Treeblers verses 'Taters...

[Forsoothe!]

So for me this is a tree that just looks like it's been hedged for a number of years but no real Bonsai techniques applied. This is just how they grow and looks like a shrub.

If you take this one below and just trimmed the top shorter and flat you would get the result showed. But I don't see any design, styling, leaf control etc.

This one was tatered and then potted and set. Then again and again and will prob be another time or two to continue to ramify and tighten.

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Re-adjusted every couple years.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

Seiju Elm from a pencil in ~2002, RIP 2015, and Tamarack forest assembled in 2003 from trees collected by a friend in ~1995. I started bonsai in 1999, Master Gardener, 1978. These qualification questions have no place in a discussion of likes and dislikes. By asking them you imply that someone with some ~acceptable~ level of understanding decides what is good and what is not good. That, is exactly what I object to. And it's why many clubs have Best of Show awarded by judges and People's Choice Award chosen by the attending public, and they only rarely chose the same tree.
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So your best effort is now dead? Based on my level of understanding, that is definitely not good. No point critiquing the styling.

Same issue with this forest as your maple forest: pot too deep, too narrow, too glazed, the trunks are too similar, and the negative spaces are too evenly distributed. It looks healthy though. My opinion, but hey, at least it’s a discussion of likes and dislikes...

Got anything better that’s still alive?

 

[Smoke]

I find this pattern rather boring and beneath me as an artist. You guys can keep at it, but it is falling on deaf ears, and frankly ( I can't believe I'm saying this, he's rude about it), so I will not waste any more time.

Back to ignore for him.

 

[Cajunrider]

I'm neither a treebler nor a tater. All I got are pre-pre-bonsai and sticks in pots. Each has it's own charm to me.

 

[just.wing.it]

These qualification questions have no place in a discussion of likes and dislikes. By asking them you imply that someone with some ~acceptable~ level of understanding decides what is good and what is not good.

Yeah, exactly.
That's why they don't get random nobody's to be judged of any type of thing to be judges, the judges are always more experienced and know what to look for, and what is "good".....that's why they're judges.

many clubs have Best of Show awarded by judges and People's Choice Award chosen by the attending public, and they only rarely chose the same tree.

Exactly.
Did you poo poo your own point in the same breath?.......I suppose not, its typed.

 

[0soyoung]

There are people who practice Bonsai for 30 years, and people who practice Bonsai for 1 year, 30 times over.

gold

Platinum, I think.

 

[coh]

You mean boon doesn’t take gallons of LS up in the mountains and make you SOBs paint the deadwood with tiny paintbrushes??

I heard Boon drinks lime sulfur for breakfast. @Adair M , you can tell us the truth!

Seriously, man, this has has been a great thread for me this week. I'm trying to get over a terrible case of the flu and this has kept me entertained quite well. Keep up the good work everyone!

 

[BonsaiMatt]

Here's a neat pic of a tater I found online that you might find interesting. Enjoy!

edit: sorry, posted wrong pic and site won't let me change it.

 

[Cajunrider]

Here's a neat pic of a tater I found online that you might find interesting. Enjoy!
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edit: sorry, posted wrong pic and site won't let me change it.

Bahaha!
I am at none but I am determined not to climb mount stupid. I am too old for such elevation. My knees can't take that climb. I want to keep my bonsai confidence function linear.

 

[Josh88]

It is my great honor and purpose to poke holes in the boats of people who stand on center stage and dictate what is good and acceptable, and what is beneath their lofty pronouncements based upon their length of service. Longevity may be golden in Union workshops, but in art "old" is not a trump card. Old is taken for what it's worth, on it's face, in today's terms and as compared to all else available. Sometimes better, sometimes not so good.

In Detroit, we have a cliche, "They don't build 'em like they used to. And it's a damn good thing, because nobody would buy them."

And you accomplish this by dictating what is good and acceptable?

 

[Adair M]

Seiju Elm from a pencil in ~2002, RIP 2015, and Tamarack forest assembled in 2003 from trees collected by a friend in ~1995. I started bonsai in 1999, Master Gardener, 1978. These qualification questions have no place in a discussion of likes and dislikes. By asking them you imply that someone with some ~acceptable~ level of understanding decides what is good and what is not good. That, is exactly what I object to. And it's why many clubs have Best of Show awarded by judges and People's Choice Award chosen by the attending public, and they only rarely chose the same tree.
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So, are you implying you would rather win the People’s Choice award over a Best in Show?

