Beautiful Bonsai - English

‚Beautiful bonsai’

I know, it is all my own fault. Since I have led Fred to this IBC gallery he is not so much around anymore recently. This IBC gallery is a continuous Valentine’s Day for bonsai enthusiasts. All the time flowers are being presented. I have made the mistake to go to Fred’s thread there and to write a critique to his bonsai.

Ding dong

I think I have to go to the front door, somebody seems to not be happy about my critique.

“What the h… are you smoking to ruin my great thread with such superfluous and vicious commentary?” Fred did not loose time. “What is wrong with my commentary? What’s so mean about it? I have written a constructive criticism to your bonsai.”

Fred presented a printout of his thread with his bonsai and my critique.

My critique: “This is a very nice picture of a tree that will appeal to many people. It will most appeal to people who have no clue about bonsai. They cannot tell that this is a deciduous semi-tropical tree which is styled in the old-fashioned manner as a pine tree looking like a Christmas tree. A pine tree with huge red flowers! This is bonsai kitsch it is McBonsai! This in no way helps to educate the general public about what bonsai really means. Where is the Zenny feeling her? Where is the understatement? This is Hollywood bonsai! Well, I must admit I kind of like it , even if it is kitsch.”

“This has nothing to do with constructive criticism. If you want to know what that could be then you should have read what the other posters had to say.”

I shrugged and said “Well, Fred, these were empty flowery phrases. No helpful constructive critique for you.”

Fred looked at his paper and responded defiantly “Ah, and what is this here? Here the very first statement says it clearly: ‘beautiful bonsai’”

I looked somewhat puzzled “So what? What exactly does that mean ‘beautiful bonsai’?”

Fred rolled his eyes “This is more than clear. But for you as a beginner bonsaiwise I will explain it once more. ‘Beautiful bonsai’ means that the viewer likes the tree very much. That he likes it regarding the artistic achievement as well as for the craftsmanship; he thinks it is a masterpiece.” Fred folded his arms and grinned at me like ‘now you!’

I stayed quite calm and remarked “where from do you have this definition for ‘beautiful bonsai’?”

Fred rolled his eyes again “What do you mean, where I got this definition from? It is crystal clear what the expression ‘beautiful bonsai’ means. What else could it mean?”

“Well it is like with references and testimonies. There you find ‘he always tried hard’, which means that he had not invented Protestant work ethics, he is just a lazy pig, a non-achiever.”

“Oh well” Fred blushed a little. He apparently was thinking through his last reference “and what do YOU think ‘beautiful bonsai’ means exactly?”

I made a contemplative expression and said “I cannot tell exactly at the moment, but I can look it up.”

“Look it up? Where?” asked Fred.

“Oh well” I answered “for this we have the International Guidelines for Bonsai Critiques. Just a moment I will fetch them.”

I went to my study and came back two minutes later. Fred still stood with wide open eyes. I knew it! He had never heard or this.

I did not even look a t him and stated to browse. “Well, let’s look – ‘beautiful bonsai’ here we are:

“ ‘Beautiful Bonsai’

if this expression occurs singularly as comment one must assume that the writer did this out of sheer friendliness and tradition. It is the expression of the viewer who does not see any successful artistic factor in the bonsai and who cannot make a positive remark. Since he assumes that the artist and the readers are not used to open criticism he uses the empty phrase ‘beautiful bonsai’.

The constructive substance for a tree critique is zero.”

“That’s complete nonsense!” Fred said with excitement. “Wait wait! What is with this commentary here ‘wow, hammer tree, this really cracks me up!’”

“Just a moment, I will look it up. Ah, here it is:

‘Wow’

- if this expression is used in connection with ‘beautiful bonsai’ see there.

- if the word is used in connexion with hammer .. or mega…one must conclude that the writer is on some sort of mild drug or forgot his medication.

In cases where this phrase is used with ‘cracks me up’ then the sentence above applies, only the word ‘mild’ has to be exchanged for ‘heavy’.

The constructive substance for a tree critique is zero.”

“But here, this commentary is full of praise. ‘Great, I have tried this one too, but yours is much better’ .This should be clear without your book.”

“Let’s see” I tried to look as cool as possible. Any lining of malicious joy would bring him to explosion.

“ Comparisons with own bonsai, where the bonsai that is being critiqued is called the better one:

has the writer got a similar bonsai that is clearly worse he would never mention it. If you still find this comparison you can take it that the pundit makes fun of your bonsai and want so to say ‘look at my web site if you want to see how this is really done, you sucker’. Since this honest critique would not be helpful one hides the real meaning behind empty praise.

The constructive substance for a tree critique is zero.”

Fred read a few more commentaries like super, fantastic, extraordinary, amazing etc.. The explanations of the book always were very simple. They said “look up ‘beautiful bonsai’”.

Fred made a last attempt. “Now here! This commentary is brief, explicit and it is not possible to misinterpret it: ‘super the photograph is really great’. Now lets see what your smart book says to this.”

Scroll, scroll .. oh yes here it is:

“‘great photograph’

there are various photographs, sometimes even great ones. There are various bananas, sometimes even great ones. If you take a photograph of a banana you have taken a photograph of a banana. If you take a great photograph of a banana, you have taken a great photograph of a banana. It makes no difference at all whether your object is good or bad, it is still a banana. The critique wants to express that there is nothing positive with the bonsai. To give his comment a friendly touch still, he admires something which has nothing to do with the quality of the bonsai, namely the photograph. It is like the guru says 'beautiful moss' when critiquing your bonsai.

The constructive substance for a tree critique is zero.”

Fred rumpled his printout with the commentaries and looked quite pissed. ”I could have known that. The commentaries are similar to the ones of my Mary when she wants to get something out of me. But the IBC folks don’t want to get something out of me. Why all this wish-wash?

I shrugged and said “no idea, maybe some are simply craving for strokes. It is not really that bad as long as you understand how to interpret it. The danger exists though, that when you get a serious bonsai critique you take it personally and your ability for self critique vanes.”

“Cannot happen to me” Fred mentioned, “ I am always open to honest commentaries.”

“O yeah, sure”, I thought.

“There was one more commentary on your printout”, I remarked.

Fred frowned and he said “Yes, here one wrote simply ‘to the dumpsters’, but I have ignored him right away, he only wants to be provocative.”

“Oh, you have ignored him simply and he has not written more?”

“No no!” Fred responded, “that’s not what I meant. If someone expresses himself in a derogatory way one can put him on IGNORE at the IBC gallery and he cannot express himself anymore.”

“Mhm, that’s what they call self criticism at the IBC. Great outfit, what is not liked gets disposed of at once.”

