" workshop!!??

Vendor area looked like it needed some hand-made pots!
Dale

 

[Bonsai Nut]

I was kind of suprised about only THREE people for Kobayashi's "Bring Own" workshop!!??

You had to see the material they brought. There was a California juniper there that was amazing BEFORE any additional work had been done to it. There was also a big procumbens juniper that needed a lot of work to take it to the next level - it had a big trunk but had too many thick branches and needed a working design. I can't remember the 3rd tree specifically but remembered it as being big.

I think people get intimidated about taking their personal trees to a big name bonsai master. Back 15 years ago when I was first getting started I took a small juniper to a workshop with Ben Oki. He was not at all kind and almost turned me away from the art. It took me a while to get past the fact that one unkind person does not represent the entire world of bonsai. However I think people are still nervous about bringing a tree in for possible scathing criticism...

 

[bonsai barry]

I think people get intimidated about taking their personal trees to a big name bonsai master. Back 15 years ago when I was first getting started I took a small juniper to a workshop with Ben Oki. He was not at all kind and almost turned me away from the art. It took me a while to get past the fact that one unkind person does not represent the entire world of bonsai. However I think people are still nervous about bringing a tree in for possible scathing criticism...

Hey you don't have to pay the big bucks to get insulted at a convention; we do it happily for free on the Internet.

 

[Smoke]

Here's a shot of the procumbens after the work with Kobayashi.

 

[Dale Cochoy]

Nut,
I could see that the material brought was nice, but only 3??
I've seen MANY "bring-your-owns" in 29 years going to conventions but am still suprised at only 3....and in California yet....with Kobayashi yet!
Was it expensive Al? could that have been the reason?
I remember years ago there was a similar deal at an Atlanta convention with Kimura. They made the mistake of "pre-selecting" folks to bring trees to his bring-own workshop. That scared off a lot of folks then come workshop time they only had a few....I remember them then looking for folks to come in! I think they wound up charging about $15 to folks who would come in. I really wish I'd brought a tree to Georgia then!
Dale

 

[rlist]

So, when you say The Big Kahuna Here, you mean Da Head Nut. Wow. I thought Da Head Nut was some computer generated "being". Didn't think he actually was a real person...

Nice tree Nut! Glad to finally put a mug to the screen name...

 

[Smoke]

$350.00 for a bring your own tree. Pretty expensive for the average Joe. Not expensive at all considering what you get. I think the big problem is the intimadation factor of what to bring. Most people that would have a tree worthy of even having the master look at it might not wish to spend 350.00 to have someone either change it or tell you what you already know. Then there are those that just don't have anything that they wish to bring cause it ain't worthy. Trust me in a couple board meetings we talked about thelow turnout for the master workshop. We were just as baffled as all of you are. I could not do the workshop due to being in the district styling contest. One from our group was in the district contest and two would have made it impossible to finish the district tree in the alloted time frame.

You guys ready for a peek at the finished district trees? Will anyone be able to guess which one I was involved in? will anyone be able to pick Kobayashi's choice? Which tree brought the most money in the live auction Friday night?

 

[irene_b]

Al.....Post them pics!
You are such a tease
Mom

 

[Behr]

Mr. Al,

Thank you for once again sharing your 'convention experience'...We can all learn so much when viewing these events, even if it is through the eyes of others...You, Mr. Graydon, Mr. Nut, and others, make it possible, in a manner of speaking, for all of us to at least see the highlights...

Regards
Behr

 

[JasonG]

Hi Al,

Thanks for taking all the time to post this virtual tour of the convention!! I am glad to get the "behind the scenes" view that you have offered. Excellent trees and it looks like everyone was enjoying themselves. Heck, even the Nut was caught in action.... good stuff!

Thanks again and I look forward to the rest of the pics....

Jason

 

[Dale Cochoy]

$350.00 for a bring your own tree. Pretty expensive for the average Joe. Not expensive at all considering what you get. I think the big problem is the intimadation factor of what to bring. Most people that would have a tree worthy of even having the master look at it might not wish to spend 350.00 to have someone either change it or tell you what you already know. Then there are those that just don't have anything that they wish to bring cause it ain't worthy. Trust me in a couple board meetings we talked about thelow turnout for the master workshop. We were just as baffled as all of you are.

?

Thanks Al, that helps clear it up a bit. I did not know the cost. That COULD have been part of it, and yes, the intimidation factor also is usually apparent, however, not usually justified....from my experience in viewing such deals.
Dale