Of mudmen and accent rocks: thoughts?

[TinyArt]

Cards on the table: in chasing a memory (NYC Chinatown shop window, full of tiny grey figures, boats, and buildings), I have collected a bunch of vintage mudmen and learned what I could about them.

I “get” that they don’t belong with bonsai, because it’s not the same aesthetic. Even when you look at bonkei and saikei landscapes, the accessory figures and buildings are generally made of cast & painted metal.

On the other hand, when you see penjing landscapes, good ones, with the balance and proportions to carry it off, those “mud” pieces can really pull their weight beautifully, whether the penjing is palm-sized or a big courtyard feature.

I suspect that the awfulness of modern mallsai mudmen has a great deal to do with so many people loathing them. If you met one of the sort that I first saw when all my money went on train fare & lunch, back in the early ‘80s — well, you might bring it home & offer it to someone, rather than just plucking it from the pot and leaving it behind at the nursery.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I think your number 3 photo is really outstanding and I applaud your creativity...
What kind of Tree ?
I like your choice of Rock in #3 photo....what is it ?

Jeez I appreciate that but these are not my trees. The third picture is a procumbens juniper.

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

I like my rocks and mudmen, but I give them their own spot, unless I'm doing more of penjing.

 

[Lutonian]

I like my rocks and mudmen, but I give them their own spot, unless I'm doing more of penjing.
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I think their braking Covid-19 regulations gathering like that

 

[Carol 83]

I think their braking Covid-19 regulations gathering like that

I was thinking the same thing, lol. Maybe they all got their shots!

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

I was thinking the same thing, lol. Maybe they all got their shots!

Yep, fully vaccinated. I never even thought of that

 

[Forsoothe!]

There are as many kinds of bonsai as there are bonsai aficionados. From the brown potters with ugly-to-the-bone contorted trees that they think are good substitutes for the "aged" look to those fancy-schmany glossy potters with perfect green helmets on perfect unmarked trunks, and the millions of the in-betweeners, we all should observe the First Rule of Penjing, a rule that predates Japanese entry by a thousand years. First, enjoy your planting.

My own opinion, less than thousands of years old, is if you are trying to please others more than yourself, you're in for some disappointment. I would rather disappoint my detractors than myself.

As my mentor and now passed friend George Randall always said, "Bonsai's an art".

 

[penumbra]

I like my rocks and mudmen, but I give them their own spot, unless I'm doing more of penjing.
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Nice!

 

[TinyArt]

Yep, fully vaccinated. I never even thought of that

I see the one guy up in the corner, though — maybe he’s the introvert at the party — or he’s taking a phone call?

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

I see the one guy up in the corner, though — maybe he’s the introvert at the party — or he’s taking a phone call?

Yeah, a phone call

 

[Dr3z]

Interesting, seems like a lot people's misgivings have to do with association with "Mallsai". I've seen the same reactions to moss and rocks due to that association too (e.g. reminding them of glued rocks and spray moss).

Around here I've never seen a bonsai in a mall or even roadside stand outside of Chinatown so maybe that's altered my prospective. You're lucky to find them in a nursery here. I actually like moss (assuming it real living moss) as it adds scale and a natural landscape and as I'm interested in geology outside of bonsai and so rocks work for me too. I've thought about foraging a suitable quartzite or colorful granite for a root over rock design even though I'm guessing traditionalists wouldn't choose that sort of rock.

As others have said, perhaps that will change with time (it often does with any hobby as you go deeper down the rabbit hole).

Im not sold on mudmen just yet but perhaps I'll try a Li Bai figure at some point if it's not too gaudy, thinking of the drunken poet make it simile.

Here are a couple I thought were interesting


@PA_Penjing
I think pic 2 makes that tree look massive, I like it.

 

[ShadyStump]

I think another association people are making repeatedly is Japanese bonsai as it's own style. I tend to use the word, "bonsai," slightly more generically as a term for almost any dwarfed potted tree art form, so I personally don't feel constricted by any association with Japanese culture and aesthetics specifically.

 

[PA_Penjing]

I've thought about foraging a suitable quartzite or colorful granite for a root over rock design even though I'm guessing traditionalists wouldn't choose that sort of rock.

Don't start boxing yourself in to what traditionalists would do. You're asking a bunch of (mostly) Americans how they feel about a (typically) chinese decoration, in a Japanese Bonsai forum. Because you feel conflicted about your Canadian potted trees. I say collect some granite and throw some natives over it. Might not make it to the Kokofu exhibit in Japan, but it will be a sweet Canadian take on it. It's own flavor .. Bon-ada

 

[HorseloverFat]

If my trees are chinese, they get mudmen.. figures.. the whole shebang..

Japanese trees will knock them out of pots, muttering about trees grown decoratively around frames... just can’t work..

My North American trees get “Witch-Dunkin’ tanks”, burning Teepees or McDonald’s express Decorative structures.




On a more serious note, my opinion on the matter has already kind of been stated... Technically.. if I’m practicing “Bonsai”... “Da’Rules” says “No”.. so if JAPAN (culture/art/tradition) singularly is what draws you to “TinyTree” arts or is WHOLLY what you are emulating/participating in the “Bonsai” Show circuit.. the answer is “No”.

But I view this (My “work”) as “Small tree art”.. derivative MORE of “Penzai/Penchi/Penjing” than bonsai, personally. SOO basically Siding on the “Build your presentations and grow your trees for yourself” ...side of the spectrum.

 

[Forsoothe!]

There's a certain amount of peer pressure exerted by the circle that people run in, like the Vietnamese and their giant mountain penjing. You don't see anything like that anywhere else in the world, but they're common as dirt in Vietnam. Two-man, four-man, Lift-truck, second to none.

 

[flor1]

Mudmen make a great target at 25 yards.
About the some of their worth.

 

[TinyArt]

Mudmen make a great target at 25 yards.
About the some of their worth.

...But they speak so well of you!

 

[HorseloverFat]

Mudmen make a great target at 25 yards.
About the some of their worth.

Seems racist.



Just playing...

25 yds?... mudmen WOULD make great targets... can’t argue that...

It’d Be impressive side-arm shootin’!

I like the lil’ “flipping spheres posts” they put at 15 for side arms..

Pow-flip! Pow-flip! Pow-flip! Pow-flip! Pow-flip!...

Then back the other way,..

Sorry... my dinner was.... smoky..

What’re we talking about?

 

[Dr3z]

Don't start boxing yourself in to what traditionalists would do. You're asking a bunch of (mostly) Americans how they feel about a (typically) chinese decoration, in a Japanese Bonsai forum. Because you feel conflicted about your Canadian potted trees. I say collect some granite and throw some natives over it. Might not make it to the Kokofu exhibit in Japan, but it will be a sweet Canadian take on it. It's own flavor .. Bon-ada

Well put

 

[ghues]

Not with one of my Bonsai but the grandkids like it . I keep this little pocket of water filled and it acts as a watering gauge......when it gets low, I know that some/many of my trees need watering.