The Art of Bonsai Project

Okay, here's a challenge, could anyone email me the name of the person that submitted the last Hornbeam posted in the entry form? Let's see just how true the statements above are....
PM me your answers please.
Will

*.*. ?
-dorothy

edited: no fair giving initals Dorothy ;)sorry,dorothy;)

Dorothy got it right...

Do you think there is any merit in having it blind as to the source of the tree - i.e. only announce which trees are from NA or Europe after the competition?

Surprisingly, Rob Kempinski also guessed the owner of the Hornbeam.
The bonsai community is a small one, top quality trees are studies and appreciated by every serious practitioner of the art. We may as well compare this "blind" contest to having a gallery of all the great paintings, those who know art will know the artist anyhow. This is not a bad thing at all, the fact that great trees are easily recognized is a credit to the community.
What I do hope to see is some unknowns pop up in this contest as one or two did in the photo contest we held last year. ( http://www.artofbonsai.org/galleries/buccella.php )
Trust me, there are world class bonsai out there that have yet to be seen by the community as a whole.
There is also the likely possibility that many Europeans will see North American trees that they never have before, the same goes for North Americans seeing European trees that they never seen before too.
Originally this contest was not blind for the above reasons, but due to popular demand, we amended the rules to accommodate.

Will

So I'm still not sure what the maximum height for shohin will be unless I missed something along the way. Will it be 10 inches max or a little under? If a little under, how much? The reason I ask is because two of my entries are right at 10 inches from the rim of the pot and I don't know how to classify them, shohin or std. submission.
Thomas

I think that there is merit in this suggestion.
Jon

Sounds like they can be called shohin. As long as you don't put a ruler right next to the tree it will be hard to tell the exact size - and that is the goal. A good shohin bonsai in creating the illusion of a full size tree should be hard to determine the size from a photograph only.

Although Rob makes some very valid observations above, for the purposes of the rules we have put the size limit at 10 inches, which means that a Shohin entry in this contest can not exceed that limit, an entry can be 10 inches, but not over in height.
Will

Have to draw the line somewhere, I have a couple that fall close to that parameter. Get out the pruners guys.

We received the first European entries today and the Europeans started with some amazing bonsai indeed!
Almost immediately after I posted these European entries, I received a couple emails that both mentioned that this contest doesn't count because not all North American artists would be represented, that there are many great trees in North America that would not be entered, and so on...
Well the exact same thing could be said about many European artists and trees as well.
Think of a baseball game, if one team doesn't show, the other teams still wins by default. Or we could think of some of the major bonsai shows in the world, is the winners entry not valid because somebody else never entered a tree, not at all, as the old saying goes, you snooze, you lose.
To date literally hundreds of emails announcing this contest have been sent to artists, clubs, organizations, and forums around the world. Bonsai Today Magazine is announcing this contest in the upcoming issue. People have emailed me telling me that they are telling their friends and Walter Pall has personally sent out announcements to all his friends, telling them to tell their friends as well. This is most likely the most publicized Internet contest ever, now all that is left to do is enter your trees.
I think the final outcome and the final scores will be a major wake up call for many, it will cure some blindness, and it will no doubt be very inspirational as well as educational.
Good luck to all,

Will

This is almost beyond my ability to comprehend! How can anyone be so dense as to believe this statement, and narrow in focus to think they can blow off this contest on the basis that "They Think" there are better trees lurking out there that will not be entered. All I have to say about that is if there are better trees out there enter them-----What's the problem?
I keep hearing rumors that there is a large hairy primate roaming the Pacific North West forrests, and that there is a survivor from the Cretaceous period living in Loch Ness. This may be true---lets see some credible pictures.
In the immortal words of my older brother: "Put up or shut up".

I'm with you Vance, that type of statement amazes me. With the ready availability of digitial cameras - whats to stop anyone from entering.

I hear there is a better golfer than Tiger Woods but ....

I believe that many owners of excellent trees are not too skilled and familiar with the "mystery" of digital photography and the associated computer programs.
Many cannot enter with an already available picture if the format does not comply with the competition rules.
This would apply to both, potential participants from EU and the US.
If we consider the rather high number of younger artists especially in EU we will realize quickley that this generation of bonsai artists nearly grew up with sophisticated modern technology as well as the fact that bonsai are more popular and in demand now then 20 years ago,and therefore more available.
I hope,that those excellent trees here in the US will still be entered,and if someone of this group reads this,there is always support available.If not from local clubs then from people who do not have to be involved in bonsai but know how to take an acceptable photograph.
Get the word out,let's see some wonderful bonsai.
-dorothy

Some time ago, I told my club members that I would make a digital photograph their bonsai to enter in the World Bonsai Contest, with the admonition that the bonsai had to be groomed to show condition and be a bonsai worthy of entry.
Two members took me up on the offer and their bonsai made the "100" in '05 and '06. Other than those 2, I had no response.
I'd be very happy to do the same for this contest. As before, the tree has to be show ready and of a quality worthy of entry.
Mike