Pacific Bonsai Expo, October 26-27, 2024, Oakland, CA

[shohin_branches]

I think there is a large learning curve for people who don't live in a major city to understand that a car or truck is not a safe. They're very easy to get into. Never leave valuable things in an unattended vehicle. I forgot to lock my car once and my tire pressure gauge was stolen. The real tragedy is the gas station by my house only sells fake tire pressure gauges with a glass tube for smoking crack out of.

 

[Ruddigger]

I think there is a large learning curve for people who don't live in a major city to understand that a car or truck is not a safe. They're very easy to get into. Never leave valuable things in an unattended vehicle. I forgot to lock my car once and my tire pressure gauge was stolen. The real tragedy is the gas station by my house only sells fake tire pressure gauges with a glass tube for smoking crack out of.

Crackheads just want to break stuff. My truck was broken into while I was at work last month in Los Angeles, and they destroyed the interior so badly it had to be towed away. 9k in damages so far, and it’s still in the shop. Nothing was stolen, but it’s messed up all of my Fall yamadori collecting.

Los Angeles is bad, but Oakland is on a whole other level.

 

[Wood]

I know right? It needs a restyling badly.

Gonna quibble with you here. I don't think the style is terrible, though it could be improved. What stood out to me is how obvious the chop above the root flare is, how skinny the branches are, and how it's relatively poorly ramified. The tree just needs more growth and thickening, but at this scale it'll be another five to ten years before it looks believable

 

[Hartinez]

Gonna quibble with you here. I don't think the style is terrible, though it could be improved. What stood out to me is how obvious the chop above the root flare is, how skinny the branches are, and how it's relatively poorly ramified. The tree just needs more growth and thickening, but at this scale it'll be another five to ten years before it looks believable

Agreed on the chop. It’s amazing that it was completely healed over, yet still looked a bit funky from the front. I was fortunate to help move the tree during breakdown on Sunday and got a good look at the chop. One of the “highlights” of it was its lack of wire, but it just looked in between grow out periods. It’s been a bonsai since the 70s I guess so I’m sure it’s looked on and off good over those years.

If I’m also being honest, I don’t much care for bald cypress as bonsai anyways, and in particular the grotesquely flaired ones like at the show.

@johng does bald cypress the best if you ask me. Being a southern boy and a killer bonsai artist surely helps.

 

[Wood]

If I’m also being honest, I don’t much care for bald cypress as bonsai anyways

I agree but don't tell anyone. Dawn redwood too

 

[johng]

@johng does bald cypress the best if you ask me. Being a southern boy and a killer bonsai artist surely helps.

That is very kind of you! Thanks!

 

[Hartinez]

I agree but don't tell anyone. Dawn redwood too

I didn’t see this tiny font at first. I was so confused at first.

 

[Shogun610]

Cant say he did. I’ll have to look back through the show program. I did not talk with Matt, he seemed awfully busy with his vendor table. Not sure who Bobby C is? And that’s a negative on a Mirai appearance.

He had 2 trees or client trees

 

[Shogun610]

Would certainly make a more fun weekend (and, selfishly, and easier drive from Canada).

I'm also waiting for somebody to organize an exhibition in Manhattan -- one not just meant for us bonsai folks, but one designed to really draw in tens of thousands of people like a touring Van Gogh exhibit. I had heard whispers about this 4-5 years ago, but to my knowledge it hasn't made any progress.

 

[Shogun610]

(Putting the fact that I disagree with you aside) Manhattan has a volume of tourists as well a local exhibit-going population that is very hard to find anywhere else on the continent, in addition to a high concentration of celebrities.

As an aside, do you know what Tommy Lee did for bonsai in the past few years, or a bonsai appearing in Dune for 10 seconds? The impact has been enormous.

It's fantasy, but a bonsai exhibit at the MET would be bonkers, but there is no shortage of museums and galleries with both indoor and outdoor spaces that could draw more people per hour than our largest exhibitions draw per weekend. There is of course no other reason to compare to Nationals or PBE, this exhibition would be intended to serve a radically different objective.

The logistics are not totally unrealistic - these buildings and teams are used to moving delicate expensive things. Initial funding is probably the biggest problem, I would imagine.

Edit: Serg I just saw your post after I hit submit! Please keep producing those incredible trees and you'll take the art form to the MOMA for us, we're all counting on you

View attachment 572790

View attachment 572791

Gaudy , pompous .. that’s like feeling the approval of mainstream society to further isolate bonsai artists with talent and enthusiasts to being a endeavor for the wealthy furthering the argument that to be good at bonsai or to have a tree in a show you need to have money .. plus NY is the foreigners caricature of American culture, like celebrities actually matter…. how Canadian of you.

 

[Hartinez]

He had 2 trees or client trees

Oddly enough it turns out, one of, if not my favorite tree in the show was one he styled. turns out also, my favorite tree from the 2022 expo was his also!

 

[NaoTK]

OK guys you gotta see this

Aaron Kupferman (imager993 on insta) was at the event and did 3D scans of every tree to create interactive models for study. Absolutely jaw dropping tech. You can rotate the models 360 and he also did an amazing job organizing and describing the files. It is paid access but worth every penny, especially if you didn't attend. The future is here!

