Categories for all levels of enthusiasts and lots of great prizes. Submissions close 31st March 2010. Click this link to find out more... Note: This Contest is already closed
after all to me there is only bonsai not australian bonsai or english bonsai or japenese bonsai if we give rules for each continent then its not bonsai but somthing else.
Dayne,
Bonsai is only the Japanese name for this art form. What ever it is called in other counties is irrelevant. Japanese Bonsai are results of centuries of studying and recreating there natural surroundings.
Should not each country follow the same pholosities and try to recreate what they see around them rather than recreate something foreign.
When looking at a old Eucalypt nature has balance the tree and is this the artist must capture as do our painters.
JMO
PeterH wrote:
Bonsai is only the Japanese name for this art form. What ever it is called in other counties is irrelevant.
Peter
Peter, this is where I seem to stuggle with this concept, Bonsai is Bonsai, Penjing is Penjing.
Its like playing classical music and telling everyone its rock and roll.....And then saying don't worry about its all music, I'm sure I would have many criteques if I made a statement like this.......
I feel if we are to change the tradtional style of bonsai we need to call it our own name. JMO.
PeterH wrote:
Bonsai is only the Japanese name for this art form. What ever it is called in other counties is irrelevant.
Peter
Peter, this is where I seem to stuggle with this concept, Bonsai is Bonsai, Penjing is Penjing.
Its like playing classical music and telling everyone its rock and roll.....And then saying don't worry about its all music, I'm sure I would have many criteques if I made a statement like this.......
I feel if we are to change the tradtional style of bonsai we need to call it our own name. JMO.
Interesting point, Shannon...
I don't know if anybody has noticed, but I rarely - if ever - refer to any of the plants in my care as anything other than 'trees'. I don't know the rules of Bonsai or Penjing, but I know when a tree in a pot speaks to me. Therefore, I often wonder whether I am growing 'Bonsai' or not...
Now where getting somewhere these would be the exact convversations that the first bonsai artists bad when the broke away from the penning school so the comp has been a success becuse without these inputs we can't move forward and fly I'd say some of your trees are bonsai some may be this other unknow that we are working on so the hardest part will allways be to classify an art into catogories but it must be done to move forward and I think this is what Shannon is all about not bitter about not winning but just trying to help find our line in the sand of what is what
Hi Kunzea, Thanks for the heads up. I look forward to your thoughts.
Hi Peter This coment got me thinking.
Should not each country follow the same pholosities and try to recreate what they see around them rather than recreate something foreign.
I agree it is very important for us to be able to recreate the trees around us. Yet other countries don't claim to have to re-write the rules to do so? Many trees around the world have different forms but they don't claim to have to re-invent the wheel.
The other interesting thought was that other countries often use various species to create the image of a different species. A great example is Buxus is used to recreate Live Oaks. I am far from saying that we should not use natives but it is interesting to consider why using substitutes is never considered in Australia.
Is it possible to create the image of a gum with a buxus?
And does a Melaleuca have to look like a Melaleuca when we use it as bonsai?
It's too bad your in such a hurry cause the stories I could tell you, Bushels and baskets of stories, hole crates full of stories. But if you can spare a moment I will tell you one story.
When I commenced dabbling in bonsai, I did think long and hard as to whether I could call it BONSAI, because I knew I didn't want to be constained by the "rules". I wanted to portray our Australian plants artistically and attractively, but it was very important to me that they had the esssence of the Australian bush, that they looked like the plants that grow here. The plants I grew up amongst.
But then I thought about bonsaists in other countries working with their indigenous species and producing designs that reflect their trees in nature, and I realised that the word BONSAI is too well known world wide to not be used, so I accepted that there can be many forms of bonsai, and that bonsai is an art and therefore should certainly not be static. Then for me, the "rules" became "guidelines", and I use many of them regularly.
There are many words that have originated in one country or language, and have subsequently been accepted worldwide. But often, there will be local variations on the theme. So I am very happy to use the word bonsai to describe many different styles of plants in feature pots, although I tend personally to lean towards featuring trunks, roots and main branches as a fairly important aspect of bonsai. One Japanese reference I am very fond of is "The Four Seasons of Bonsai' (I don't have the book with me...By Masanobu Fukuoka?...). I found his presentations in pots very refreshening and inspiring!
I have seen those iconic photos of African trees with their tall trunks and umbrella tops, and a bonsai of that ilk says to me AFRICA! I look at PeterH's avatar of a eucalypt bonsai and I think AUSTRALIA! And I think this is wonderful. Many of Pup's creations just look so Australian!
Having said that, mind you, because of this continent's huge array of environments, from desert to alpine to coastal to rainforest, there are a mirriad of plants to work with and many many styles to observe. This is very exciting, because it promises a plethora of opportunity.
When it comes to competitions for Australian plants, maybe there is room for some style categories.......Best Australian plant in a Japanese style....Best Australian plant in an Australian style....best Australian plant in a penjing style...Best australian landscape setting (in an Australin style)......best australian plant in a free style? (best eucalypt, also!)
In summary, I remember fondly this little tale........A customer is buying from a shop, "Sorry, I only have small change". "That's OK" the shopkeeper replies," Without change we cannot move forward".
Good point Brett....I have a small leaved banksia bonsai that when looked at it in silouettte the other day, reminded me of a eucalypt! Either way that one's an Aussie! Also I suspect many Melaleucas would style very nicely in a Eucalypty fashion! And be far easier for success..........