The general public is uneducated, the votes are very often chosen by kids. Verses an educated judge who is more likely to be familiar with the challenges of each species of tree and styles. I mean, to win People’s Choice, if you set a little outhouse with a moon cutout in the door on the soil, you’ll win every time! What kid wouldn’t vote for that?

 

[Mellow Mullet]

Seiju Elm from a pencil in ~2002, RIP 2015, and Tamarack forest assembled in 2003 from trees collected by a friend in ~1995. I started bonsai in 1999, Master Gardener, 1978. These qualification questions have no place in a discussion of likes and dislikes. By asking them you imply that someone with some ~acceptable~ level of understanding decides what is good and what is not good. That, is exactly what I object to. And it's why many clubs have Best of Show awarded by judges and People's Choice Award chosen by the attending public, and they only rarely chose the same tree.
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Again, whatever, I don't care if you answer or not. It was not a qualifier for anything other than the quality of the trees you posted. I have to agree with what others have said, they lack any kind of styling, the forests look like they were just composed and are ready to be grown out, and the single trees are no better. If you had said you were just starting, I was gonna cut you some slack.

 

[coh]

So, are you implying you would rather win the People’s Choice award over a Best in Show?

The general public is uneducated, the votes are very often chosen by kids.

Based on my experience with art (painting) shows, the "people's choice" award usually goes to the artist who brings the most friends/family to the show

 

[LanceMac10]

who practice Bonsai for 1 year, 30 times over.”

......as long as I have the same enthusiasm from year one, I can still enjoy myself......hopefully no body is watching too closely....

 

[PaulH]

“There are people who practice Bonsai for 30 years, and people who practice Bonsai for 1 year, 30 times over.”

This, sadly describes a large majority of those practicing bonsai. My club went through a period of control by this type of people and all demos and meetings featured them because they knew better than any professionals. I stopped attending meetings. and instead concentrated on study groups and workshops from which I benefit each time. I've been "doing" bonsai since 1980 and hope I continue to grow and learn. I recently reviewed some old photos of trees from my early years and they were much like those posted by OP. I hope I've advanced in skill a little since then but I'm still learning.
As to the original question... I have to admit that I like big trunks for their dramatic effect.

 

[rockm]

So, are you implying you would rather win the People’s Choice award over a Best in Show?

The general public is uneducated, the votes are very often chosen by kids. Verses an educated judge who is more likely to be familiar with the challenges of each species of tree and styles. I mean, to win People’s Choice, if you set a little outhouse with a moon cutout in the door on the soil, you’ll win every time! What kid wouldn’t vote for that?

A miniature rope swing hung from the lowest branch of a bonsai will also reap "People's Choice" ribbons at local shows, as can thick luxurious moss on the soil surface that make it look like a lawn. People's Choice is about the kitsch (which isn't a bad thing). It's just not really about bonsai...

 

[PaulH]

One of the shows I participate in has a peoples choice award. One year the winner was a landscape planting featuring plastic toy giraffes and zebras. I scoffed but now I think the owner knew exactly what he was doing with his tongue firmly in cheek as many of his other trees are quite good.

 

[Brian Van Fleet]

I suspected I had sunk to a new low. This confirms it.?

I find this pattern rather boring and beneath me as an artist.

As for the people’s choice award, I despise it. They should be hung on the outhouse door. Pretty flowers = winner!

 

[Smoke]

A miniature rope swing hung from the lowest branch of a bonsai will also reap "People's Choice" ribbons at local shows, as can thick luxurious moss on the soil surface that make it look like a lawn. People's Choice is about the kitsch (which isn't a bad thing). It's just not really about bonsai...

Or a tree house and a snowman
or...a tree house and a bicycle
or...just a snowman

oh....and ornaments!

 

[Adair M]

Or a tree house and a snowman
or...a tree house and a bicycle
or...just a snowman

oh....and ornaments!

One year, for a show in October, someone fashioned a witch on a broom that had crashed into the trunk of a tree.