Fred pondered a bit and then said “Well, if all that sounds positive is really negative, then the remark ‘to the dumpsters’ could really be something very positive.”

“Eh, what is positive in the expression ‘to the dumpsters’? That’s so clear, I don’t’ think that is in the book.” I said puzzled.

“Don’t yap, look up the book, you have not clue yourself.”

So well, then let’s look “Oh yes here it is.”

“ ‘to the dumpsters’

not very constructive, but to be taken very positively with some experience in bonsai critiques.”

“Hear, hear!”, Fred said in a pronounced tone.

“Just a moment, here is more to the expression”

“- The very positive meaning of the expression ‘to the dumpsters’ comes from the fact that it is a concise but honest answer that leaves no leeway for interpretations. ‘To the dumpsters’ means ‘to the dumpsters’ to everyone.

small modifications are ‘go fishing’, ‘scrap’, ‘rather go knitting’ etc.

‘to the dumpsters’ is the honest way to say ‘beautiful bonsai’, see there.”

“Show me this g…..ed book”, Fred yelled. He read a bit in it and then said relatively ungently “just wait now! I will write commentaries from now on that will make them shiver.” He turned around and walked to his home. There came John from the Yodeling Group at him with a big grin on his face “Hi Fred, I looked up your website. Really all very beautiful bonsai!”

Fred stopped, flushed and stemmed the fists into his sides. ”I smack the beautiful bonsai right into your face you M…………R”

Then he went on to his home; John stood like a doused poodle, shrugged and said to me “What’s up with him? Have I said something wrong?”

“Oh no”, I said “Fred does not think much of these empty phrases. He needs constructive criticism.”

-------------------------------

So at the next tree critique remember that the artist may also own the International Guidelines for Bonsai Critiques. Be honest with your tree critique. It helps nobody to talk the bonsai beautiful. And if someone sets you on ignore you know that Reiner, mhm, no Fred has sneaked into other Forums too.

And now I don’t want to hear ‘Beautiful Story’.

Written closely according to an essay in the ‘Beautiful Website’ of The Buxtehuder Fotofreunde http://www.buxtehuder-fotofreunde.de/index.htm

With the kind permission of the original author, Thomas Tremmel. He wrote about the silly comments on photographs in a forum for photography

interview with Bonsai Focus in 2008 - English

Ann Scutcher has asked the questions for Bonsai Focus. The interview was consequently published.

1)Walter, you have visited a vast majority of the European countries, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the United States, and Israel. What have you seen that ties the art of bonsai together, crossing over the usual cultural and geographical boundaries?

It is all these people being infected by the bonsai virus. All people have the archetypus of a tree deeply engrained into themselves. No culture in the world ‘owns’ the image of trees. It is universal. It does not take any knowledge about Asian culture to understand that bonsais about trees.


2)In your opinion, where are the greatest innovations happening now and why there?

I would say still in Japan, but to a lesser degree as used to be. New trends are now coming from several places outside of Japan. I can see an enormous fountain of innovations in Asian countries outside of Japan and I can see major developments coming from there. Also a lot coming from Europe and not so much really from America at the moment. The question about ‘innovations’ is interesting anyway. The overwhelming majority of bonsai practitioners think that they are following a traditional art form. Innovation is absolutely not their goal. Innovation is contradictory to the practice of the art by and large. Innovation is breaking the rules, ignoring the guidelines, not caring abut tradition. This kind of thinking is not popular in Asian cultures. But it is the generally expected way for artists in the West. I mean artists in general, not so much in the art of bonsai. The art of bonsai is one of the most backward looking art forms that I am aware of. Only when it becomes generally accepted that art is about being creative and not repetitive also in bonsai circles major innovations will be accepted.

3)Walter, you are known worldwide for the artistic quality of your bonsai and you have won far too many prestigious awards, some of which are listed above. What would you contribute your unparalleled success to?

Well, ‘unparalleled’ is an enormous exaggeration. There are a lot of people that I know personally who have done similar or more. ‘Success’ I can agree with. Well, I have always worked towards being successful but I never dreamed how far that would carry me. Actually I have this feeling of NOT being successful – yet. I have to work very hard in every respect and get much better. It is this cultural habit of never being satisfied with how good you are that keeps me going. I have the great luck to come from a family background with artists all over the place, lunatics, dreamers, Olympic and World Champions, all people with an enormous drive to excel, but not really fit for an honest sober job. I think it is also the ability to work very organized, be much more productive than most, concentrate better and give up everything around me that does not directly or indirectly help the purpose. Fortunately I seem to have some talents and skills which are very helpful for this bonsai career. Besides the obvious ability to create trees which are liked by many it is of great value to be able to teach well, to entertain the audience and to write well. Photographing skills are also very helpful.

4)You led the way in collecting and using the native species in your country and your exploits in the Alps are legendary. What advice would you give to those who are just starting to collect?

I would tell them to first of all learn how to not kill a nursery tree. It is not a good idea to go out into the wilderness and collect material to only find out that it will not survive afterwards. While I do think that collected trees by and large are much better material it is not for everybody. One skill is to find it, to collect it successfully and to keep it alive over a longer period of time. Most fail here already. But the greater skill is in creating something good out of your collected material, to do justice to the collected trees. This is even more difficult and unfortunately it is not what is being taught in general. One can find enough advice for improving a piece of material that has been prepared to become a bonsai over a long period of time but one finds very little guidance of how to approach very old complicated material. So coming back to the question: I would advice to first learn how to keep a nursery tree alive, then how to style a nursery tree, then how to style collected material. Only after one has mastered this to a certain degree one should be let loose onto the wilderness to collect for himself.

5)You are known to offer help and suggestions to almost anyone and you can often be seen giving your time on many Internet forums, instructing and offering critiques. What have you found to be the most frustrating thing when offering such advice on-line? What is the most rewarding thing?

Let’s start with the most rewarding thing. It is the feeling to really have been helpful, to have made a difference and brought someone onto a better path to practice the art of bonsai. It is the feeling when I come back a couple of years later and someone says things that I have said and it sounds like he thinks he has invented this. It is the feeling to see clear progress and it had to do with me, to see prove that they have understood what I was trying to tell them. The frustrating thing sometimes is to be totally misunderstood, to even find that some hate me for being ‘omnipresent’, some seem to hate me for being successful. Well, that is human nature and to be expected. Sometimes I have slight problems with cultural clashes. There are obvious differences in the way to say things or not to say them between cultures. I have this nature to say what I think. Some tell me it is refreshing, some just don’t get over what they think is rude. Well, in the culture that I come from a man calls a spade a spade; otherwise he is a girlie man. Since ever I am a wonderer between cultures and have developed some sense and understanding for differences. I think I have learned to treat a given audience the way it is expected. On the internet there is an international audience. How do you treat that? Do you use the lowest common denominator? Well, I usually choose to just be myself and I seem to get away with it..

