KK's questionnaire
- Thread starter king kong
- Start date
Marc,
Kunio Kobayashi is a Real Bonsai Master. He has a new book just released. Buy it.Study it. On page 312 he shares the name of an English speaking artist he feels can " enlighten the world regarding Real Bonsai."
It is a start down the right path.
Best Regards,
Mark
Kunio Kobayashi is a Real Bonsai Master. He has a new book just released. Buy it.Study it. On page 312 he shares the name of an English speaking artist he feels can " enlighten the world regarding Real Bonsai."
It is a start down the right path.
Best Regards,
Mark
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxfpgp16c4
OK now search Kunio Kobayashi Bonsai then Demostracion
Very nice material. I got one question. What's up with the power tools? Talk about over-kill, the chain saws are getting bigger and bigger. There is a hush in the crowd as the Master approaches the tree with his 22 inch chain saw spinning at 5000 RPM with dead aim on a 2 inch branch. I could clear a 20 acre forest with that saw. I would like to read the book though...thanks! What qualifies a tree to be a "real" bonsai?
OK now search Kunio Kobayashi Bonsai then Demostracion
Very nice material. I got one question. What's up with the power tools? Talk about over-kill, the chain saws are getting bigger and bigger. There is a hush in the crowd as the Master approaches the tree with his 22 inch chain saw spinning at 5000 RPM with dead aim on a 2 inch branch. I could clear a 20 acre forest with that saw. I would like to read the book though...thanks! What qualifies a tree to be a "real" bonsai?
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Walter Pall
Masterpiece
Yes, Mr. Kobayashi is one of MANY bonsai masters (or should we say professionals), heck there is even more than one here on the Nut! Is he talking about Peter Warren on page 312?
KK, That is a bold direction to have taken that tree.....wish it showed it when he was done with it. That was a tree with many ways to for it to have been styled. I am all for the use of whatever tool gets the job done in a productive manner. If it is a chainsaw then so be it, but I am sure that the use of a chainsaw is fairly limited. Thanks for the link!
Hi Walter, it only took one Nut to ruin this thread.... but I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go around, huh?
Merry Christmas to you, Hanna and the rest of our bonsai friends out there!
Jason
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As far as the bonsai tradition declining in Japan, if that's true, I feel like it's from a business stand point, they have lost some of their major markets. JBP and Shimpaku can no longer be imported into the US and a lot of the european countries. Two of their biggest sellers.The collectors in Japan probably already have their collections complete and don't buy as many trees. The Chinese and the Koreans compete with them, so there's no reason for a new generation to carry on the tradition if they can't make a living. Just my thought's.
Harry
Harry
Hey Harry,
Another thing I have heard that contributes to the decline is that the younger generation can't find nor afford the type of home that will allow you to have a nursery at home like the older generation has. Most of the younger generation lives in those tiny little housing units.
I saw a show on TLC that showed many of the older traditions in Japan are dying off because the younger generation is "plugged in" so to speak. It is a shame really, allot of old traditions falling by the way of technology.
I have also been told that most of the major bonsai names, Kimura, Kobayashi, Iwasaki, Suzuki, etc... are still buying lots of trees. I have heard recently that one of these names recieved 2 semi truck loads of pines recently. There are still plenty of trees going to parts of Europe as well. Man, I wish we could still get them here..... that would be awesome!
Jason
Marc S
Yamadori
In Europe, maples from Japan can't be imported anymore due to a disease.
Tradition be damned, it all comes down to the money. Their new genration is just like ours, they get a college education and want the high paying jobs without breaking a sweat, grandpa's a nice old man, but he's nuts if he thinks I'm going to grow little trees for a living. Like our small farmers, some day soon, all the farms will belong to big corporations.
Harry
Harry
AlainK
Imperial Masterpiece
Hi King Kong,
Although this thread went in an unwanted direction, This is what I can say about France:
Most clubs belong to the "FFB", Fedération Française de Bonsaï (French Bonsai Federation).
This structure organises "exams" for the certification of 3 levels (N1, N2, and the top one, N3)
These exams are based on the presentation of a certain number of trees that are examined and critiqued by a jury composed of "N3" instructors. There are also trees that have to be worked on, and a questionaire about dendrology/botanics/techniques/etc.
This sounds very hierarchical, but it yielded very interesting results: it's a way of having more and more people that can form others, animate workshop, and teach the right techniques. It is also a support for the potential groups of people willing to work locally in a club, it provides guidelines on techniques and so on.
This developement enabled people to get more into the "knowledge" of bonsai, first by going to places like Japan to study with professionals, then to re-import what they had learned: I've just donr a workshop with Marc Noelanders, and he does know a lot, I can tell you.
Having such a structure is also of great help to have contacts with bonsai artists/craftsmen from abroad, from Germany, Belgium or Italy, to Japan (MM. Suzuki, Ando,...) and even the US (Michael Persiano,...).
All these people know what they are talking about, and of course, each one has his personal approach. Thus, anyone interested in bonsai has a lot of opportunities to better themselves.
This hierarchical structure is not a prison: it's just a help in the basics, and of course, we do have heated debates on our forums about exactly the same topics as you can have here, and there are in fact several "schools", sometimes leading to somewhat childish feuds between them.
Anbd not all clubs belong to the "FFB": in my town for instance, there are two clubs, the other one also organises an annual exhibition, and they do have some very nice material on display each time.
All in all, what I can see is that bonsai is alive and well in Europe, and a question such as "where did it start first outside Japan" is of very little importance to me, as well as "what country is the leader at the present time": who cares really, as long as we can share what we consider a form of beauty...
