AusBonsai

Hi Ken and all
As I was the organiser of arranging Bjorn's trip to Australia, it took me a good 18 months to arrange this event. The enthusiasm and promotion of Bjorn's visit to Melbourne has been built up since early this year and I guess that's why we are very excited to have him visit us.

We would have loved to have Boon and Matt come in October however, as you can appreciate, we will be having Bjorn in Melbourne for a week in early September for extensive workshops and a FREE demonstration for all Bonsai enthusiasts that can make it. It comes down to timing for our club and we wouldn't have been able to appreciate and arrange a good enough event for Boon and Matt. If it was next year, we would have happily accepted.

We are running 8 workshops over the week and have a couple more spots available for anyone interested (Jason).

Thanks
David

Hi David,

I've never owned a bonsai but am very keen to stay just trying to read up on everything before I go out and buy some stock. Do you think the demonstration would be beneficial to me or a bit to advanced. Where/when is the free demonstration?

Cheers.

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That should be "keen to start" not stay.

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Thanks David for the info. Do you have a thread with all the details of his visit? I have not seen it

Edit Just found the thread here viewtopic.php?f=25&t=19826&p=206084&hil ... rn#p201028 I had not seen this one sorry

Be nice to add the visit details to this one to have a single source of where and when he is available.

but my Question was about how do we judge the relative merits of various artists ( who have very similar pedigree IMHO), when we have no previous personal interaction?

From what I understand, neither have been here before and It was only 2 weeks ago that a thread was trashed by knowledgeable members here stating ( paraphrasing) "Visiting artists are not worth it when we have so many local ones that are just as good", but yet we have lots of interest in this visit of Bjorn

Ken

JimmyBanks wrote:Hi David,

I've never owned a bonsai but am very keen to stay just trying to read up on everything before I go out and buy some stock. Do you think the demonstration would be beneficial to me or a bit to advanced. Where/when is the free demonstration?

Cheers.

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

Demos like these are always great, but remeber the trees he will be working on are not Starter trees, and the techniques displayed may not be applicable to beginners, but will be well worth putting in the memory bank for the future.

Ken

Hey Ken,

End of the day mate it's all business, and whoever has the best marketing strategy usually wins out.

Bjorn has marketed himself very well compared to Matt and many others. I'm sure that if Matt or any other talented artist did the same amount of work on their online presence (which these days is a requirement for successful business) they too would have buzz generation through the roof!



Cheers,
Mo

BirchMan wrote: is the Workshop meeting at Doubleview as per usual?

Email yesterday says the Bonsai Workshop meeting is from noon on Saturday in Doubleview. Not sure how many will be trying to be in two places at once!

thoglette wrote:

BirchMan wrote: is the Workshop meeting at Doubleview as per usual?

Email yesterday says the Bonsai Workshop meeting is from noon on Saturday in Doubleview. Not sure how many will be trying to be in two places at once!

Now I'm confused again!

thoglette wrote:

BirchMan wrote: is the Workshop meeting at Doubleview as per usual?

Email yesterday says the Bonsai Workshop meeting is from noon on Saturday in Doubleview. Not sure how many will be trying to be in two places at once!

The normal workshop club meeting is being held as per usual,the reason for the early start. Is that Arthur Robinson is doing a demo, not Bjorn, he is at the Belmont sport and recreation centre in Cloverdale.

Cheers pup

kcpoole wrote:I am confused

How come everyone is enthusiastic about seeing Bjorn demo and do workshops with him, but only 2 weeks or so ago, Scott's thread viewtopic.php?f=25&t=20317 asking about Matt Reel visiting got ridiculed for the same?

Both are young up and coming artists,
Both spent considerable time ( 6 and 7 years) as an apprentice in Japan under a recognised Master.
Both are active in their own Bonsai communities and produce awesome work

The only difference I recognise ( having seen neither in person), is that Bjorn is much more active on the internet. Is he better because he has more internet fame or some other tangible reason?
Has he been here before?

before anyone jumps up and down, this is a legitimate question and I am wanting a serious answer.