6)Walter, in my bonsai books they describe the standard bonsai “styles”. In reading an article that you wrote, you mention replacing “style” with “form”. What are the differences between the two? Do you feel it is important to the world of bonsai to adopt this way of thinking?

Well, yes, I believe it is very important to get the thinking behind it. What exact words are used is secondary. In general art appreciation the word ‘style’ means a general feeling, an overall philosophy, an overall general way of going about things, a general frame of mind of the artists etc. If you go to a museum you will normally find different rooms for different styles. This can be anything from ‘Early American’ to ‘Impressionist’ to ‘Dutch’ to ‘Roman’, ‘Baroque’ or even more differentiated. The word style speaks about the general feeling. If you look at the objects that are made in a certain style you find an endless number of forms. Speaking of paintings the form can be e.g.: landscape, people in nature, people in rooms, lady standing, lady sitting, almost anything that you can think of. But all these forms can, at least theoretically, be found in all or most styles. The standing lady can well be in the Early American or Baroque or modern or any other style. Coming back to bonsai: styles could be: classical Japanese style as taught in Japan today, classical Japanese style as taught in the West, modern bonsai style, romantic style, naturalistic style, literati style or many others. In all these bonsai styles you would find the known forms: formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade etc.
In the bonsai world the word ‘style’ is not used the right way if you consider the usage in the history of arts. I guess it is because bonsai was first taught by gardeners who had no formal artistic training .
So what is this semantics good for? Well, there are a lot of people out there who think there is only one way to do bonsai ‘right’. The right words bring about the right thinking. They show that there is a great variety of ways to approach the art of bonsai. And, yes, it is an art form and the differences in style show exactly this. If it were a craft there would be one ‘right’ way of doing it.
I think we are on the verge to a better understanding of the art form while it is diverging into different directions at an ever increasing pace just in this moment. It is important to be able to discuss these phenomena in an intelligent way. This is why the exact words are important.


7)You are an avid collector of wild stock for bonsai use. Is there any particular species that you think is more suited for this treatment?

We use a lot of mugo pines in Europe. John Naka said that it is the best pine available for bonsai purposes .How could I argue against John? We also have access to wonderful larches, but they are quite difficult and tend to die on you in a bonsai pot. The common juniper is worthless as bonsai, it dies within five years as bonsai. We have very good European black pines by now which are coming. The European spruce is outstanding material. Also a lot of non-conifers are quite usable: European hornbeam, European field elm, some oaks, beeches etc.
In North America I find Rocky Mountain Junipers, Sierra Junipers and Californian Junipers the best. Ponderosa pines are outstanding but difficult for most. I wonder why some small needle pines are not used more often. Lodgepole pines are excellent, so are pitch pines and Jack pines and others. I know that there are extremely good spruce in the wilderness; why they are not used an a wide scale in escapes me. Also some non-conifers are very good in North America. It is being discussed on the net whether America has world class bonsai material. You bet they have! I think America has the best bonsai material in the world. I have seen it!

8)Throughout your travels around the world, has there been a single event that you will never forget? Explain.

My wife normally does not go with me on these bonsai trips. She stays home because someone has to take care of the house and the trees and she is not really interested in bonsai personally. So the bonsai trips would not be entertaining to her and rather be a burden. Up until 2002 she had never experienced me on stage! She had a feeling and an idea, but she has never seen me in public on stage. Well, she did come with me to the African Bonsai Convention in Pretoria, South Africa because she would not want to have missed that. At the day of my performance I was on stage in front of around 400 people and did my usual show for a few hours. I thought it went quite well and it seemed to be quite a success. I had totally forgotten that my wife was in the audience.
People came up to me and congratulated me and I got these hugs and so. After a while my wife showed up and she said nothing for a while and then ‘I am so proud of you’. She had this glitz in her eyes. It lasted 24 hours!

9)Do you have any collecting stories that are particular funny or exciting?

I normally would not advise to go collection in the middle of summer. There are some jumpers in the Alps, Juniperus sabina, which are collectible in June and may be in the beginning of July. I happened to be in my beloved mountains in Tyrol on July 20th which is my birthday. I went up the hill and climbed into the cliffs. This is extremely dangerous. One wrong step and I would fall 200 feet. Although it was definitely not the right kind of season I had my collecting gear with me. But I was basically scouting only. All of a sudden I found it, the best juniper ever seen. It was right there in the cliffs, it was collectible and even on a spot where I could dig it out without risking my life right there. So what did I do? Come back in the right season? No, I did the most stupid thing, I dug it out right there and then. Now I had this huge tree up there in the cliffs and no gear, no rope to bring it safely down. I had to climb back down the cliffs with the tree. At one spot I could not hold onto it an longer and had to make the decision: the tree or my life. I decided for my life and dropped the tree. It tumbled down through the cliffs. When I finally had climbed down to the valley I could see this carcass on the field. The best sabina juniper ever collected, all soil shaken off and almost no roots on it and it was the very wrong time of the season anyway. What a shame! My experience told me to throw the tree into a corner, forget about the incidence and never mention this most embarrassing story. It was going to die 100 %. Well, I thought that it may have a chance of 0.01 % and the trunk could be used for a wonderful Tanuki and it was a shame to leave this wonderful jumper on the mountain, it deserved a noble ‘grave’, and it was my birthday. At home I put it into this huge plastic tub and added 100% pumice. And then: it would not die! It stayed green until fall and in the next spring it was still green. It even started to get new growth in summer! Five years later this tree is now finally ready for a first serious styling session. I will do it this summer. It was meant to happen like this. Despite all the odds against it.

10. Walter, there is a movement that is starting to attain a following in Europe... that of the "Naturalistic" form. You are a major proponent of the style.
a) What do you see as the major impediment to the adoption of the style.
b) Do you see that style as being reminiscent of the styles popular in Japan prior to WWII, when the use of wire became more popular?