But for France, I think that this national structure did an awful lot to improve the quality of bonsai.
I've just put some photos of recent local exhibitions on our web site, feel free to visit them, you will see that some of the trees are quite nice, and if not for some species that are not found here or there (no pemphis acidula, sorry), they are the sign that more than arguing about the sex of angels, we should see what we have in common:
http://rdb45.fr/galerie.html
And when I see the very nice slideshow of the BSGC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonsaihiker/sets/72157607820551402/show/), well, not only do I wonder why some Americans are so paranoid about the place they hold in the world of bonsai, but actually, even for the "new talent contest", it is so similar to what we have here...
Although this thread went in an unwanted direction, This is what I can say about France:
Most clubs belong to the "FFB", Fedération Française de Bonsaï (French Bonsai Federation).
This structure organises "exams" for the certification of 3 levels (N1, N2, and the top one, N3)
These exams are based on the presentation of a certain number of trees that are examined and critiqued by a jury composed of "N3" instructors. There are also trees that have to be worked on, and a questionaire about dendrology/botanics/techniques/etc.
This sounds very hierarchical, but it yielded very interesting results: it's a way of having more and more people that can form others, animate workshop, and teach the right techniques. It is also a support for the potential groups of people willing to work locally in a club, it provides guidelines on techniques and so on.
This developement enabled people to get more into the "knowledge" of bonsai, first by going to places like Japan to study with professionals, then to re-import what they had learned: I've just donr a workshop with Marc Noelanders, and he does know a lot, I can tell you.
Having such a structure is also of great help to have contacts with bonsai artists/craftsmen from abroad, from Germany, Belgium or Italy, to Japan (MM. Suzuki, Ando,...) and even the US (Michael Persiano,...).
All these people know what they are talking about, and of course, each one has his personal approach. Thus, anyone interested in bonsai has a lot of opportunities to better themselves.
This hierarchical structure is not a prison: it's just a help in the basics, and of course, we do have heated debates on our forums about exactly the same topics as you can have here, and there are in fact several "schools", sometimes leading to somewhat childish feuds between them.
Anbd not all clubs belong to the "FFB": in my town for instance, there are two clubs, the other one also organises an annual exhibition, and they do have some very nice material on display each time.
All in all, what I can see is that bonsai is alive and well in Europe, and a question such as "where did it start first outside Japan" is of very little importance to me, as well as "what country is the leader at the present time": who cares really, as long as we can share what we consider a form of beauty...
But for France, I think that this national structure did an awful lot to improve the quality of bonsai.
I've just put some photos of recent local exhibitions on our web site, feel free to visit them, you will see that some of the trees are quite nice, and if not for some species that are not found here or there (no pemphis acidula, sorry), they are the sign that more than arguing about the sex of angels, we should see what we have in common:
http://rdb45.fr/galerie.html
And when I see the very nice slideshow of the BSGC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonsaihiker/sets/72157607820551402/show/), well, not only do I wonder why some Americans are so paranoid about the place they hold in the world of bonsai, but actually, even for the "new talent contest", it is so similar to what we have here...
Hi King Kong,
This structure organises "exams" for the certification of 3 levels (N1, N2, and the top one, N3)
These exams are based on the presentation of a certain number of trees that are examined and critiqued by a jury composed of "N3" instructors. There are also trees that have to be worked on, and a questionaire about dendrology/botanics/techniques/etc.
This sounds very hierarchical, but it yielded very interesting results: it's a way of having more and more people that can form others, animate workshop, and teach the right techniques. It is also a support for the potential groups of people willing to work locally in a club, it provides guidelines on techniques and so on.
All these people know what they are talking about, and of course, each one has his personal approach. Thus, anyone interested in bonsai has a lot of opportunities to better themselves. [/URL]
And when I see the very nice slideshow of the BSGC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonsaihiker/sets/72157607820551402/show/), well, not only do I wonder why some Americans are so paranoid about the place they hold in the world of bonsai, but actually, even for the "new talent contest", it is so similar to what we have here...
I am getting paranoid over here. Sounds like a got a bit of catching up to do. I hate feeling left out. I have some potential.
AlainK
Imperial Masterpiece
<LOL> I even failed at my only attempt to the threshold, the "new talent" contest, at a regional convention.
It was my first attempt at styling a juniper, and I wish I had not listened to my friends.
I do love history too, and thanks for making me know about Burlingame, I had never heard of him before. From what I've read, he was quite a character. The Burlingame Treaty (1868) shows he had humanistic values that desreve respect.
By the way, I don't know if someone mentioned this in this thread, but Bonsai (pentsai) is Chinese, and was only adopted by the Japanese much later after it had developed in China.
Masters one day, second best the next day: yes, we have a lot to learn from history
OK now, merry Christmas to all...
Marc S
Yamadori
And when I see the very nice slideshow of the BSGC (http://www.flickr.com/photos/bonsaihiker/sets/72157607820551402/show/), well, not only do I wonder why some Americans are so paranoid about the place they hold in the world of bonsai, but actually, even for the "new talent contest", it is so similar to what we have here...
These trees aren't bonsai yet. They are styled trees in a pot.
They are well on their way to become bonsai, but they aren't bonsai because they didn't get enough time to mature.
Marc S
Yamadori
The jin madness is a sign of the times we live. It's exaggerated, decadent and baroque, but even the Japanese do it.
Marc S
Yamadori
Time the revelator lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dey-K1OcjVQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dey-K1OcjVQ
Hans van Meer
Yamadori
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