Ron,
may I draw your attention to this thread tro clarify most issues:
http://artofbonsai.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=714
Ron Sudiono wrote:
As far as I can enjoy your bonsai, most of it are not unlike other high quality bonsai from other bonsai masters (I refer to photographs # 1,2,5,6,10 etc in the gallery).
Many of my trees are in training since decades. They have been started as more or less classical bonsai and they still are more or less. These are some of my better trees, of course, because of the lenght of training. The newer trees are not as good yet usually, but many of them are in the naturalistic style. It happens very often that people think everything that I produce MUST be in the naturalistic style and then they see my trees and are confused. Some say I am a sort of phony. Some say that I speak naturalistic and style classical. They don't understand the time issue.
Just todayI understand that my logo tree has won runner up of the Bonsai World Contest. I am very proud , of course. And many people will be totally confused, because it looks so traditional. Well, it is in the traditional style. I have sent four trees, three in the naturalistic style which were my favorites to make a point and one traditional to have a chance from apurely Japanese judges. And here we are. Well, I am happy to be able to please most.
Ron Sudiono wrote:
I see indeed a couple of bonsai from your hands which are "different", I think because they are more loosely designed (#3,7,8,11,etc). Are these latest bonsai the best examples of this so called "naturalistic style" ? Are you happy with this "talking" or is it something that people made up without your own will and desire ?
Well this talking at some times had crossed the boundaries to insult. I took a loot of heat. By now this has eased off. The bonsai fundamentalists who knew they were right are not so sure anymore. Or at least it seems they have become to realize that they are not the majority which is what they thought.
So this talking has made me famous in a way. I have not made it up. In all innocence I always have posted what I thought was good and everybody wold be able to see this. Only to find out that nothing could be further from the truth. By now people have gotten used to some of this and many seem to like it more and more. When the first painters startet to paint abstract there were very serious calls for declaring them insane. Ironically in bonsai it is the other way around. The mainstream is abstract to very abstract and someone who styles realistic is declared a fool.
Ron Sudiono wrote:
I can imagine that you "launched" this "new" style by nature, namely because you are reaching a point to escape from the tradition, by which I mean the world-fameus classification of the Japanese bonsai, namely the classification of the Moyogi. Chokkan, etc especially with their guidelines, which are put in English words for the first time by Kyuzo Murata, Yuji Yoshimura, Saburo Kato, or John Naka.
There is something to this. But I have not done this consciously. I only found that I had lost more and more people with my newest creations which I had thought were good. And then I started to think why this was so and have come up with some philsophical framework to defend myself.
Ron Sudiono wrote:
Finally, I'm very sorry to put your high quality bonsai into 2 small "boxes", but I do this only for communication reasons.
Ron, not for a second do you have to be sorry about this. I have developed such a thick skin in the meanwhild, I don't even blink at most of this stuff anymore. I always welcome an intelligent discussion. It is highly appreciated if someone is NOT of my opinion as long as this is voiced in a civilized way. And I do appreciate if someone has actually read what I have written and listened to me and is not accusing me from what he THINKS I am sayig or doing or what he HEARS.
Walter