The movement is having a following all around the world really. Yes, I am, a proponent, but I have not really invented it. I have only made the observation that too many bonsai looked like bonsai and not like trees would really look like. I had seen that the trend in styling is towards more and more refinement which often takes away all naturalness. I found that too many of these bonsai looked like they were made of plastic and not for real.
a)John Naka said something along the line ‘Do not try to make your little tree look like a bonsai, try to make your bonsai look like a little tree’. That’s it. Not more, not less. So how do you know what a tree looks like vs. a bonsai? Well, give up looking at bonsai for your images and look a t real trees. It is that simple. Does it take a genius to find that out? Well, one would think that everybody understands this immediately. They don’t! There are more misunderstandings than you ever can imagine. You are asking for the major impediment. I think it is the way bonsai was and is taught. It is taught to make a BONSAI. The naturalistic style is the antithesis and thus must be wrong.
b)This is one of the big misunderstandings. It is called ‘naturalistic’ because it is NOT ‘natural’. It is not about the method, It is all about the end result, the final bonsai giving you a very natural feeling. The bonsai should be as good as possible without seeing any trace of human hands. It should not looks ‘artistic’, ‘artificial’, ‘contrived’, ‘made’, ‘constructed’, ‘licked’. It should look as if nature had done it. This does NOT mean that you let nature do it. A naturalistic bonsai can well be made with all sorts of artificial means. I wire all my bonsai heavily in the first styling phases. I wire every single branch and branchlet usually – 100%. After a few years this must not be noticeable. The tree must look like it was never touched by human hands. It is hard work to get to this sage. Naturalistic styling is not for lazy people. I know there are lots of folks who think they just let nature do the job and they will get this naturalistic piece of art eventually. They will never get it. All they are doing is creating and maintaining material. They have to style it for serious eventually. ‘Naturalistic’ is not an excuse for lazy people, it is not about untidy looking trees, it is not a shortcut. It is more difficult and takes longer than traditional styling.

11. Having spent quite some time in both places, would you agree with the prevalent view that bonsai in Europe has made marked improvements in the last 15 years, whilst the American scene appears to have remained largely static, or even fallen behind? If so, have you any comment on this phenomenon?

I would agree that the bonsai scene in Europe has exploded artistically in many quarters in the past 15 years. But there is also a lot of stand-still in Europe. While there are a few hundred serious artists the broad bonsai public is just as parochial as everywhere else. I can not see this dynamic development in the American scene. By and large I see almost the same state of the art in America as I have seen 15 years ago. There are some developments however. In the Bay Area and on some other spots more and more people are starting to practice traditional styling as is state of the art in Japan today. This is quite different than what is being taught in the West by and large as traditional Japanese style. I also see growing interest in what I call ‘modern’ bonsai. This is what is mainly connected to Kimura. Many call it ‘contemporary’ bonsai, which is not a well chosen term for it. Lots of folks in America are about to jump onto this way of styling. In Europe together with state of the art Japanese traditional styling this is mainstream among top artists, in America is seen as a revolution still. I can see that the same dynamics are starting to wake up the American bonsai scene as in Europe. I can sense many people are not being happy with duplicating the same forms of trees over and over again, with creating one cookie cutter bonsai after the other. I can see more and more folks in America understanding that this is not a craft but rather an art. I can also see that this will be quite chaotic and that a lot of nonsense will be produced in the name of art. Why should it be different than in other art forms?

12. You have done of lot of demos and workshops in front of audiences of all sizes. When you are handed a raw stock, what are the most important factors that influence your decision as to which way to style the stock. What is the first thing you look at?

I put the tree up to eye level and turn it around. Then something should catch my eye. There must be something that I like. It can be the movement of the trunk, the power of the trunk, the form of the branches, the nebari, a big hole, fancy deadwood or anything. Something must move me quickly, otherwise it is probably not good - for me. Well, in workshop or demo situations I have to do something, even if the tree was not sexy right in the beginning.
When I have decided the most appealing feature, which is often after a few seconds, I then go about enhancing this. That’s it.
I do not look at the crown in the beginning! Most people would make this mistake. The crown is something that I will make according to the trunk. It does not work the other way!
I do not have a firm idea of what a tree should look like. I wait until the piece of material in front of me tells me what it would have wanted to look like if it had the chance. Then I try as hard as possible to get exactly this look. Quite often it is not what one would call naturalistic. I do not work in a single style. I let the tree tell me what style it likes. I also let the person taking the workshop decide about the style and the form. It is not my tree.

13. Walter, if you had one wish free for the bonsai world, what would it be?

I think what we need is more tolerance. More understanding that there just is not one truth and one book that says it all. There are so many ways to practice the art of bonsai. They all have their merits. It is the acceptance finally by the broad bonsai scene that bonsai is an art form and not a craft.

Interview with WP at Art of Bonsai Project - English

This is an interview with me as posted on Jan. 5, 2006 at Art of Bonsai Project.
see here: Art of Bonsai Project


Profile: Walter Pall


Walter Pall is well known throughout the world for his distinctive style, willingness to teach, and straightforward approach. He has received several dozen national and international awards for his bonsai. He has won the most prestigious Crespi Cup Award of Italy for his Rocky Mountain Juniper and has come in among the top six, every time he has entered. He has also won second and third places in the Gingko Cup Awards of the Belgium bonsai competition of which he is the first artist to have 10 bonsai accepted.

Walter's gallery here at AoB highlights his remarkable talent.
Walter's personal blog can be seen at http://walter-pall-bonsai.blogspot.com/

The following is an on-line interview conducted with Walter Pall:



AOB: Walter, you have visited a vast majority of the European countries, South Africa, Australia, Canada, the United States, and Israel. What have you seen that ties the art of bonsai together, crossing over the usual cultural and geographical boundaries?

Walter: It is all these people being infected by the bonsai virus. All people have the archetypes of a tree deeply ingrained into themselves. No culture in the world "owns" the image of trees. It is universal. It does not take any knowledge about Asian culture to understand that bonsai is about trees.


AOB: In your opinion, where are the greatest innovations happening now and why there?

Walter: I would say still in Japan, but to a lesser degree as used to be. New trends are now coming from several places outside of Japan. I can see an enormous fountain of innovations in Asian countries outside of Japan and I can see major developments coming from there. Also a lot coming from Europe and not so much really from America at the moment.

The question about "innovations" is interesting anyway. The overwhelming majority of bonsai practitioners think that they are following a traditional art form. Innovation is absolutely not their goal. Innovation is contradictory to the practice of the art by and large. Innovation is breaking the rules, ignoring the guidelines, not caring abut tradition. This kind of thinking is not popular in Asian cultures. But it is the generally expected way for artists in the West. I mean artists in general, not so much in the art of bonsai. The art of bonsai is one of the most backward looking art forms that I am aware of. Only when it becomes generally accepted that art is about being creative and not repetitive also in bonsai circles major innovations will be accepted.