Ken

Have you seen Bjorn? He is soooo dreamy!!!
But seriously, you're probably right, Bjorn has a huge internet presence and therefore more well known. It's a pity that some artists don't get the global attention some others do, but I guess it comes down to if you want to market yourself (Bjorn also co-runs Fujikawa International Bonsai School so getting across the net is a good way of showing potential students what they might be able to learn) or just enjoy your local community/country.

Does Bjorn come through NSW or QLD on this trip? His films were pretty influential on my addiction.

Cheers,
Nigel

Just a note for DavidN, a mention of appreciation for your organising Bjorn to Australia, and if anyone els was of major assistance in this then by default this note of appreciation to you too.
Thanks also to the Cairns Bonsai Society for my inclusion.
I will be seeing Bjorn in Cairns and have to travel 800klms to do so but worth every klm I would think as NQ gets a little starved out for good demonstrators and presenters. Not complaining, I understand the complications all too well of getting around Queenslands North.
Stoked to be apart of this and for the sake of the argument, no I had not heard of Matt Reel, but if he was coming to NQ, yes, I would go and see him as well.
It's not the knowledge that gives power, it's the use and sharing of it.

What a great weekend it was! Had an absolute blast, and was really awesome to meet him in the flesh and ask him all the burning questions I've had from his video series. Honestly, east coast, you're in for a real treat!

The demo's were amazing, and the workshops were honestly some of the best I've had. He's very down to earth, and presents in a very understanable way. The workshops were great, as not only did he have that wealth of knowledge, but he wasn't afraid to step in and show you what he was asking you to do. Some of the tips and tricks I picked up I'll be using for a long time to come. Was an absolute pleasure to meet him, and truely hope he'll be back in the future!

@Ken, for me, my bonsai learnings have revolved around his video's pretty much from the beginning, so my hype to see him was simply based off the fact that I've seen him so much (I've quite literally watched his movies hundreds of times), and was just really amped to work with him and meet him in person. I've not met Matt, nor really know much of him... but thats nothing against him, simply that Bjorn's video series grabbed me early, and I've pretty much been glued to that. At the time, you would type in 'bonsai' to youtube, and him and graham potter were pretty much all that would show up If you haven't seen the video series, then it is well worth the watch, its well presented, and has a wealth on info on bonsai, studying in japan, and the life of an apprentice.
Honestly though, thats no knock against Matt in any way, shape or form If he was coming to WA, i'd be just as keen to see him too, and will be looking into him more now that I know he has a strong online presence
For me in the end, the more people I can study with, the better. I think you can learn something from each of them, no matter your skill level.

@Nigel, He will be coming to QLD, I believe he'll be up in Cairns if I'm not mistaken... he mentioned it to me, but forgive me if I had the wrong city... as my brain was quite full by the end of that weekend

@David, cannot say thankyou enough for getting Bjorn over here, honestly enjoyed it more then I can put into words. Great guy, great artist and so willing to share his knowledge

Hope you guys are ready over east! Is definitely not to be missed

Will try and get some pics up soon as I can

Hi Jason
That it fantastic and wonderful feedback. That's all I can ask and hope for.
We are all super excited here in Melbourne and can't wait. We have 8 workshop sessions and a huge demo planned.

Bjorn will be visiting Melbourne next, then onto Tasmania, then Brisbane and finally Cairns.

Thanks again for your feedback and that's what I am hoping my club members say to me after Bjorn finishes up here.

David

DavidN wrote:Hi Jason
That it fantastic and wonderful feedback. That's all I can ask and hope for.
We are all super excited here in Melbourne and can't wait. We have 8 workshop sessions and a huge demo planned.

Bjorn will be visiting Melbourne next, then onto Tasmania, then Brisbane and finally Cairns.

Thanks again for your feedback and that's what I am hoping my club members say to me after Bjorn finishes up here.

David

My pleasure! He is loving Australia so far, and is keen to see what you guys have over there Honestly, can't see how anyone would be disapointed

Thankyou again, honestly been looking forward to this since it was announced he was coming!