Category Archives: Education

Can you tell the difference between a conifer and a broadleaved tree just from looking at an image? Sure you can, any child can do this. Can you tell the difference even when the conifer grows much like a broadleaved tree would normally and the broadleaved tee grows like a conifer? Sure you could. You […]

Many serious bonsai enthusiasts often comment about their desire to explore the philosophical, cultural and spiritual aspects associated with bonsai. Probably because the attitude we adopt during the application of a technique will be reflected in the quality of the tree. Indeed, developing the right mind for bonsai work is equally important as the end […]

There is a prevalent idea in bonsai that a single small slice of the whole, a single artist defined view, commonly called the front, should be selected and styled for a very narrow viewing frame and displayed in such a manner that only this small view is shown. It is too often insisted that a bonsai must […]

The discussion of ‘rules’, ‘guidelines’, ‘principals’, ‘conventions’, and ‘right or wrong’, in bonsai have been an ongoing topic for more years than most have known what bonsai is. This is also true of other ‘art forms’ as well. Although this article by Ms. Nancy Doyle has a world of good information about not only creating […]

Over the past four years, several American and European exhibits have paired bonsai with other pieces of art in non-traditional ways. The quality of the individual art pieces and the success of the overall images has varied widely from display to display and from exhibit to exhibit — but these efforts are important steps forward […]

Bonsai is closer in comparison to sculpture than any other art form in existence today. When styling, viewing, and displaying a bonsai – or debating the artistic merit of design, people may wrongly compare this art to painting. Some also seem fixated on concentrating their efforts toward a single view commonly called the “front” and […]

The conventions of formal bonsai display are more than arbitrary protocols lent gravity by the weight of history and tradition. Rather, the conventions of formal display reflect basic principles of perspective, balance, and composition. In an introductory essay on bonsai display, Andy Rutledge illustrates the way in which the layout of the tokonoma reflects the […]

“In relation to art, it is used to describe a movement, artist, or group of artists which produces work which is considered to be breaking away from tradition and which steers art in a new direction.” Bonsai is changing. Bonsai is evolving. Bonsai is undergoing a transformation unlike anything that has been seen since the […]

This article appeared in the invitaion brochure for Ichi Shun Ten in Munich 2004. It was posted in 2004 on Bonsai Talk. Subsequently it was published in “International Bonsai” magazine. Bill Valavanis did not want to publish the end of it, the story of the ugly oak. He thought that some readers would misunderstand it. […]

We are pleased to introduce Back to Back, a new feature here at the Art of Bonsai Project in which two commentators present opposed viewpoints on a controversial subject. For our first installment, John Dixon and Will Heath consider the practice of “instant bonsai” as encouraged by internet styling competitions. The fallacy of instant bonsai […]