AOB: Walter, you are known worldwide for the artistic quality of your bonsai and you have won many prestigious awards, some of which are listed above. What would you contribute your unparalleled success to?

Walter: Well, "unparalleled" is an enormous exaggeration. There are a lot of people that I know personally who have done similar or more. "Success" I can agree with. Well, I have always worked toward being successful but I never dreamed how far that would carry me. Actually I have this feeling of NOT being successful, yet. I have to work very hard in every respect and get much better. It is this cultural habit of never being satisfied with how good you are that keeps me going. I have the great luck to come from a family background with artists all over the place, lunatics, dreamers, Olympic and World Champions, all people with an enormous drive to excel, but not really fit for an honest sober job. I think it is also the ability to work very organized, be much more productive than most, concentrate better and give up everything around me that does not directly or indirectly help the purpose.

Fortunately I seem to have some talents and skills which are very helpful for this bonsai career. Besides the obvious ability to create trees which are liked by many it is of great value to be able to teach well, to entertain the audience and to write well. Photographing skills are also very helpful.


AOB: You led the way in collecting and using the native species in your country and your exploits in the Alps are legendary. What advice would you give to those who are just starting to collect?

Walter: I would tell them to first of all learn how to not kill a nursery tree. It is not a good idea to go out into the wilderness and collect material to only find out that it will not survive afterward.

While I do think that collected trees by and large are much better material it is not for everybody. One skill is to find it, to collect it successfully and to keep it alive over a longer period of time. Most fail here already. But the greater skill is in creating something good out of your collected material, to do justice to the collected trees. This is even more difficult and unfortunately it is not what is being taught in general.

One can find enough advice for improving a piece of material that has been prepared to become a bonsai over a long period of time but one finds very little guidance of how to approach very old complicated material.

So coming back to the question: I would advice to first learn how to keep a nursery tree alive, then how to style a nursery tree, then how to style collected material. Only after one has mastered this to a certain degree one should be let loose onto the wilderness to collect for himself.


AOB: You are known to offer help and suggestions to almost anyone and you can often be seen giving your time on many Internet forums, instructing and offering critiques. What have you found to be the most frustrating thing when offering such advice on-line? What is the most rewarding thing?

Walter: Let's start with the most rewarding thing. It is the feeling to really have been helpful, to have made a difference and brought someone onto a better path to practice the art of bonsai. It is the feeling when I come back a couple of years later and someone says things that I have said and it sounds like he thinks he has invented this. It is the feeling to see clear progress and it had to do with me, to see prove that they have understood what I was trying to tell them.

The frustrating thing sometimes is to be totally misunderstood, to even find that some hate me for being "omnipresent", some seem to hate me for being successful. Well, that is human nature and to be expected.
Sometimes I have slight problems with cultural clashes. There are obvious differences in the way to say things or not to say them between cultures. I have this nature to say what I think. Some tell me it is refreshing, some just don't get over what they think is rude. Well, in the culture that I come from a man calls a spade a spade; otherwise he is a girlie man.

Since ever I am a wanderer between cultures and have developed some sense and understanding for differences. I think I have learned to treat a given audience the way it is expected. On the Internet there is an international audience. How do you treat that? Do you use the lowest common denominator? Well, I usually choose to just be myself and I seem to get away with it.


AOB: Walter, in my bonsai books they describe the standard bonsai 'styles'. In reading an article that you wrote, you mention replacing 'style' with 'form'. What are the differences between the two? Do you feel it is important to the world of bonsai to adopt this way of thinking?

Walter: Well, yes, I think it is very important to get the thinking behind it. What exact words are used is secondary. In general art appreciation the word 'style' means a general feeling, an overall philosophy, an overall general way of going about things, a general frame of mind of the artists etc.

If you go to a museum you will normally find different rooms for different styles. This can be anything from "Early American" to "Impressionist" to "Dutch" to "Roman", "Baroque" or even more differentiated. The word style speaks about the general feeling. If you look at the objects that are made in a certain style you find an endless number of forms. Speaking of paintings the form can be e.g.: landscape, people in nature, people in rooms, lady standing, lady sitting, almost anything that you can think of. But all these forms can, at least theoretically, be found in all or most styles. The standing lady can well be in the Early American or Baroque or modern or any other style.

Coming back to bonsai: styles could be: classical Japanese style as taught in Japan today, classical Japanese style as taught in the West, modern bonsai style, romantic style, naturalistic style, literati style or many others. In all these bonsai styles you would find the known forms: formal upright, informal upright, slanting, cascade etc.

In the bonsai world the word 'style' is not used the right way if you consider the usage in the history of arts. I guess it is because bonsai was first taught by gardeners who had no formal artistic training .

So what is this semantics good for? Well, there are a lot of people out there who think there is only one way to do bonsai "right". The right words bring about the right thinking. They show that there is a great variety of ways to approach the art of bonsai. And, yes, it is an art form and the differences in style show exactly this. If it were a craft there would be one "right" way of doing it.

I think we are on the verge to a better understanding of the art form while it is diverging into different directions at an ever increasing pace just in this moment. It is important to be able to discuss these phenomena in an intelligent way. This is why the exact words are important.


AOB: You are an avid collector of wild stock for bonsai use. Is there any particular species that you think is more suited for this treatment?

Walter: We use a lot of mugo pines in Europe. John Naka said that it is the best pine available for bonsai purposes. How could I argue against John?

We also have access to wonderful larches, but they are quite difficult and tend to die on you in a bonsai pot. The common juniper is worthless as bonsai, it dies within five years as bonsai. We have very good European black pines by now which are coming. The European spruce is outstanding material. Also a lot of non-conifers are quite usable: European hornbeam, European field elm, some oaks, beeches etc.

In North America I find Rocky Mountain Junipers, Sierra Junipers and Californian Junipers the best. Ponderosa pines are outstanding but difficult for most. I wonder why some small needle pines are not used more often. Lodgepole pines are excellent, so are pitch pines and Jack pines and others. I know that there are extremely good spruce in the wilderness; why they are not used an a wider scale escapes me. Also some non-conifers are very good in North America. It is being discussed on the net whether America has world class bonsai material. You bet they have! I think America has the best bonsai material in the world. I have seen it!


AOB: Throughout your travels around the world, has there been a single event that you will never forget? Explain.

Walter: My wife normally does not go with me on these bonsai trips. She stays home because someone has to take care of the house and the trees and she is not really interested in bonsai personally. So the bonsai trips would not be entertaining to her and rather be a burden.

