"But what I meant was why do we and the potters have to remain restricted to the Bonsai? why can't the pot be just as striking as the tree? Maybe not as over-powering , but just as focal"
Well, see there's the problem...and one I've tried to explain to potters I've met over the years who are interested in making bonsai pots
. Bonsai is about the TREE, not about the pot, no matter how much potters WANT it to be about the pot. The pot is a not the star or co-star of the combination--if it were bonsai would be ceramics. The pot is a supporting player. It is background--but (here's the part potters don't understand)--that supporting role is an extremely important one. You can't build a house without a solid foundation. A well-made, well-thought-out bonsai pot is absolutely necessary for bonsai. Achieving that goal is not an easy task.
While it's easy to say that the two should be of equal footing, in practice, it is extremely hard to pull off. It's mostly impossible to pull off for a potter just beginning in bonsai work.
This sounds like a lot of snobbish hoo-ha. It's not. I can't number how many "bonsai" pots I've seen built by potters who say their pots should stand out--I have had a hard time telling them that their work simply can't be used because of their weird shapes and/or glazes or construction can't be matched well with any tree form I've seen...
So, bottom line, you can make pots that are visually agressive and shout "look at me, I'm a work of art" and mostly not sell them. Or you can learn the whys and hows of real bonsai pots and sell them to be used with trees.
There is much to be learned in the more traditional methods. Old glazes, shapes and construction techniques used in Japan, China and even in the U.S. for stoneware offer more than enough for an aspiring potter to strive for....