Questions for workshop

[cheap_walmart_art]

I will be doing a half day workshop with a local artist next month. We will be styling my only club show ready tree (will be my first show) but I want to make the most of my time. I've spent this last year mainly trying to keep my trees alive and pest/fungus free. I've done basic wiring and pruning following the Bonsai Empire and Bonsai Mirai videos and John Naka's books. I want to see what sorts of questions or techniques you folks would suggest inquiring about while I have this big block of individual workshop time.

 

[bonsai-ben]

1.) Half of the people attending workshops have attended the same workshop before, from the same artist, at least five times before. Few will actually want to "work" their tree, but simply hand it to the artist and say "here bitch, style me" and the artist will stand there for 3 minutes, and show them why they need to remove 90% of their bushes branches till they leave the thickest 3 or 5. Then there are those who will want to do the work but never take the artists advice and then critique the artist about what a twat they are because they gave you advice you didnt like.

There will be many qualifiedes in the room, but in general, workshops can be a little rough, or at least that has been my experience! You end up with not much time overall with the artist but of course, that's what you paid for, a workshop not a private session (sounds like a massage parlor doesnt it? ). You are on the right page, you are already asking questions and reading up. Just keep doing that! Next month you'll have different questions than you have today, anyway.

2.) (if it is class/workshop) Film it. Workshops are never filmed, and often encouraged to be filmed or hell even avail free to the public. But you go, you watch, and you forget. FILM IT. Even if it's just a smartphone on a $9 garage sale Tripod, it's worth it! And then your smartphone is down and you are paying attention too!

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

1.) Half of the people attending workshops have attended the same workshop before, from the same artist, at least five times before. Few will actually want to "work" their tree, but simply hand it to the artist and say "here bitch, style me" and the artist will stand there for 3 minutes, and show them why they need to remove 90% of their bushes branches till they leave the thickest 3 or 5. Then there are those who will want to do the work but never take the artists advice and then critique the artist about what a twat they are because they gave you advice you didnt like.

There will be many qualifiedes in the room, but in general, workshops can be a little rough, or at least that has been my experience! You end up with not much time overall with the artist but of course, that's what you paid for, a workshop not a private session (sounds like a massage parlor doesnt it? ). You are on the right page, you are already asking questions and reading up. Just keep doing that! Next month you'll have different questions than you have today, anyway.

2.) (if it is class/workshop) Film it. Workshops are never filmed, and often encouraged to be filmed or hell even avail free to the public. But you go, you watch, and you forget. FILM IT. Even if it's just a smartphone on a $9 garage sale Tripod, it's worth it! And then your smartphone is down and you are paying attention too!

This will be an individual session, should just be me and the artist. I appreciate you taking the time to respond! Definitely some things to think about.

 

[stevek]

You're paying for some time with the artist, don't waste it with questions you can or have read or seen the answers. only things that might be hard in two dimension to understand, like pad development. if a good teacher or artist ( two different things ), sometimes his front is different from yours, like this confuses so many, how to see the real tree in the tree. we have to look 360* left to right and 360* top to bottom, not just the easy open front. this is what we learn from them, their eye, thinking, reasoning. every artist does workshops their way, but try and watch, listen while he's working with the other students also while you're working on your tree, more for your money. stevek.

 

[TomB]

This will be an individual session, should just be me and the artist.

Take along as many of your better trees as you can, and ask them to give you a 5-year development plan for each one. Write it down, then follow it.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Take along as many of your better trees as you can, and ask them to give you a 5-year development plan for each one. Write it down, then follow it.

That's a damn fine idea!

 

[sorce]

Nice..

If that's the only tree you can currently do much work too...
Maybe pick up a tiny Juniper to whip up..

What is your thing?

How do YOU bonsai?

What is their thing?

How can you most improve what YOU do, from them?

Maybe restarting decent material from a local OK place is your thing...repotting old rootbound stuff...big chops etc...

Maybe purchasing trees on the internet is your thing...and you can browse sites for pros and cons of material you might have been missing.

For me though....its all about that little juniper......and a good styling..

Though a very local person may be able to help greatly with horticulture as well.

Tape..lol! it certain!

Sorce

 

[sorce]

Oh p.s.

I recently grabbed another Gold Coast (or whatever the hell those are...Juniperus with a curvy trunk at Wal-Mart. $15.

And they been having some like 3-4ft tall single trunkish joints I been wanting to grab to bend up literati like...forget the name...but the foliage seemed close to good enough...and the trunks were mad pliable and great length for wild lines.

Sorce