The Art of Bonsai Project

We are please to announce the winners of the North America vs Europe Photo Contest.
Separating the entries into the categories of the contest and then adding the scores of our three judges together for each entry determined the winners. The entry with the highest total combined scores was declared to be the winner of that category.
The judges original score sheets and the final score sheet which combines all the judges scores and comment together is posted to maintain transparency here
Please take a moment today and help us thank all of the people, sponsors and entrants that made this contest the success it is by dropping by our thank you thread and posting a word or two. http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1151

And the winners are?..

Best European Bonsai

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)
Artist: Walter Pall (Germany)
Height: 55 cm, 21.65 inches
Pot: Derek Aspinall
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 9
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 10
Judge Robert Steven Scored 10
Total Combined Score: 29 out of 30 possible points
? Everybody should be jealous by the GOD made material. Although it?s middle size, but looks so huge & old. ? ? Min Hsuan Lo
? Very good creation? ? Budi Sulistyo
? Perfect composition and character.? ? Robert Steven

Best European Shohin Bonsai

Mugo Pine (Pinus mugo)
Artist: Walter Pall (Germany)
Height: 20 cm, 7.87 inches
Pot: Peter Krebs
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 5
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 9
Judge Robert Steven Scored 8
Total Combined Score: 22 out of 30 possible points
? Very nice and compact and rich Shohin? ? Budi Sulistyo
? Simple, compact and nice!? ? Robert Steven

Best European Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock Bonsai

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
Artist: John Pitt (UK)
Height: 90 cm, 35.43 inches
Pot: John Pitt (UK)
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 9
Judge Robert Steven Scored 7
Total Combined Score: 23 out 0f 30 possible points
? Powerful root spread, graceful outline Japanese maple.? ? Min Hsuan Lo
? Very nice composition? ? Budi Sulistyo
? Charming design.? ? Robert Steven

Best North American Bonsai

Japanese White Pine (Pinus parviflora)
Artist: Janet Roth (USA) under supervision of Boon Manakitivipart. Most recent wiring and branch setting by Michael Hagedorn.
Height: 18 inches, 45.72 cm
Pot: Japanese
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8
Judge Robert Steven Scored 10
Total Combined Score: 25 out of 30 possible points
?The informal upright style of Japanese white pine have the excellent quality of foliage create the sense of a old tree.? - Min Hsuan Lo
? Very nice white pine? - Budi Sulistyo
? Perfect! ? ? Robert Steven

Best North American Shohin Bonsai

Shimpaku Juniper (Juniperus chinensis)
Artist: John Romano (USA)
Height: 6.375 inches, 16.3 cm
Pot: Tokoname (Yamaaki kiln)
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8
Judge Robert Steven Scored 8
Total Combined Score: 23 out of 30 possible points
? Super Itoigawa shoshin bonsai . The main focus is the quality of magnificent trunk.? ? Min Hsuan Lo
? Very nice trunk? ? Budi Sulistyo
? Very nice in its size.? ? Robert Steven

Best North American Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock Bonsai

Willow Leaf Fig (Ficus salicifolia)
Artist: Jim Smith (USA)
Height: 25 inches, 63.5 cm
Pot: Chinese
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8
Judge Robert Steven Scored 8
Total Combined Score: 23 out of 30 possible points
? Harmony water & land penjing. The artist have superior artistic wisdom.? ? Min Hsuan Lo
? Very nice composition? ? Budi Sulistyo
? Very nice design, if the small tree leans more to the water, it will look much natural.? ? Robert Steven

Best Overall Bonsai

Rocky Mountain Juniper (Juniperus scopulorum)
Artist: Walter Pall (Germany)
Height: 55 cm, 21.65 inches
Pot: Derek Aspinall
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 9
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 10
Judge Robert Steven Scored 10
Total Combined Score: 29 out of 30 possible points

Best Overall Shohin Bonsai

[size=9]Shimpaku Juniper (Juniperus chinensis)
Artist: John Romano (USA)
Height: 6.375 inches, 16.3 cm
Pot: Tokoname (Yamaaki kiln)
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8
Judge Robert Steven Scored 8
Total Combined Score: 23 out of 30 possible points

Best Overall Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock Bonsai
The two entries that scored the highest in their own region have the same amount of points leaving us with a tie. To resolve this we asked two of the editors here at AoB to score each tree individually. We then added the total scores per tree and divided it by 2 (the number of scores) to get an average score per tree. The results are shown below.


Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
[size=9]Artist: John Pitt (UK)
Height: 90 cm, 35.43 inches
Pot: John Pitt (UK)
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 9
Judge Robert Steven Scored 7

Tiebreaker:
Candy J. Shirey Scored 9
Beautiful composition with elements in harmony. I particularly appreciate how the pot size, color, shape subtly support the form of the tree. This tree communicates grace, style and beauty. (Though I realize the reason for the tie-down wire, I find it slightly distracting.)
Will Heath Scored 9
I like this Maple a lot, it has a good natural feel to it, the Nebari is strong and balanced and the foliage forms pads that does tribute to the species. My score on this was lowered from 10 because of the lower left branch, which has a straightness that conflicts with the zig-zagged branches on the right and looks like it was simply pulled down as the guy wire suggests instead of growing naturally. The score was also lowered because of the photo quality.
Average score of tiebreaking judges 9
Total Combined Score: 32 out of 40 possible points


Willow Leaf Fig (Ficus salicifolia)
Artist: Jim Smith (USA)
Height: 25 inches, 63.5 cm
Pot: Chinese
Judge Min Hsuan Lo Scored 7
Judge Budi Sulistyo Scored 8
Judge Robert Steven Scored 8
Tiebreaker:
Candy J. Shirey Scored 7
[size=9]Nice elements but not quite in harmony. I appreciate the detail ramification of the tree and the skillful placement of landscape. However, the stark leafless trees are at opposition to the lush moss. The photography falls short for a quality composition.
Will Heath Scored 8
This is a remarkable Penjing, truly beautiful and natural, one can almost imagine hearing water when viewing this. The talent of the artist shines though in this and shows creativity and an almost magical insight. Unfortunately much of the artistic impact is lost due to the poor photography, the details blend together, the colors are off, and the tray itself is washed out to a untextured gray.
Average score of tiebreaking judges 7.5
Total Combined Score: 30.5 out of 40 possible points [/size]

And the Best Overall Forest, Saikei, Penjing, or Planted on Rock Bonsai is

Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum)
Artist: John Pitt (UK)
Height: 90 cm, 35.43 inches
Pot: John Pitt (UK)


Winning Region
[size=9]The results of the winning region category can be seen at http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic. ... 0709#10709

Congratulations to Mr. Walter Pall & all the other bonsai artists!

The love of bonsai was rewarded !
Congratulations !

Dear AoB,
Congratulations!?
On one hand you provided an opportunity to view many wonderful Bonsai from North America and Europe. Some I had never seen before, some have been shown so much it makes me wonder about the "depth" of talent and the personal collection of the Artists.
On the other hand, this contest was supposed to show that Europe was "light years ahead of North America". This had been repeated as a fact continually by those that assured disbelievers we were fools if we thought other wise.
I would like to point out the inconvient truth.
First, the two regions were very CLOSE in points, not light years apart .
(I removed statement that was incorrect)
Congratulations!
Mark

Congratulations ladies and gentlemen.To say that there were some beautiful trees displayed is certainly an understatement.
Mark..I think you misunderstood how the 30th score for Europe was calculated....you might want to read the explanation again.
Will.....In reading your "tiebreaker" comments I was struck by the "colors were off" statement.While i don't disagree that the photography could have been better,especially the washed out white marble tray,I did not notice any misleading color elements.If you were speaking of the nerifolia's bark color,it should be noted that that nerifolias bark can and does turn a reddish color when scrubbed and wet.I mention this not defending this particular photograph,but as general information for those unfamiliar with this unusual,and to me,beautiful characteristic of Ficus nerifolia/salicifolia.
andy

Mark,
There was no "phantom entry " or "new math" involved. Let me explain this so you can understand and before the grassy knoll theories abound.
Each region had the top scoring 30 trees picked out in order to get an average of the same. This was done by selecting those entries that had the highest score first and then working down until the sum of 30 was reached.
With North American we reached 30 perfectly. However with Europe, we went though all the scores of 16 and had 29 entries, we needed one more entry to hit 30 but there were 6 entries that had the score of 15.
That score of 15 would have been added in as the 30th no matter how we did it. Each region needed 30 entries in order to calculate an average score per tree.
So we could have had a major 6 way tiebreaker to determine which of the 6 we would use the 15 points from.
Or we could have chosen the one that was entered first to use the 15 points from it.
We could have just picked one to use the 16 points from.
Instead we just used the 15 points without making a selection, it is not a prize position anyhow, just a score.
So we then tallied the 30 scores from North America and the now 30 scores from Europe and divided them by 30 to obtain the average score per tree per region.
Simply, honest, fair, and never altered the score at all.
Lastly, this contest was developed in order to shed light on the state of bonsai in both regions and to have some sort of a benchmark to weigh claims against. In this aspect and many others, it is a huge success.

Will