When to apply cut paste

[coh]

Chan is really, really, bad at bonsai! He’s totally self taught, and he’s been successful because he had tons of rough material to sell. Not because he knows how to refine bonsai.

if you listen to people who have visited his nursery, they’ll say he has tons of stuff, but a lot of it looks neglected. I’m sure there are “diamonds in the rough” there. But they WILL be rough.


He will say that he tries to make bonsai easy, so that “anyone” can do it. Well, yes, anyone can produce crap! Producing quality bonsai, is something altogether different!

I’ve seen a couple of his videos where he shows trees he’s imported from Japan, and kept for 20 years. And, frankly, he’s ruined them.

compare his videos to Bjorn’s videos. There’s a vast difference!

Yikes...that video is cringe-worthy. I've never watched any of his stuff before (not more than a minute or two anyway) and...I'm out of words.

Good for him making a living out of it though. He found a niche to exploit.

 

[BalconyBonsai]

Oh, Chan is a professional. A professional is anyone who makes their living at doing something.

He has chosen to produce lots of mediocre bonsai rather than fewer, but better bonsai.

As a merchant, it might very well be the better strategy. I view his videos as a form of advertisement, to get people to see them and think, “I can do better than that!”, and go to his nursery and buy stuff!

A lot of people are off-put by the attention to detail and precision that the Japanese apply to their bonsai. However, there’s no denying that the Japanese, as a whole, produce superior bonsai.

Chan produces bonsai akin to the “Black Velvet Elvis” portraits sold by the side of the road. If that’s the kind of thing you like, Chan’s your man. If, however, you strive to create truely top level bonsai, look elsewhere.

Don't get me wrong, I understand what you are saying and think you are totally correct. What I was getting at was more along the lines of, if there was only the type of videos where these bonsai masters are working on 100 year old trees, I might not even have gotten started since what they do seems so unattainable, both when it comes to knowledge and skill, but also when it comes to the materials they are woking on.

I don't know, but sometimes I think some people need something simple and straight forward to get started. Then later on, when they are more mature they learn to appreciate the finer points. I know thats how it worked for me with music(another of my hobbies).

Anyway, I am way of topic But thank you all for all suggestions and feedback! This really is a very helpful forum! Thanks for making me feel welcome!

 

[Adair M]

Don't get me wrong, I understand what you are saying and think you are totally correct. What I was getting at was more along the lines of, if there was only the type of videos where these bonsai masters are working on 100 year old trees, I might not even have gotten started since what they do seems so unattainable, both when it comes to knowledge and skill, but also when it comes to the materials they are woking on.

I don't know, but sometimes I think some people need something simple and straight forward to get started. Then later on, when they are more mature they learn to appreciate the finer points. I know thats how it worked for me with music(another of my hobbies).

Anyway, I am way of topic But thank you all for all suggestions and feedback! This really is a very helpful forum! Thanks for making me feel welcome!

It’s not just the material, it’s his way of working it. He hacks at it. I have seen Bjorn work on rough stock, but treat it with more respect and care.

 

[Kadebe]

Yes, like I said in my first post I'm not in a position to judge anyones skill in Bonsai but I agree that Bjorn does seem to work much more carefully and (I don't know if it is the right word but) professionally. They do seem to cater to very different viewers though where Peter Chan, like you say, seems intent on Bonsai being for everyone and to not be so strict about "the rules", and as long as YOU enjoy the tree, it's good. Bjorn seems(from my very limited viewing) more intent on following the traditional way of making Bonsai and excelling at that.

Which is better, I don't know. I do know that both of them has provided a newcomer like me with inspiration and ideas and someone like Peter really makes Bonsai seem less scary and more approchable which to me has been very valuable. I know many people in the comment sections of the videos have compared them, but a bit like Bob Ross did with painting.

Well, you can look at his history here: https://www.herons.co.uk/Content/7/About-us
or listen to his interview here:

Apparently he also won 21 Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals
I think, as @Adair M mentioned, at some point he made a choice and made bonsai accessible to a lot of people.

 

[Boscology]

Some Larches I collected this April were suffering in the summer heat, the top branch all but fried and I figured it was losing moisture from its chop. We are moving currently so I didn't have what I normally use, but I did have some gorilla glue handy, they bounced right back.

Normally for this I would use regular 2.99 wood glue but it was packed away but fortunately I had a bit of glue left in the bottle from the "repairs" we made to make the house sell.

I remember in my first year of bonsai going to the largest nursery/growing center in my state and asking several people if they had any cut paste.. It is something with very narrow applications or even reasons to ever use, none of those lifetime plant enthusiasts had even heard of such a thing.

 

[leatherback]

Chan produces bonsai akin to the “Black Velvet Elvis” portraits sold by the side of the road. If that’s the kind of thing you like, Chan’s your man. If, however, you strive to create truely top level bonsai, look elsewhere.

I really like the way you pose this.