Smoke
Ignore-Amus
Well if your best effort so far is in your avatar your going to need all the luck you can muster.
Good Luck
Opinions on an Amur Maple being auctioned
- Thread starter cheap_walmart_art
- Start date
Good Luck
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
For $150 plus another $25-90 or so, you could do ALOT better.
If you're out to improve your collection, look beyond the Facebook auction site-(which is nice, but can be shaky sometimes on quality/price) and stay off of ebay, unless you've researched the seller.
Zach Smith has some good trees in that price range, or can get you something next collection season if he doesn't have it now. Worth an email to him asking about what's available--I don't think he has everything up on his website.
https://bonsai-south.com/bonsai-for-sale/yaupon-bonsai-for-sale/
https://bonsai-south.com/bonsai-for-sale/cedar-elm-bonsai-for-sale/
I tried to get on Cho Bonsai's site.--won't work today for some reason. I know Alvaro has some nice smaller oaks/etc. for $150-$200.
Bolero
Omono
Give it a break Mr Smoke you are just revealing your true-self and its not pretty....
Chuck
Chuck
Dav4
Drop Branch Murphy
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cheap_walmart_art
Omono
Thanks for the tip! I already see a Sweetgum on his sight that has caught my eye. I'll be attending a workshop with Owen Reich tomorrow and see if he brings anything to vendor and if I have no luck there I'll reach out to Mr. Smith. Looks like his stuff sells fast!
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I don't know who you're talking about when you express your feelings, but You know the "masters" title in our profiles is based on the number of times we have posted here, not what we consider ourselves to be? right? I know I am hardly a Master, just some guy who has bought stuff like this with the same excitement for a radical image, only to find out I bought a bunch of problems.
And FWIW, when you post a maple of the quality that Smoke has again, again and again, then I'll rethink my opinion of your avatar.
As for buying on the maple from the guy near you, good luck you're overpaying a bit for a piece material that is going to melt away on you in about five years. You can accelerate that process by carving it out if you want.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
It does. Email him though.
wireme
Masterpiece
Not at all man, not at all. Just a couple little things in an other comment irked me is all, no big deal.
It looks to me like little carving is required, deadwood around the base is already nice, the upper part may need some texturing, as it ages and changes then hopefully can just roll with it and let it hollow. Amur deadwood actually seems to last a good while at my place so far, cold and dry here.
If I were to take it on I would be a bit skeptical of my ability to ramify an Amur of that scale and keep the design stable but I do think it’s doable. By no means am I pushing for you to buy it I just believe it to be more workable than others do, that’s all.
amatbrewer
Shohin
As I see it, as with most everything else in Bonsai there is:
I could be totally off base, but to me this falls into the second category. It seems the material in the original post would be out of the mainstream for bonsai (no judgment from me on that), and more suited for experienced/talented practitioners. That is, it is probably difficult to pull off well and risky (high chance of failure…define that as you will). So in the hands of someone with skills/experience/talent and/or desire (e.g. Walter and others) it could be seen as valuable material with potential. But in the hands of others (e.g. an untalented hack like me, or someone not fond of the style this is most suited for) it is probably not worth much due to the high likelihood of “failure”.
I tell my wife: “If you are satisfied with what you spent for what you got…then it was worth it. End of story.” Value is highly subjective.
So to coin a phrase “it depends”.
- What probably ‘should’ be done…i.e. best practices, low risk, and/or main stream
- What probably ‘can’ be done i.e. possible but risky, difficult, well out of mainstream, etc
- And subsets of these based on the practitioners skill/ability/experience/resources/etc
I could be totally off base, but to me this falls into the second category. It seems the material in the original post would be out of the mainstream for bonsai (no judgment from me on that), and more suited for experienced/talented practitioners. That is, it is probably difficult to pull off well and risky (high chance of failure…define that as you will). So in the hands of someone with skills/experience/talent and/or desire (e.g. Walter and others) it could be seen as valuable material with potential. But in the hands of others (e.g. an untalented hack like me, or someone not fond of the style this is most suited for) it is probably not worth much due to the high likelihood of “failure”.
I tell my wife: “If you are satisfied with what you spent for what you got…then it was worth it. End of story.” Value is highly subjective.
So to coin a phrase “it depends”.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
If I didn't live in the humid south it might be less of a concern. As is, we are fast approaching sauna season in good ol' Tennessee.
wireme
Masterpiece
Yeah, much different situation! I have an Amur that I stared from seed, had a decent start to a trunk on it, maybe 1 or 1 1/2 inches. It got moused and I’ve been regrowing it from basal shoots. At first I was going to carve away the original trunk but I told myself I’d just let it decay away naturally just to see what that got me. It’s probably been ten years now, the wood is still hard dammit! I did break down a few years back and cut the old trunk short and carved a bit, it was just to much in the way of seeing the new tree.
LanceMac10
Imperial Masterpiece
I paid $150 for this......shred away!!!
Brian Van Fleet
Pretty Fly for a Bonsai Guy
Luck wouldn’t be enough. If you had skills and 10 years, this tree would still be a mess.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
Someone did the BIN - Anyone on this thread? haha
coh
Imperial Masterpiece
He's from Michigan (though I don't recognize the name) so that narrows it down.
Surprised that someone went directly to "bin" but not surprised it sold.
Surprised that someone went directly to "bin" but not surprised it sold.
cheap_walmart_art
Omono
Bolero
Omono
Someone with a lot of Bonsai Vision and Experience has seen the great potential this Amur Maple offers, the same way Walter Pall is seeing it and that is obviously not BVF,..... Beauty is always in the eye of the beholder....
D
Deleted member 21616
Guest
The Flower Market (Kurtis Smith) has had remarkable success selling trees, despite consistently posting worthless junk for sale There is a private group chat among a few of us on facebook essentially dedicated to joking about what he posts for sale. I have spoken to him at length, and he is not a bonsai or pre-bonsai grower. He has also repeated broken auction rules.
but besides that, i think it's important to take into consideration that in the big world of the united states you have many, many options in the $100-150 range.
I can name you 20 places in the USA where $100 would be better spent -- places where i wish I could buy trees from as easily as most of you!
in this case, beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. Walter Pall is simply taking the opportunity to advocate the style of tree that is closely associate with his name. A global gain in popularity of the 'fairy tale' style--no matter how it is executed as long as it is being attempted and discussed--is a gain for Walter.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
I'd say it's more beer goggles than Bonsai Vision...but hey, that's me.
rockm
Spuds Moyogi
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