Sorry..........The Four Seasons of Bonsai is by Kyuzo Murata. It's a beautiful book. The other guy wrote The One Straw revolution, in inspiring screed on natural/organic farming. This one moved me when I was young and idealistic. Now I'm just old and cynical!
Only got back today and had a chance to have a look at AusBonsai for the comp results; my Category 2, 3rd place with Leptospermum 4 was quite a surprise, most encouraging and I’m thrilled.
Thank you to AusBonsai, and to the judges for their considerable time and effort in holding the competition. It has certainly sparked my interest in Australian natives for training. I find myself looking at natives for inspiration and my recent acquisitions have been mostly natives.
Congratulations to all contestants, and like many others, I look forward to the next Native competition.
Jan.
Shannon, I have no problem with your honest opinion on my tree; I much prefer honesty to flattery. I agree the tree has a long way to go. I think that the material has potential and while I’m building the branch structure I’m enjoying the journey. I’m only just starting to learn about my local Aussie natives.
Very interesting points of view by all concerned. We are all agreed that Bonsai started in Japan penjing started in China then was exported to the west.
We then categorized it.
I have noted when we talk of Bonsai in general we talk of Northern Hemisphere tree's, Horses for courses fabulous Bonsai created with Pines Maples Larch.
They grow there well, not here ( as we see them from the north ) we only see them in pictures we enthuse. All our teaching either from the Japanese or the Americans or Europeans. They all use there NATIVE tree's why? because they grow best under there conditions.
Why do the,( here's that word,) Masters tell us use your NATIVES. Because they grow well here.
The styles worry people, why, because some where in this big brown land of ours, there is a Gum tree or Banksia growing just like a Juniper or a windswept Pine.
Well here in Western Australia they do. Just drive up to Greenough in the Mid west and you will see River red Gums growing as semi cascades.
Not just one either.
When Grant is in the West next month I will show him a Banksia growing like a Juniper I pass it every morning.
Our trees can be styled as you want them, if the tree lends its self to the natural style ( SHIZENGI ) then style it that way. If you wish to style a Casuarina as a pine, they are doing that very well in Hawaii and Indonesia then why not.
The main reason we grow miniature tree's is to emulate what we perceive to be what one looks like.
So why not let our trees do it for us, and forget them, from the north not for your collection's point, but in trying to emulate
Because as Peter Adams pointed out to the gathered people at his last visit. Stop making excuses for your tree's.
One comment you cant wire the tree down, Bull I wire all my trees, some do not like it past parallel. So do not push them past that point, if you want one to go past that find the right species of the thousands of Australian Natives out there. If you must why not one of our Conifers it is far more appealing than you think.
By the way those Acacia branches are past the point.
These are just my thoughts not any one else's. If you do not like Natives that is your choice. Why keep knocking them on an AusBonsai site that promotes the use of them though.
Cheers Pup
IN THE LIGHT OF KNOWLEDGE ATTAINED, ACHIEVEMENT IS WITHIN SIGHT
"When first starting out styling and pruning your first trees you will discover there are many aesthetic 'rules' in Bonsai, however these should only be regarded as guidelines and you should try to observe and replicate the image of trees that are around you. Try to create a tree that inspires you whilst retaining the feeling that it could actually exist on the side of a mountain or deep in a valley."
I like this interpretation of a bonsai. I think everyone has to find their own interpretation, but also acknowledge that not everyone else will interpret bonsai in the same way. Japanese bonsai evolved to represent trees found in nature that were of a great age.
Australia is a unique country - our native animals and plants do not all resemble those found in other countries. If bonsai had originated in Australia, I do not think other countries would be trying to contort their natives to resemble our 'rules' or 'guidelines'. Japanese traditional bonsai resemble trees in nature of great age, why shouldn't ours? A eucalypt does not grow like a juniper. Neither does a banksia. They grow like eucalypts and banksias. Trying to follow rules set down for foreign trees would not reflect the whole idea of bonsai, would it?
I acknowledge my naivity and inexperience in bonsai, but the above is my understanding of what bonsai is, and this is what drew me to this art.
I guess competitions should give out the scoring sheets prior to entries being taken so entrants know how they will be judged. I am a teacher and PhD student. All assessment pieces come with a criteria sheet so students know what is expected of them. That is why I appreciated Steve posting the scoring sheet - I will use that as a guide for next year.
This is just my opinion, for what it is worth.
Glenda
"Knowledge is not a heavy thing to carry around" - JB Taylor (my father)
"The more you learn the more you earn" - JB Taylor
"There are exceptions to every rule, but to be an exception, you must first be exceptional" - Me
Pup wrote:V....
I have noted when we talk of Bonsai in general we talk of Northern Hemisphere tree's, Horses for courses fabulous Bonsai created with Pines Maples Larch.
They grow there well, not here ( as we see them from the north ) we only see them in pictures we enthuse. All our teaching either from the Japanese or the Americans or Europeans. They all use there NATIVE tree's why? because they grow best under there conditions.
.....
I have been dying to point that out in this thread but as I beginner I decided silence was best. Just about every book, every picture I see of 'bonsai' tend to be the same Northern Hemisphere trees. I'm a bit too tired to collect my thoughts right now but the Southern Hemisphere and the areas between are different and new places for bonsai where perhaps the old rules and styles can't persist. How many people in Nth Qld or Hawaii grow Maples or Larchs (perhaps a lot, I don't know, but if they do they can't (don't!) look natural in those environments.
Forgive this cheeky unlearned bonsai beginner whose now heading to bed to get ready for the Glenbrook bonsai bonanza.
