Mr. Will. You know in retrospect I wish I could take that post back. When you posted the three trees on the forum I made no comments on any of them, I could have, but seen no need to post any thing that would just be considered unhelpfull. You have always made it quite clear that you know what the hell your doing so I give wide birth to your posts for the most part and just let you carry on with Chris.
Then you started the thread about rushing trees into pots. My post was not intended to insult nor incite. I truely believe in your mind you have a plan for your stuff and that your post could have been an opportunity to expand on why you have taken the time to pot your trees in rather expensive pots at this time.
Whether I have done the same in the past is immaterial, as I did not start the thread nor bitch about people rushing to bonsai pots. Since you did that makes you fair game and I wished to hear your views as well as many others judging by the replies. You decided to take the thread into a negative way my making it personel about me and moving the thread totally away from your explanation.
As for years in bonsai, I know exactly when I started. It was on my honeymoon with my wife 24 years ago. I have fallen from bonsai from time to time and sold a large portion of my collection in 1994 to pursue salt water reef aquariums which I embraced as hard if not harder than bonsai. I had a back operation in 1999 and since that time have made bonsai a part of my life. Maybe the operation awoke something in me or maybe it didn't but I do know that since that time bonsai has been different than it was the previous time. Had I worked on some of those trees from the first collection till now I would have had some real stunners. The one bonsai I have had since I first started is my Foemina group. I have added to it and repotted it thru the years. Some of the best trees I have now were under way since 2001. That was when I made a consience decision that if I was going to come off on the forum as a cocky son of a bitch, I damn well better start showing some work that made me worthy of being an arrogant bastard. Like Tony Stewart the racer, he can be a bastard because he has the record to back it up. I think my trees have a come along ways in a short time. Two trees rated pretty highly in your little contest and I had only been working on them for four years. I think thats a pretty good testament to ones skill.
You have mentioned that tree that has won blue ribbons. Why was it not entered in your own contest. I had absolutely no intention of garnering any attention from the trees I entered except to have them noticed by someone of who's critique I could trust. I am sure there are plenty of people that did the same thing. You could have done the same thing. You didn't. Why? I was totally shocked that mine were in such magnificent company.
You are correct in the assumption that you absolutely do not practise what you preach. I asked you for some background in your trees and you turned it into a pissing contest. This is on you brother, I had nothing to do with this.
Regards, Al