Greetings Attila,
While I adjust my hockey helmet let me just say that your always full of surprises and definitely one that is hard to get a handle on.
I wouldn't dream of styling them other than formal upright.....or formal upright/literati.
But, if I want to be more creative, I can imagine a redwood exposed to accidents of nature, having its trunk broken, stripped, lightning-stricken, or burned down and re-grown. So, the trunk doesn't have to be straight from bottom to top, but it should reflect the fact that a redwood (no matter which kind) always resumes its relentless vertical growth.
Don't ask me why. I just find it repulsive to see them styled with curvy trunks (until someone's work convinces me otherwise, which I have yet to see). It's like trying to train a Rotweiler to be a lapdog: you can do it but it's not a pretty sight
.
For the "NORM" no argument from me its simple and safe. I also appreciate your geographical local to these trees in nature and how your mental image must be cemented in place.
However, for a guy who is pretty articulate about art and its concepts, I am surprised to say the least. Is there no room in your imagination to use a specific piece of material to create a image unrelated to what it looks like in nature. Surely you have junipers...well....you know where I'm going and if not we can revisit
Collecting Trees from Nature for Bonsai though I prefer not to.
You finding it repulsive is your choice, nothing wrong with that, its your choice. However playing to a trees other attributes other than its trunk and how it can be presented is worth the effort to explore.
A good case in point would be my wisteria that was presented in the pot contest a few years ago. Go here for a
refresher. In that thread Bill V stated
But before I can select a container, the Wisteria should be planted at a different angle. Slanting and the cascade style are the best for Wisteria and other species which have hanging flowers in order to appreciate their long elegant form.
I respect Bill very much and to him this was appropriate approach based on his personal experience. However there was another way to highlight a non trunk feature in the same way with out pigeon holing a tree into a specific style by extending the branches letting the racines cascade downward right outside the lip of the pot.
This is what I'm talking about: the Rotweiler trying hard to become a lapdog..
Or here is a better one: you accidentally poured some whiskey into the watering can and the poor tree lost its sense of direction.
My personal view is that nature did not create the DR to look like bonsai... redwoods and S-trunks don't mix well.
But anyone who loves redwood with S-trunks, no reason to listen to me. You would not undestand why I would say such a thing, anyway.
I thought your first post succinctly expressed your thoughts ...but since you put it out here
You can't have ever lived in the tundra where I do...other wise you'd appreciate a Rotty as a lapdog
You should of stuck with the Rotty, your attempt at one upping yourself with regard to whiskey in the watering can wasn't as good. However you did hit on a key possible explanation. Possibly it did fall over in one of your notorious quakes and was trying to find its direction. I offer that to try to appease your sensibilities
Finally I would say that this is hardly an "S" shape as I'm familiar with. Sure you haven't been sipping on the water can? Though a 2D image can be deceiving when snapped at random.
Attila rest assured that this isn't the norm. I grow these and when you see them in the field lined up like toy soldiers ram rod straight row after row you tilt your head and think to yourself .... I wonder if