Home | 3d Bonsai

Discover Bonsai in a whole new way with 3D Bonsai! Our site offers interactive detailed 3D scans of top Bonsai trees, letting you zoom, rotate, and explore each tree from every angle. Perfect for Bonsai pros and newcomers, it's an easy way to enjoy and learn about this art form online. Visit 3D...

www.3dbonsai.com

 

[Alex A.]

OK guys you gotta see this

Aaron Kupferman (imager993 on insta) was at the event and did 3D scans of every tree to create interactive models for study. Absolutely jaw dropping tech. You can rotate the models 360 and he also did an amazing job organizing and describing the files. It is paid access but worth every penny, especially if you didn't attend. The future is here!

Hopefully, this was done with permission from PBE and the artist/owners of the trees especially since it looks like there's some profit-taking here. If we value bonsai as art, and the effort required to produce such shows. they need to be protected as such.

 

[NaoTK]

Hopefully, this was done with permission from PBE and the artist/owners of the trees especially since it looks like there's some profit-taking here. If we value bonsai as art, and the effort required to produce such shows. they need to be protected as such.

Yes to do the scans the tree needs to be set aside to allow 360 scan and Aaron got permission from the event organizers

 

[ForrestW]

OK guys you gotta see this

Aaron Kupferman (imager993 on insta) was at the event and did 3D scans of every tree to create interactive models for study. Absolutely jaw dropping tech. You can rotate the models 360 and he also did an amazing job organizing and describing the files. It is paid access but worth every penny, especially if you didn't attend. The future is here!

Home | 3d Bonsai

Discover Bonsai in a whole new way with 3D Bonsai! Our site offers interactive detailed 3D scans of top Bonsai trees, letting you zoom, rotate, and explore each tree from every angle. Perfect for Bonsai pros and newcomers, it's an easy way to enjoy and learn about this art form online. Visit 3D...

www.3dbonsai.com

View attachment 572911View attachment 572912View attachment 572913View attachment 572914View attachment 572915View attachment 572916View attachment 572917

This is amazing!!! Thanks for sharing

 

[ZombieNick]

Pretty sweet tech, I was wanting to see the back of this guy, which was previously the front:

 

[Eric Schrader]

Re: 3D Scans - Aaron had permission from us as organizers (and knowing he would be charging). In addition the scan's are a compilation of a few hundred photos processed by software; they are covered under the exhibitor contracts we use with folks who show trees. Owners could opt out but nobody did, they were there to facilitate the scans and moving trees from the two photo/scan stations.

I would suggest you all consider supporting Aaron's work ($20 non-recurring payment for lifetime access to all PBE2024 scans.) It's not the same thing as the book, but it's a good learning tool.
Thanks to Nao for posting an example - guess we can't hide chops and stuff on the back if we're posting 3D scans! Luckily my trident is pretty clean.

RE: Oakland - The city government is full-on disfunctional, but I actually heard fewer problems this time than in 2022. The truck that was vandalized was actually in Emeryville and other than minor damage there was nothing stolen.

We will be soliciting open feedback via a web form so as to give people a place to inform us of things we may not have understood or heard about. More to come.

 

[BobbyLane]

Is this a Cork bark elm?

The tightness and tiny leaf size achieved on both the Oak and the Elm is pretty impressive. I noted the fact that both trees were predominantly grown in boxes, the Elm being in a box for ten years. Its actually quite rare nowadays for folk to grow on in boxes for that length of time, most opt for bonsai pots much sooner, myself included.

 

[Colorado]

View attachment 573006

Is this a Cork bark elm?

The tightness and tiny leaf size achieved on both the Oak and the Elm is pretty impressive. I noted the fact that both trees were predominantly grown in boxes, the Elm being in a box for ten years. Its actually quite rare nowadays for folk to grow on in boxes for that length of time, most opt for bonsai pots much sooner, myself included.

Yes it is. Me and Danny were talking to the owner of this tree. Really cool guy. He said that he grew it from a small cutting and has been working on it for about 25 years.

The leaves were absolutely tiny!

 

[HamburgerTrain]

Re: 3D Scans - Aaron had permission from us as organizers (and knowing he would be charging). In addition the scan's are a compilation of a few hundred photos processed by software; they are covered under the exhibitor contracts we use with folks who show trees. Owners could opt out but nobody did, they were there to facilitate the scans and moving trees from the two photo/scan stations.

I would suggest you all consider supporting Aaron's work ($20 non-recurring payment for lifetime access to all PBE2024 scans.) It's not the same thing as the book, but it's a good learning tool.
Thanks to Nao for posting an example - guess we can't hide chops and stuff on the back if we're posting 3D scans! Luckily my trident is pretty clean.

RE: Oakland - The city government is full-on disfunctional, but I actually heard fewer problems this time than in 2022. The truck that was vandalized was actually in Emeryville and other than minor damage there was nothing stolen.

We will be soliciting open feedback via a web form so as to give people a place to inform us of things we may not have understood or heard about. More to come.

I personally love Oakland! There’s lots of culture, great food and great people.
Its like a working-class San Francisco.
It’s too bad the bonsai hotel was in Emeryville. I opted for staying in Chinatown so I could walk to the expo and be close to the action.
It was also great being able to take a shuttle over to the Bonsai Garden at Lake Merrit. I enjoyed the juxtaposition of seeing the highly-refined trees at the expo, then the less manicured but well-aged historical trees in the garden.