Ancient Manchurian pear

[hugh grant]

I really love the spruce and the JC and pot combo! what a piece.

Gavin a agree a very good statement and there and a really valid argument! If you intent fo rth containing body of the the tree to act in that such a way as a harmonising element, you words are totally true and well said. my question is why what if you dont want the pot to harmonising and you want it to suggest something else or make another statement? it changes the composition, if this tree were in a shallow round as would be more traditional it would be a quieter image. what happens when you change that?

[treeman]

Cubism for Bonsai?.....Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
These pots overpower - too deep, too sharp, too chunky - I hate 'em.

( )

I agree with this. These pots will never become mainstream. They might be ok to look at on their own but certainly should never contain a tree which is supposed to be the focal point. There is no point using a pot which competes with a tree rather than harmonises with it and regardless of what you plant in them they will do just that. You might get away with an upright plant like a tall grass but I would never consider using them. A good example of trying to be different for no other reason than to be different.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

my question is why what if you dont want the pot to harmonising and you want it to suggest something else or make another statement? it changes the composition, if this tree were in a shallow round as would be more traditional it would be a quieter image. what happens when you change that?

I think it then becomes classified [demoted?] as just an "artistic pot plant"?

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I feel a little uneasy discussing this topic under the heading "Ancient Manchurian Pear".....?

[melbrackstone]

Ryan is doing what many here are doing, native trees and native pots.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

The pots firstly are "statement" piece which immediately demand your attention, - they then secondly, have the advantage of being able to hold a plant (if required). I actually think that they would suit a more architectural type of plant - something strong like cordyline, yucca, aloe vera or cacti? (much like the plants in the last photo posted above)

[bodhidharma]

And further and further "Off topic" we go.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

I know, sorry Bodhi - I'll stop now.

[bodhidharma]

I know, sorry Bodhi - I'll stop now.

[Rory]

This is just my opinion.
I know Hugh, and he loves a great discussion, so I don’t see what the problem is with discussing these pots.

Firstly, I must say that I respectfully disagree with a lot of the knowledgeable legends on here when I say I think these pots are absolutely beautiful and would look fantastic as Bonsai pots.

I got bored straight away when the video started to delve into the deep artistic reasoning for what side they prefer yadda yadda. For me, the pots look stunning and would compliment many trees, period. I’m not one to delve into artsy farsty pandering.... I just know what I like and express my own thoughts.

Personally I just don’t understand why someone would say the pots don’t look suited to Bonsai. The last time I looked at Bonsai pots they were simply round, square, rectangular, oval etc etc.
Now, where in nature do you find a perfect square, or a perfect rectangle, or an octagon?
A natural organic tree, sitting in a square pot, oval pot, round pot, octangular pot, cascading pot or whatever... looks unnatural no matter how you justify it. Some of the pots that Penny Davis makes are so natural you’d swear someone hacked the earth out with the tree still in it.... they’re that good! But to say these pots aren’t good for Bonsai because of the geometry is craziness in my opinion. I absolutely love them.

I can totally see these pots as somewhat of a hacked out chunk of bedrock to resemble getting a tree out of a quarry or something.
If I had the money I would definitely buy a few of these magnificent pots.

If you ask me, it would be a crime to not get a tree into these amazing pots.

[Boics]

Well said Rory.
If you've got it flaunt it!
Nothing wrong with conversation pieces!

We can take this up in the myriad of heated "bonsai/art" threads that litter this forum.

[Keep Calm and Ramify]

We can take this up in the myriad of heated "bonsai/art" threads that litter this forum.

Heated?...really?.....Litter?.. This statement is probably the most detrimental of all, towards many great past discussions & hopefully many future ones, whether on topic or not .
Best we just talk about the weather I guess....yawn....keep calm!

[Boics]

For the record I think you've mistaken my post.
I'm all good for discussion and sharing people's views.
I just felt this was going towards the bonsai/art topic again and seeing as there was request to change thread....
Discuss/debate/collaborate/share this is what a forum is for.
I'm only having a laugh.

[treeman]

And further and further "Off topic" we go.

Haven't you had a conversation that drifted into another topic? I don't think I have had one which didn't.
Do we need to remove and re-categorize the discussions when they drift? And at what stage? The first off topic post or the fifth?

[bodhidharma]

Haven't you had a conversation that drifted into another topic? I don't think I have had one which didn't.

Then you need to work on your concentration skills Mike, you know, focus. I drift off topic when i have had to much to drink.

[treeman]

Personally I just don’t understand why someone would say the pots don’t look suited to Bonsai. The last time I looked at Bonsai pots they were simply round, square, rectangular, oval etc etc.
Now, where in nature do you find a perfect square, or a perfect rectangle, or an octagon?
A natural organic tree, sitting in a square pot, oval pot, round pot, octangular pot, cascading pot or whatever... looks unnatural no matter how you justify it.

The reason is that these pots are artificially pretending to look natural. You can see that clearly. In bonsai - unless you use a natural container (like a stone) you want the pot to contrast and compliment the tree at the same time. These pots are trying to have it both ways and that's why they don't work. They are pseudo representations of the real thing (a stone or a cliff) but very obviously not the real thing. When using a natural stone, the idea is combine tree and stone to create a ''scene''. A unit. The combination must be balanced and completely harmonious. Two natural elements coming together to make one picture. With regular bonsai pots, we don't do that. What we seek to do is use the pot as a frame for the tree in such a way as to compliment the tree which must always be the star. Both ways work well when thought out properly.
These pots unfortunately do neither of these things because they are so obviously artificial yet still try to capture some kind of natural form. I see no point in this when making a pot. That becomes sculpture. I love sculpture but it's out of place here. Whatever is the idea behind combining a natural (for all intents and purposes as natural an image as we can conjure up) with sculpture? What this does is create discord or conflict between two elements. It's kind of like painting trees blue. They are no longer trees now but some kind of pretentious art piece. It is for people who don't understand how to look at trees. It replaces something great with something lesser. You may say that this is ok and of course if you see things that way then fine. Personally I find discord in bonsai the very opposite of what I want to experience. Really, if you wanted to marry a tree with these pots it should be as artificial looking as the pot. Perhaps a stone sculpture of a tree might look interesting in the pot. But please not a real tree! The Japanese also have made attempts at modern bizarre pottery and they are just as bad.