Ancient Manchurian pear

[melbrackstone]

The tree Ryan Showed with these pots was strong enough for these pots....

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

Ok its beginning to head a little off topic here Mel- from Hugh's original post.
I think Pat K hinted at a good point, whether the sculptor / artist is creating these vessels [foremostly] with an understanding of bonsai in mind?
I'm smelling a little cross promotion may have been had? Is there a final photo available of Ryan's tree eventually planted in either pot?
If so, It may be another topic for discussion on a new post?

Hugh is also a visual artist, so seeing this is his thread - let's see what opinion he may have

[hugh grant]

Ahhh jonathan Cross!!
Sweet! Love his work, sorry guys haha. I agree they are strong shapes, angles and lines, very heavy grounding pots. I’ll pose a question ... Why should a pot be subtle? Why not a pot that does hold strength and boldness ? These pots to me are a contemporary abstraction on the idea of rocky structures, suggesting a strong hard ledge or rocky zone. They could represent the hard lines or urban landscape etc etc. another question what happens when you place a soft legend tree in a pot like this ?? Now that would be interesting.

super interesting idea Mel!! Something I hadn’t considered! But I really like the idea !

[melbrackstone]

https://live.bonsaimirai.com/archive/video/soils

around 1:20 he starts offering pot suggestions...

I thought of you when he brought the two JC pots out, Hugh.

[Gerard]

Hi Hugh,
I love the way you are going with this tree I am sure it will be a wonderful result.
As you often do, you have gone for very dynamic movement challenging the balance of the tree the result would be a tree which is unique, eye catching and a little controversial.
But, for me....
This tree is all about the trunk, there is a danger that something will be lost if you develop the canopy with a visual mass too far away from the trunk, which is where the attention should be focused.

0BBE28ED-CE51-41C2-99A8-3CA4A78BE0A7.jpeg

In my virt, I have rotated a little to make the tree more upright and shortened the right side a little.
I hope to see more of this tree in the future

[Pat K]

Thanks for the link, Mel.

Ryan's a great salesman and I learned a lot, but I'm still not convinced.
Artistically, the pots are great and the tall feminine tree (unbelievably) took on a new look when matched with, especially, the deeper pot
....suddenly, I'm not so sure...

[melbrackstone]

You're welcome, Pat. I think the video is worth watching, for many reasons...

I like the fact that people like Ryan, and our own Hugh are regularly pushing the envelope, helping us open our minds to possibilities we may never have otherwise considered.

I'm not saying those pots would be perfect for either of Hugh's trees that we've seen the last week, but.....there might be someone here who can come up with a container that, when combined with amazing trees like Hugh's, could just blow people's minds!

[SueBee]

I agree with Hugh entirely, those sculptural pots are like Picasso rocks...some Bonsai would suit them admirably but yes it would take a while to match pot to the right tree Love them!!

[hugh grant]

really appreciate those comments mel! ill keep doing my thing! im really inspired i think something of a similar vibe could be a go!

Ryan's a great salesman and I learned a lot, but I'm still not convinced.
Artistically, the pots are great and the tall feminine tree (unbelievably) took on a new look when matched with, especially, the deeper pot
....suddenly, I'm not so sure...

Pat it certainly is interesting isnt it! glad it gets you a thinking !

Hi Hugh,
I love the way you are going with this tree I am sure it will be a wonderful result.
As you often do, you have gone for very dynamic movement challenging the balance of the tree the result would be a tree which is unique, eye catching and a little controversial.
But, for me....
This tree is all about the trunk, there is a danger that something will be lost if you develop the canopy with a visual mass too far away from the trunk, which is where the attention should be focused.

0BBE28ED-CE51-41C2-99A8-3CA4A78BE0A7.jpeg

In my virt, I have rotated a little to make the tree more upright and shortened the right side a little.
I hope to see more of this tree in the future

Gerard beautiful virt and i see a very plausible design there, using more compaction bringing more significance to the trunk i do see that! as you said i do really like to play heavily with movement and challenging the idea of balance. i like to place trees on that cusp of painfully close to unbalanced, makes you look ey this is the first iteration of this design of course so it will undeniably change as time passes and new material is grown, for the time being though i feel making the most of the material is using what minimally is available at hand so ill continue with the length and who knows i might pull it back later, maybe not too !

[hugh grant]

loving the discussion by the way guys, this is what i hope my work can do and ultimately i believe what forums are for!
keep it rolling!

[melbrackstone]

mirai.jpg

mirai2.jpg

Ryan's tree in the Jonathan Cross pot.
bonsaimirai Rarely do people discuss the container’s ability to be the point of value and focus in a #bonsai composition. However, when you’re working with sculpture the likes of @jcrossstudio creates, it organically happens. Here a stunning discussion of form and environment with this whimsical #coloradobluespruce #literati.

https://www.instagram.com/bonsaimirai/

I'm not affiliated and there's no cross promotion, I was just very taken with the combination shown on the video. I see Ryan has chosen the diagonal placement of the tree, so that the point is toward the front,and that gives the impression of the container being a little wider.

I see this sculptural shaped pot as just another choice of containers that are looking more and more natural, and that there's really no difference to when you carve out a piece of sandstone, or use a slab of granite....

[matty-j]

I am loving the pots Hugh and I think I can help you out with one if you are interested!

Talk to you soon

Cheers
Matt

[GavinG]

For me, these pots demand attention, which is not good for bonsai. Their lines are aggressively geometric, where the lines in trees are complex and organic, so they don't harmonise. The walls are so thick, the space inside is small, and this makes balancing tree with pot very difficult. The tree that is shown in the pot is remarkably well chosen, but you can't say that it has any real relationship with the pot, in terms of line or texture, although the colours are close. The very small root-ball available between the thick walls would make me anxious about the tree's long term survival.

I like them very much as pottery objects, and I can see where they are coming from (straight from Peter Voulkos) but the "look-at-me look-at-me" thing puts me off.

There is also a real problem for me putting complex-shaped trunks into traditional symmetrically shaped pots - it is diabolically difficult to make a convincing asymmetrical or "organically" shaped pot that is interesting but not distracting.

Clay is actually a fluid thing, but as soon as we handle it, we make it round/square/oval/even-height/consistent-thickness - we tend to organise it.I have no good solution (as yet), and as I said, I like the pots as objects, but I'm beginning to feel that trees need something more organic. Add to that the very specific cultural needs and proportion issues we have when we put trees in them, and it becomes a minefield.

Just my 2c.

Gavin

Gavin

[melbrackstone]

Well thought-out statements, Gavin, I appreciate your point of view.

[Boics]

Loving the progress on this tree Hugh.
For the record the Ryan and JC pot look a great combo to my eye.