Up until 2002 she had never experienced me on stage! She had a feeling and an idea, but she has never seen me in public on stage. Well, she did come with me to the African Bonsai Convention in Pretoria, South Africa because she would not want to have missed that. At the day of my performance I was on stage in front of around 400 people and did my usual show for a few hours. I thought it went quite well and it seemed to be quite a success. I had totally forgotten that my wife was in the audience.

People came up to me and congratulated me and I got these hugs and so. After a while my wife showed up and she said nothing for a while and then "I am so proud of you". She had this glitz in her eyes. It lasted 24 hours!


AOB: Do you have any collecting stories that are particular funny or exciting?

Walter: I normally would not advise to go collection in the middle of summer. There are some jumpers in the Alps, Juniperus sabina, which are collectible in June and may be in the beginning of July. I happened to be in my beloved mountains in Tyrol on July 20th which is my birthday. I went up the hill and climbed into the cliffs. This is extremely dangerous. One wrong step and I would fall 200 feet.

Although it was definitely not the right kind of season I had my collecting gear with me. But I was basically scouting only. All of a sudden I found it, the best juniper ever seen. It was right there in the cliffs, it was collectible and even on a spot where I could dig it out without risking my life right there.

So what did I do? Come back in the right season? No, I did the most stupid thing, I dug it out right there and then. Now I had this huge tree up there in the cliffs and no gear, no rope to bring it safely down. I had to climb back down the cliffs with the tree. At one spot I could not hold onto it an longer and had to make the decision: the tree or my life. I decided for my life and dropped the tree. It tumbled down through the cliffs.

When I finally had climbed down to the valley I could see this carcass on the field. The best sabina juniper ever collected, all soil shaken off and almost no roots on it and it was the very wrong time of the season anyway. What a shame! My experience told me to throw the tree into a corner, forget about the incidence and never mention this most embarrassing story. It was going to die 100 %.

Well, I thought that it may have a chance of 0.01 % and the trunk could be used for a wonderful Tanuki and it was a shame to leave this wonderful jumper on the mountain, it deserved a noble "grave", and it was my birthday. At home I put it into this huge plastic tub and added 100% pumice. And then: it would not die! It stayed green until fall and in the next spring it was still green. It even started to get new growth in summer! Five years later this tree is now finally ready for a first serious styling session. I will do it this summer. It was meant to happen like this. Despite all the odds against it.


AOB: Walter, there is a movement that is starting to attain a following in Europe... that of the "Naturalistic" form. You are a major proponent of the style.

a) What do you see as the major impediment to the adoption of the style.
b) Do you see that style as being reminiscent of the styles popular in Japan prior to WWII, when the use of wire became more popular?

Walter: The movement is having a following all around the world really. Yes, I am, a proponent, but I have not really invented it. I have only made the observation that too many bonsai looked like bonsai and not like trees would really look like. I had seen that the trend in styling is toward more and more refinement which often takes away all naturalness. I found that too many of these bonsai looked like they were made of plastic and not for real.

a) John Naka said something along the line "Do not try to make your little tree look like a bonsai, try to make your bonsai look like a little tree". That's it. Not more, not less. So how do you know what a tree looks like vs. a bonsai? Well, give up looking at bonsai for your images and look a t real trees. It is that simple. Does it take a genius to find that out? Well, one would think that everybody understands this immediately. They don't! There are more misunderstandings than you ever can imagine. You are asking for the major impediment. I think it is the way bonsai was and is taught. It is taught to make a BONSAI. The naturalistic style is the antithesis and thus must be wrong.

b) This is one of the big misunderstandings. It is called "naturalistic" because it is NOT "natural". It is not about the method, It is all about the end result, the final bonsai giving you a very natural feeling. The bonsai should be as good as possible without seeing any trace of human hands. It should not look "artistic", "artificial", "contrived", "made", "constructed", "licked". It should look as if nature had done it. This does NOT mean that you let nature do it.

A naturalistic bonsai can well be made with all sorts of artificial means. I wire all my bonsai heavily in the first styling phases. I wire every single branch and branchlet usually 100%. After a few years this must not be noticeable. The tree must look like it was never touched by human hands. It is hard work to get to this stage. Naturalistic styling is not for lazy people. I know there are lots of folks who think they just let nature do the job and they will get this naturalistic piece of art eventually. They will never get it. All they are doing is creating and maintaining material. They have to style it for serious eventually. "Naturalistic" is not an excuse for lazy people, it is not about untidy looking trees, it is not a shortcut. It is more difficult and takes longer than traditional styling.

AOB: Having spent quite some time in both places, would you agree with the prevalent view that bonsai in Europe has made marked improvements in the last 15 years, whilst the American scene appears to have remained largely static, or even fallen behind? If so, have you any comment on this phenomenon?

Walter: I would agree that the bonsai scene in Europe has exploded artistically in many quarters in the past 15 years. But there is also a lot of stand-still in Europe. While there are a few hundred serious artists the broad bonsai public is just as parochial as everywhere else.

I can not see this dynamic development in the American scene. By and large I see almost the same state of the art in America as I have seen 15 years ago. There are some developments however. In the Bay Area and on some other spots more and more people are starting to practice traditional styling as is state of the art in Japan today. This is quite different than what is being taught in the West by and large as traditional Japanese style. I also see growing interest in what I call 'modern' bonsai. This is what is mainly connected to Kimura. Many call it "contemporary" bonsai, which is not a well chosen term for it. Lots of folks in America are about to jump onto this way of styling. In Europe together with state of the art Japanese traditional styling this is mainstream among top artists, in America is seen as a revolution still.

I can see that the same dynamics are starting to wake up the American bonsai scene as in Europe. I can sense many people are not being happy with duplicating the same forms of trees over and over again, with creating one cookie cutter bonsai after the other. I can see more and more folks in America understanding that this is not a craft but rather an art. I can also see that this will be quite chaotic and that a lot of nonsense will be produced in the name of art. Why should it be different than in other art forms?


AOB: You have done of lot of demos and workshops in front of audiences of all sizes. When you are handed a raw stock, what are the most important factors that influence your decision as to which way to style the stock. What is the first thing you look at?

Walter: I put the tree up to eye level and turn it around. Then something should catch my eye. There must be something that I like. It can be the movement of the trunk, the power of the trunk, the form of the branches, the nebari, a big hole, fancy deadwood or anything. Something must move me quickly, otherwise it is probably not good - for me. Well, in workshop or demo situations I have to do something, even if the tree was not sexy right in the beginning.

When I have decided the most appealing feature, which is often after a few seconds, I then go about enhancing this. That's it.

I do not look at the crown in the beginning! Most people would make this mistake. The crown is something that I will make according to the trunk. It does not work the other way!

