MidMichBonsai
Shohin
To be the very best artist possible, I think it's important to be humble enough to learn from others. What we see with various other forms of art down through history is new artists copying the "old ways" of doing things, mastering them, and then branching out into something new. If you look at Picasso's early works, you see some beautiful renditions in a fairly straightforward style. Only then did he start doing something new and create what we now think of when someone says, "a Picasso". Similarly, I once heard in a jazz masterclass that those taking solos needed to cut their solos in half because they were young musicians and didn't have much to "say" yet of their own. They were encouraged to copy the greats, learn from them, and having done that, start to try to say something new once they had learned how to "say" what has already been said.
Why the lengthy intro? I think bonsai is very similar. The Japanese have been practicing the art for hundreds of years and have refined it both in horticultural practice and aesthetic beauty. I know this is not "American" but what if we Americans were humble enough to learn from these centuries of experience and when we have achieved those practices at a very high level, THEN begin exploring what "American Bonsai" can be? I think there may be a tendency to do something different and off the wall because we can, but what can happen is that we bypass the quality and practice of the art in the interest of creative individuality.
I humbly submit that "American Bonsai", whatever it may become, would be best served by each of us seeking to study, learn from others and perfect our craft. Perhaps then, when we create something that is new, unique and different, that ingenuity is still "of quality" rather than crappy art that has never been done before.
Why the lengthy intro? I think bonsai is very similar. The Japanese have been practicing the art for hundreds of years and have refined it both in horticultural practice and aesthetic beauty. I know this is not "American" but what if we Americans were humble enough to learn from these centuries of experience and when we have achieved those practices at a very high level, THEN begin exploring what "American Bonsai" can be? I think there may be a tendency to do something different and off the wall because we can, but what can happen is that we bypass the quality and practice of the art in the interest of creative individuality.
I humbly submit that "American Bonsai", whatever it may become, would be best served by each of us seeking to study, learn from others and perfect our craft. Perhaps then, when we create something that is new, unique and different, that ingenuity is still "of quality" rather than crappy art that has never been done before.
