The Art of Bonsai Project

You can find my article about Casuarina on :

http://knowledgeofbonsai.org/robert_steven/?page_id=33

We have 18 entries to date representing 7 different countries!

Not bad considering that we have four months until the deadline, I fully expect to see over 200 entries submitted.

The rules are now in English and Turkish, with more translations expected in the near future, hopefully.

If you would like to donate your time and translate these rules into a different language, please download this version complete with formatting to do so. Email your translated version to will@artofbonsai.org You will of course receive full credit for the translation and we would greatly appreciate your help.

Good luck and thanks,



Will

We still have a little over three months before the deadline for submissions is reached. 26 entries as of this post from 7 different countries and we expect many more.

The prize list is growing day by day and we expect to see many more excellent prizes as the deadline nears.

We have entries from a wide experience range and in all categories, leaving no excuses as to why one would not enter. In fact, an interesting email I received from a beginner on this contest stated that they like to enter just to see how their bonsai score, in comparison to the very experienced entrants. They compared it to doing the quarter mile in a hot rod, they had no intention of setting records, but instead their time was used as a benchmark to beat next time.


Good luck,



Will

I cannot agree more than what you say, Will..
Guys, the real matter is not the winning...

Winning is a very pleasant surprise, but the important thing is learning how to prepare, present, and photograph your bonsai. This is the real value of these contests. We learn from doing. We learn from what others are doing. We improve the artistic value of our bonsai.

Good luck and good learning

Mike

Please take a minute to view our sponsors, without which we could not possibly offer such great contests here at AoB http://www.artofbonsai.org/sponsors.php

These are the people responsible for helping us create the largest prize list ever for a on-line bonsai contest. This years contest offers some amazing prizes, cash, gift certificates, Robert Steven's new book, Morten Albek's new book, Rob Kempinski's new book, free blog hosting, and many more items that are sure to be greatly appreciated by the winners.

To add icing to the cake, the American National Bonsai Exhibition Award offers automatic qualification for entry into the America's first National Bonsai Exhibition and some financial assistance.

And... the ABFF (Asia-Pacific Bonsai Friendship Federation) Award offers a free return air-ticket to Bangkok Thailand for the 2008 ABFF Convention in December 2008. (see details).


Prizes are still being donated!


Will

For those who are planning on entering, a good article on photography has been added to our tutorial section.

A Guide to Photographing Bonsai and Kusamono - by Carl Bergstrom

http://artofbonsai.org/tutorials/photoguide.php

One question I was just wondering, with regard to display and type of tree and size. For example the firsth Mame (no really a shohin) can be in three categories, as it is a broadleaf and it seems to be in kind of a display. Is this correct. One just chooses how many categories the tree should be place?

Good question.

If I entered a Shohin conifer that was photographed in a display with scroll and accent I could enter it in the conifer, Shohin, display, and accent categories, but this is called flooding the contest. It dilutes the entries appeal, confuses the judges, and frustrates the poor guy posting all the entries.

For maximum effect, clarity, ease of viewing, and judging purposes, I suggest that entrants select one category only.


Will

Thanks a lot Will, I hope to submit at some point next month, Looking forward to the contest. Best wishes
Enrique

Enrique,

We look forward to seeing your entries.




Will

Update:

As of this post we have 66 entries representing 8 counties.

141 entries from 15 different countries to date!

The countries represented so far are:

Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Denmark
Germany
Great Britain
Indonesia
Italy
İzmir/Turkei
Mexico
Portugal
Spain
Taiwan
UK
USA

158 entries from 17 different countries to date!

The countries represented so far are:

Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Denmark
Germany
Great Britain
Indonesia
Italy
İzmir/Turkei
Mexico
Netherlands
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Taiwan
UK
USA

The policy for bringing a concern about an entry is to email me with the ID number of the entry in question and a specific reason for concern. Do not post these publicly because if you are mistaken, you would draw undue attention to the entry and artist.

There has been no specific complaint made to me personally which gives an exact identification of any suspect manipulation. I welcome any such and encourage anyone who feels a photo has been manipulated beyond the rules to email me the ID number as well as their personal thoughts on it.

All entries are posted, we have over 170 to date and most likely will see over 200 by the deadline. I do not and will not examine each one in detail, I barely have enough time to post them all and manage the contest. However, before the winners are announced, each winner of each category will be gone over (as in the past) with a fine toothed comb. And suspected manipulation will be grounds for immediate disqualification. To put it bluntly, I could care less about those who do not score high, however, the winners will meet the standards of AoB and the rules I wrote or they simply will not win. And this is assuming our highly qualified judges do not catch any manipulation first.

For the record, background manipulation is not a concern, in fact I would like to see more of it, see John Naka's tribute here at AoB for the ultimate in background manipulation, the work there is inspirational. Our only concern is if the plant itself has been manipulated electronically, after the photograph was taken.

The staff of AoB takes our contests very seriously. Not only have we set the standards for all on-line contests here, we have also set the record for number of entries, number of countries participating, number of views, professional judging, prize amount, etc etc etc. Our contests have been sponsored by Bonsai Today, International Bonsai, The American Bonsai Society, and our judges have always been some of the most respected bonsai artists in the world.

Again, The policy for bringing a concern about an entry is to email me with the ID number of the entry in question and a specific reason for concern. Do not post these publicly because if you are mistaken, you would draw undue attention to the entry and artist.


Will