I do not have a firm idea of what a tree should look like. I wait until the piece of material in front of me tells me what it would have wanted to look like if it had the chance. Then I try as hard as possible to get exactly this look. Quite often it is not what one would call naturalistic. I do not work in a single style. I let the tree tell me what style it likes. I also let the person taking the workshop decide about the style and the form. It is not my tree.


AOB: Walter, if you had one wish free for the bonsai world, what would it be?

Walter: I think what we need is more tolerance. More understanding that there just is not one truth and one book that says it all. There are so many ways to practice the art of bonsai. They all have their merits. It is the acceptance finally by the broad bonsai scene that bonsai is an art form and not a craft.

Bonsaipreise - Deutsch

Diesen Artikel habe ich im Jahre 1987 geschrieben für ein Bonsaimagazin. Er wurde nie gedrucket. Entweder hat der Redakteur nicht verstanden,ws sich sagen wollte, oder er hat es mir nicht geglaubt, oder er wollte seine Leser nicht überfordern. Ich bin ja kein Profi, was Bonsai betrifft. Betriebswirtschaft jedoch habe ich studiert. Deshalb stehe ich heute noch hinter diesem Artikel, auch wenn man einfach für DM Euro einsetzen muss.



Bonsaipreise



Die Preise, die für die kleinen Bäumchen verlangt werden, sind oft schon erstaunlich. Insbesondere uralte Solitäre weisen fast astronomische Summen auf ihren verschämt angebrachten Preisschildern auf. Ein echter Kunstkenner hat dafür noch Verständnis, ein uraltes Gemälde hat ja auch seinen Preis. Wenn aber offensichtliche Massenware mit mehr oder weniger großen Fehlern bereits mehrere hundert Mark kostet, dann muss hier ja einer kräftig am Import verdienen. Da könnte man ja durch eine eigene Bonsaizucht in Europa reich werden.

Diesen Gedankengängen wollen wir anhand eines konkreten Beispiels auf den Grund gehen. Nehmen wir an, dass ein erfahrener Fachmann einen zwölfjährigen Fächerahorn als Baumschulpflanze in 5 Jahren zu einem hübschen Bonsai gestaltet. Der Baum kostet ca. DM 50.- in der Baumschule, die Schale ebensoviel. Wer jetzt meint, dass der Bonsai DM 100.- kosten soll, der sollte genauer hinsehen. Erstens kostet der Fachmann Geld, sicherlich soviel wie ein guter Facharbeiter. Setzen wir also DM 30.- pro Stunde an.

Darüber hinaus fallen noch weitere Materialkosten für Erdmischung, Draht Dünger etc. an. Das eingesetzte Kapital muss sich verzinsen. 5 % sind wohl ein bescheidener Ansatz. Immer wieder geht ein Baum ein, besonders in den ersten Jahren sind die Ausfälle groß. Die überlebenden Bäume müssen die dadurch entstandenen Ausfallkosten tragen. In der Tabelle 1 sind diese Kosten über mehrere Jahre eingetragen.

Jeder wird verstehen, warum Kosten für Lohn und Materialeinsatz anfallen. Die Zinsen sind schon weit schwieriger zu begreifen. Sie werden ja tatsächlich nicht bezahlt, sondern nur angenommen, was aber betriebswirtschaftlich seriös ist. Man kann sich das so erklären: nach 3 Jahren sind Kosten von DM 920.90 angefallen. Falls man den Baum zum Kostenpreis verkauft hätte, könnte man die DM 920.90 zu 5 % anlegen und hätte für das 4. Jahr DM 46.- an Zinsen dafür erhalten. Das Ausfallrisiko wird natürlich auch nicht bezahlt, sondern nur angenommen. Das Risiko besteht darin, dass ein gewisser Prozentsatz der Bäume während der Entwicklung eingeht. In diesem fall wird angenommen, dass im ersten Jahr 10 %, im zweiten 5 %, vom dritten bis fünften Jahr jeweils 3 % der Bäume sterben oder als Bonsai wertlos werden.

Die Tabelle ist übrigens für einen Betriebswirtschaftler noch viel zu grob und unvollständig. So fehlen z.B. die sogenannten Gemeinkosten. Das sind Kosten für Gebäudemieten, Elektrizität, Wasser, Verwaltung usw. Man kann normalerweise davon ausgehen, dass dafür noch einmal mindestens 20 % auf die bisherigen Kosten aufgeschlagen werden müssen. Das Ergebnis ist aber auch so schon erstaunlich. Der Baum kostet nach 5 Jahren DM 1.355.10. Davon entfallen auf Material 260.-, auf Lohn 720.- auf Zinsen 208.20 und auf Ausfallrisiko 166.90. Bis jetzt hat aber noch kein Händler an dem Bonsai ein Mark verdient! Kann er auch nicht, denn nicht einmal der Bonsaigärtner kommt auf seine Kosten. Ein 17-jähriger Fächerahorn ist nämlich für DM 1355.- unverkäuflich, auch wenn er noch so gut gestaltet ist. Wenn der Mann Glück hat, dann kann er für den Baum DM 300.- von einem Liebhaber bekommen, von einem Händler wesentlich weniger. Also im besten Fall weniger als 25 % der anzusetzenden Kosten.

Das heißt: Bonsaizucht kann in Europa nur als Hobby betrieben werden. Die entstehenden Kosten werden durch den Markt nicht annähernd getragen. Der Preis für selbstgezogene

Bäume muss in Europa regelmäßig weit unter den Kosten liegen. Insbesondere die Arbeitszeit müsste weit unter dem Stundensatz eines Facharbeiters liegen, damit sich die Sache betriebswirtschaftlich einigermaßen lohnt.

Das ist der Grund, warum die Miniaturbäume massenweise aus dem fernen Osten importiert werden und in Europa nur ganz wenig weitere Arbeit darauf angewendet wird. So ist es auch erklärlich, dass leider weithin Bäume mit schweren Drahtschäden und anderen, an sich leicht zu behebenden Fehlern zu erwerben sind. Die Arbeitszeit, die zum Beheben dieser Fehler aufgewendet werden müsste, wird vom Markt bei weitem nicht bezahlt. Das ist auch der Grund, warum Bonsaigärtner in Europa vielleicht glücklich sind, aber nie reich. Bei Händlern sieht das etwas anders aus, aber längst nicht so rosig, wie der Laie meint.

