Are collected big trees still considered bonsai ?

[michaelj]

Since that photo of me next to the 50" pot was taken, I've started up on ceramics, and having gone through the process of building and firing some pots in the 18" to 22" range, and seeing all the hazards from drying to the final firing, I'm amazed that a piece that large can ever be made, fired and carried off without warping, cracking, or some other mishap ruining it.

 

[BrightsideB]

So would you consider a raw bar of steel to be smithing art?

I once submitted my art to a gallery that had a bar of steel welded to a plate on display that was thousands of dollars. I figured my art would easily make the cut lol. It didn’t. It made me bitter in my young age and career. To me I called it con art. I still believe it but some people still think it’s art. I see what you mean and agree. There are smiths who don’t see making tools as an art and some who do. Just like some people don’t think bonsai is an art and some who do. I think it has to do with the personality types. There are people who always think analytically and people who think creatively. And all the in between. A creative tradesman will see his/her work as an art and an analytical will see it as straightforward. Neither ways are wrong. People just think and see the world differently.

 

[Waldo Street Pottery]

I think it depends on styling and care techniques after collecting.

 

[chicago1980]

 

[Cajunrider]

I was browsing a juniper digging thread and couldn't help wondering if huge collected trees in boxes the size of caskets is still considered bonsai.

Nothing wrong with collecting plants of any size, but I've seen huge junipers in bonsai back yards that just don't look like anything but a tree in a box.

Thoughts?

With a last name Nguyen, you probably have seen the humongous collected trees in Vietnam. Some of them even take a large crane and a 18-wheeler to move. To me the size of the tree simply means the size of the bonsai. If a tree is collected, potted, and trained as a bonsai, it is a bonsai.

 

[minkes]

So would you consider a raw bar of steel to be smithing art?

I think - it depends. If that bar was handmade by someone famous - for example actor, or US president , someone could call it art somebody else trash. I think it is about subjective value, you are putting into it the way you present it. If it is old historical bar from 3000 b.c. or bar from Titanic it would have definitely more value than the bar from nearby shop and that way presented as kind of art displayed at museum.

 

[Cajunrider]

I think - it depends. If that bar was handmade by someone famous - for example actor, or US president , someone could call it art somebody else trash. I think it is about subjective value, you are putting into it.

I've seen caca del toro smeared on the wall being called art. So yeah, it is subjective.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

If the question is how big can a bonsai be . Not how big a collected untrained tree can be . Bonsai as such based on the Japanese model . Is classified by size measuring the actual tree . But also by size in the larger sizes by how many hands it takes to move one . The largest size being 12 hand bonsai . As anyone can deduce something that takes 6 people to move is not small . But it still had to be a bonsai not just a tree in a pot .

 

[Tieball]

I’d like a huge tree in a box. It would be challenging fun to maintain it as if it were a bonsai tree. But, I would need to have it placed where it won’t move because lifting would be a huge problem.

 

[Frozentreehugger]

I’d like a huge tree in a box. It would be challenging fun to maintain it as if it were a bonsai tree. But, I would need to have it placed where it won’t move because lifting would be a huge problem.

it’s not uncommon as far as I know . My understanding is it’s common to have a large bonsai as a welcoming tree at the entrance to a garden . No reason something can’t be permanent . Nick Lenz for example had a large collected eastern white cedar . Planted in the ground in his garden . It since has been potted into a large bonsai . ( unsure that was ever his intention ) . My self I have always thought step one is a large turntable . So the tree can rotate for sun exposure , A idea I really like is a large slab on top with a forest that’s never meant To be moved . A little easier for you considering my climate to yours . You tube is full of . Vids to make realistic looking bonsai pots from cement . If it’s not going to move . Why worry about mass . I’ll stop Rambling know