GSBF Convention?

[rich415]

Hello all,

I'm pretty new to bonsai but am lucky to love in a very active section of the counntry.

I was thinking about going to the GSBF Convention since it is fairly close to me this year.
My question is:
When you sign up for a workshop, do you get to keep the tree your working on?

I know it may sound like a dumb question but I have looked at tghe convention website and have tried to research about it in different newletters but have not gottena definitive answer.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Riuch

 

[bonsaitodd]

Yes, you get to keep the tree.

 

[rich415]

Then the worksop fee is pretty cheap! Relatively, speaking of course.

Thanks for the quick response Todd.

Rich

 

[Mike Page]

Rich, you may want to consider being a workshop observer. As a participant, there is a lot of pressure to keep up. I've seen it happen that that the psrticipant wished he had't tried so hard to keep up.
I remember one convention years ago. I was in a workshop. I was lucky to get a really great tree. I decided to just observe and take the tree home so as to work on it slowly and over a long period of time.
I see you live in Oakland. Have you been to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt? Check the link.

http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/lake-merritt/NewHome.htm

If you decide to go to the convention, I'm sure you will enjoy it.

Mike

 

[PaulH]

I'll have to differ with Mike and strongly suggest that you take as many workshops as you can afford. It's a rare opportunity to learn a great deal about bonsai in a short period of time. And it looks that this convention will have some of the best teaching talent ever.
I started bonsai about 30 years ago and attended every convention for several years and took a lot of workshops. As a result I got a very good start in the art of bonsai.
If you are a total beginner, Greg McDonald's class may be the one for you. It's cheap and Greg is a fun guy and good teacher. You also might want to consider Peter Tea's class. Peter is an excellent young teacher in the Bay Area that you might want to study with on an ongoing basis.
Paul

 

[rich415]

Thanks for the advice guys. I may or may not decide to register for a workshop. I understand what your saying Mike but I don't think I would have the need to try and keep up. On the other hand, I've never been to a workshop.

And yes I have been to the collection at Lake Merritt. I live about 3 blocks away. I go monthly!

Rich

 

[ianb]

Yes, you get to keep the tree.

Except if you are signing up for the Boon workshop at GSBF this year. Here you have the option to purchase the tree or just work on one of them, at least that's my understanding.