Übrigens ist es interessant, hochzurechnen, wie viel der Baum nach 50 Jahren kosten würde: Angenommen wird, dass ab dem 5. Jahr DM 200.- pro Jahr für Lohn und Material anfallen, sowie 5 % Zinsen für das eingesetzte Kapital plus 3 % Ausfallrisiko. Diese durchaus konservativen Annahmen ergeben nach 50 Jahren die unglaubliche Summe von DM 121.658.- als betriebswirtschaftliche Kosten, wobei die Gemeinkosten noch gar nicht berechnet sind. Spätestens jetzt wird klar, dass ein 50-jähriger Bonsai zu DM 10.000.- eine echte Okkasion darstellt. Reich ist daran, streng betriebswirtschaftlich, niemand geworden - ganz im Gegenteil. Bei diesen Berechnungen wird immer davon ausgegangen, dass der Baum auch tatsächlich die ganzen Jahre über von einem Fachmann gepflegt wird.

Wie sieht es mit den Kosten für Findlinge aus? Der Laie meint, dass ein Findling gar nichts kostet, weil er eben gefunden wurde. Tatsächlich kostet das Material insofern nichts, als normalerweise kein Geld dafür ausgegeben wird. Aber das Suchen und Ausgraben, sowie die weitere Pflege bis der Baum endlich in eine Schale gesetzt werden kann, kostet durchaus etwas. Der Autor hat bereits sehr viele Jahre an Erfahrung gesammelt und kann als Beispiel die Findlingsausbeute eines Jahres hernehmen. Dies könnten, bei sehr intensiver Sammeltätigkeit 50 Stück sein. Dafür wurden tatsächlich mehr als 30.000 km gefahren um die Bäume zu suchen und dann auszugraben. Es wurden 60 Tage zu 12 Stunden dafür gebraucht, wobei sehr viel Fahrzeit enthalten ist. Das Ausfallrisiko ist natürlich weit höher, als bei Baumschulpflanzen. Damit man die Bäume endlich als Rohmaterial zum Gestalten betrachten kann, müssen mindestens 5 Jahre an Vorbereitungszeit vergehen. Erst nach dieser Zeit kann man die Bäume verkaufen, wenn man seriös arbeitet. In der Tabbelle 2 sind diese Kosten aufgeführt.

Tabelle 2: Die Kosten für 50 Findlinge, die in einem Jahr gesammelt werden

Die Kosten für alle Findlinge nach 5 Jahren sind also zusammen DM 63.719.-. Allerdings sind es leider nicht mehr 50 Stück, sondern im besten Fall nur mehr 30. Das bedeutet, dass ein Findling letztlich DM 2.124.- kostet. Diese Kosten sind nur in ganz wenigen Einzelfällen tatsächlich als Preis zu erzielen. Für 30 Stück, wie in unserem Beispiel geschildert, ist das unmöglich.

Auch hier sieht man, dass der Versuch, vom seriösen Verkauf von Findlingen reich zu werden, scheitern muss. Es ist in der Regel unmöglich, die tatsächlich entstandenen Kosten beim Verkauf zu erzielen. Von einem Gewinn, also einem Preis über den Kosten kann gar keine Rede sein.

Die weitere Gestaltung der Findlinge kann man analog zur Tabelle 1 kalkulieren, nur muss man in diesem Beispiel als Materialkosten im 1. Jahr dann DM 2.124.- einsetzen. Dass nach 5 bis 10 Jahren Gestaltung eine astronomische Summe als kalkulierte Kosten herauskommen muss, ist klar. Auch hier wird wieder deutlich, dass ein guter gestalteter Findling bedeutend mehr wert ist als er kostet. So kann man auch verstehen, dass in Japan tatsächlich astronomische Preise für Spitzenstücke erzielt werden.

Allerdings sind die Kosten nur ein Teil der Preisgestaltung. Egal wie hoch die Kosten sind, der für den Baum zu erzielende Preis kann darunter oder darüber liegen. Das hängt davon ab, in welcher Verfassung der Markt ist und wie der Markt den konkreten Baum bewertet. Die Qualität macht letztlich den Preis. Der kann in Einzelfällen natürlich auch weit über den Kosten sein. Nach den bisherigen Beispielen kann man es dem Bonsaikünstler wohl nur wünschen, dass er auch hin und wieder einen echten Gewinn macht. Meist ist es aber so, dass genau diese Bäume, bei denen das möglich wäre, gar nicht abgegeben werden, weil es sich um äußerst seltene Prachtstücke handelt.

Garbage for dinner - Croatian

Smeće za ručak
Garbage for Dinner by Walter Pall

Ja ne pratim mnogo forume o kuhanju i ne znam što se događa na njima. Moguće je da nekoga od kuharskih autoriteta upitaju: „Bio sam na gradskome smetlištu i prikupio sam mnogo stvari od kojih mogu napraviti dobro jelo. Pozvao sam svog šefa i njegovu ženu na večeru, i pitam vas kao eksperta kuharstva da mi date vaš najbolji savjet kako da priredim prekrasnu večeru sa ovim što imam?“ Zaista bih želio pročitati taj odgovor. Ciničan sam? Da, ali ovo se događa svaki dan u bonsaiju. Iz nekoga razloga neki ljudi misle da je bit umjetnosti bonsaija stvaranje vrhunskog bonsaija od običnog smeća. A u biti se radi o ovome: U umjetnosti bavljenja bonsaijem, prvo treba naučiti kako procijeniti i odabrati najbolji mogući startni materijal. Ponekad on može doći iz kante za smeće ali i tada se ipak radi o dobrome materijalu kojega majstor lako uočava. Ako početnik okušava svoju sreću sa smećem on će sigurno pogriješiti. Zašto ljudi žele uštedjeti 20$ na kupovini pristojnog materijala a zatim provode sate i sate sa svojim najjadnijim primjerkom? Ako imate pošten posao vjerojatno zarađujete od 10$ do 50$ a možda i više za sat vremena rada. Koliko dugo netko dugo radi na svom bonsaiju kroz sve godine? 10 sati? 100 sati? Evo moje jednostavne procjene: Uzmite broj sati koji mislite da ćete raditi na tim materijalom u budućnosti pomnožite ga sa vašom zaradom po satu. Rezultat koji dobijete predstavlja razuman iznos za potrošiti na sirovi materijal kako bi vaše vrijeme korisno upotrebljavali. Ja trošim većinu vremena truda i novaca da dođem do određene vrste materijala. Tek veoma dobar materijal je dovoljno dobar materijal. I onda me ljudi pitaju što će učiniti sa onim što su izvadili iz kante za smeće i povrh svega žele pristojan odgovor! Za mene ovo ide van granica političke korektnosti. Netko im mora kazati. Ja ću!