It depends...

sorce

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Stacey. My eyes bugged out my head just now.

Lol!

Recently, I have been hoping the 5th reincarnation Of S.A.M. was this here....

Capture+_2018-03-23-08-14-03.png

See it there under my name!

Lol!

That would be one of the best things ever!

But One. Out of 10k..?

Were doing good!

Sorce
 

Cadillactaste

Neagari Gal
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Lol!

Recently, I have been hoping the 5th reincarnation Of S.A.M. was this here....

View attachment 182797

See it there under my name!

Lol!

That would be one of the best things ever!

But One. Out of 10k..?

Were doing good!

Sorce
Wow...curious who that is? Not Stacey...he never seen fault...even when he attacked Mr. Pall on Mr.Pall's own thread over using good stock. Shaking head. To shake that man out of it. Lol
 

Adair M

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Oh, geez...

I completely missed the Stacy stuff. Let’s not go there...

All I’m trying to do is advance the art (craft?) of bonsai. I’ve been doing this for 45 years. Over that time, I’ve seen a lot of people come and go in the hobby. I’ve seen good trees and bad. I know people who make good trees, and those who don’t.

While I haven’t made a scientific study of this, my observation over the years is that those who choose a quality instructor and stick with them tend to be more successful than those who try to take “a little bit from each” instructor. And they tend to be more successful than the “self taught” people.

I’m sure there are exceptions, there always will because, of course,

It depends!
 

miker

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What might be the best course of action for those without the means for formal long term instruction? I would like to become proficient someday, but I will probably have to be mostly self-taught and if this tends to yield inferior results, then...?
 

Dav4

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What might be the best course of action for those without the means for formal long term instruction? I would like to become proficient someday, but I will probably have to be mostly self-taught and if this tends to yield inferior results, then...?
Learn as much as you can from those with more experience then you... that includes multiple "masters", or hobbyists. Constantly expose yourself to good bonsai... on line, in books and magazines, but most importantly, in person.... and force yourself to do things you're not comfortable doing, whether that's wiring a maple pre bonsai, air layering or thread grafting, or re-potting a 700 year old juniper by yourself.
 

JudyB

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What might be the best course of action for those without the means for formal long term instruction? I would like to become proficient someday, but I will probably have to be mostly self-taught and if this tends to yield inferior results, then...?
You can probably manage a BYOT workshop now and then, I would suggest that, along with all of Dave's suggestions. Seeing GOOD trees in person can change your whole perspective.
 

garywood

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What might be the best course of action for those without the means for formal long term instruction? I would like to become proficient someday, but I will probably have to be mostly self-taught and if this tends to yield inferior results, then...?

Miker, as Dave and Judy has said, there's nothing like "seeing" a tree in person. Seeing is in quotes for a reason. Just looking at a pretty silhouette doesn't help you along except appreciating a pretty silhouette. Being able to study the time line of it's development, reverse-engineering, of what and how long it might take. Having a frame of reference speeds the process but getting that frame has to start somewhere.
 

Adair M

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What might be the best course of action for those without the means for formal long term instruction? I would like to become proficient someday, but I will probably have to be mostly self-taught and if this tends to yield inferior results, then...?
There are a couple of good online resources.

You could subscribe to Ryan Neil’s videos. Boon has a series of videos available to purchase on DVD, or you can buy them or rent them as a streaming device. Bjorn has some online bonsai courses.

These are all modestly priced, and have positive reviews.

Start with one of those, and see how it goes.

Once you learn a basic approach, then you will have a solid foundation upon which to grow your skills. The reason I would choose one of those guys is they have enough students to have a “following”.

You can meet other students of that master and work together, and all speak the same language.

And, once you have a solid foundation, you have a basis to judge against when looking at other videos online. Or reading blogs. Or reading BNut posts. Or even local teachers!

When I teach classes (I’m teaching one tomorrow) I tell my students that I’m teaching techniques I’ve learned from Boon. There may be other ways of doing something, but I’m going to teach what I was taught!
 
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