Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

This is one that I kept coming back to (see Michael Plishka’s visceral wonder comment below). It’s a Southwestern white pine (Pinus strobiformis) that belongs to Greg Brenden (an earlier smaller iteration in a different pot was shown at the 2010 U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition). The show booklet says the pot is by Ron Lang, but Ron told me that his wife Sharon made it and that he created the rough finish (see below). There were several trees in Lang pots at the exhibition. This photo and the close up below, are borrowed from Bonsai Penjing & More. Yesterday’s post … Continue reading Visceral Wonder & Other Comments on Judging Bonsai

Judging Bonsai at the Cup: The Limits of the Point System

Eric Schikowski’s collected Mountain Hemlock was one of my favorites. It was also Peter Warren’s first choice. I borrowed this photo and the one below from Eric Shrader’s PHUTU blog. I was going to give the Cup a rest for awhile until I ran across this thorough, thoughtful and thought provoking article on Eric Shrader’s PHUTU (one of the best blogs I’ve had the good fortune to stumble upon lately). We’ll start with a disclaimer two disclaimers: First, what follows takes nothing away from the winners. All four (third place was a tie) are great bonsai and worthy of accolades. … Continue reading Judging Bonsai at the Cup: The Limits of the Point System

Judging Bonsai: Scoring vs Elimination and putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging, the results are in…

Whoops. The tree I missed in the original post. Too bad, because I have a feeling it would have placed very high in our reader’s poll (it placed 3rd in Method A and second in Method B – see below for the methods). Two weeks ago we posted photos of seven bonsai and asked our readers to rate them. No contest, no prizes, just for the fun of it. Putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging bonsai, the results are in. The trees are arranged from top to bottom (starting just below) in order of your … Continue reading Judging Bonsai: Scoring vs Elimination and putting aside some people’s objections to the whole idea of judging, the results are in…

Judging Bonsai – Just for the Fun of It

These seven bonsai were part of a recent contest. They are in no particular order here, just my attempt to randomize. The challenge for you is to come up with your five best in order. Explanations with each pick are welcome, though not necessary. The honor system. There is no reward for winning. In fact, we won’t choose winners. The reason for this is; the contest and results have been published elsewhere with some detailed explanations. We’ll post this information later, but for now it would be more fun to see your results, before you go looking for the original … Continue reading Judging Bonsai – Just for the Fun of It

More Bonsai Winners

Winner of the Yoshimura Award. It’s a Nikko Satsuki Azalea by Robert Blankfield of Rochester, New York. Round two This is our second posting of the winners of the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition which was held two weeks ago. We still have some to show, so stand by for a third posting. Night and day The photos from the 3rd U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition are professional and well done. However, the difference between seeing the splendid power of top quality bonsai up close and personal, and photos of those same top quality bonsai are, to borrow a common phrase, … Continue reading More Bonsai Winners

Still Scratching (the Judges backs)

New England’s best. Teddi Scobi’s easy-going personal style is a big reason for New England Bonsai’s success for the past 27 years (photo is from New England Bonsai’s Kaikou School of Bonsai). If you don’t believe me, visit New England Bonsai and meet her for yourself. Be sure to tell her I said hello. Still scratching Judges Though we already featured our judges once, for some reason I feel compelled to do it again. I think it’s because I’m already getting excited about our next Bonsai from Scratch Contest (here’s an early post on the just completed 2011 contest) and … Continue reading Still Scratching (the Judges backs)

Your Fate is in Their Hands

Michael Hagedorn (our alphabetically first judge) worked on this Japanese white pine before his teacher, Shinji Suzuki entered it in the famous Kokufu show. You can visit Michael’s Crataegus Bonsai (one of my all time favorite bonsai blogs) for the whole story. Michael is the author of Post-Dated – The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. Bonsai from Scratch Contest: it’s time to meet the judges All the images have been sorted and sized and sent to the judges. Now it’s their turn, so I thought it might be a good idea to introduce them. In alphabetical order, they are: … Continue reading Your Fate is in Their Hands

Bonsai from Scratch Judgement Day

It’s almost time for the judges to do their thing. A little update on our Bonsai from Scratch contest We’ve received all the final submissions and the judges have been notified. Now I just have to finish sorting through and organizing all the submissions, and then, off to the judges. When they’ve finished, their numbers will be averaged, and then, the posting of the results. Please be patient. All this will take a little time. Blind justice FYI: lest you’re worried about rampant corruption, the judging will be blind. Our esteemed judges will receive no names with the photos. So … Continue reading Bonsai from Scratch Judgement Day

The Art & Science of Judging Bonsai

Japanese black pine from Bay Island Bonsai via Bonsai Tonight. Still a ways to go, but perfect for learning how to evaluate bonsai. Good timing Thanks to Jonas of Bonsai Tonight for posting this timely article on judging bonsai. Our $1,000 Bonsai from Scratch contest is in full swing (it’s not too late to enter) and a question that arises around any bonsai contest is: how are bonsai judged? Bay Island Bonsai‘s judging form that was designed by Boon Manakitivipart. If you go to Bonsai Tonight you’ll see a number of forms that were used to evaluate these two trees … Continue reading The Art & Science of Judging Bonsai

Judging from the Digital Bench

You could win… …or maybe just enjoy yourself in the process. So far eighteen people have put on their judges robes. Join them and and enjoy some great photos and maybe, just maybe, win a gift certificate to Stone Lantern. 17th century Spanish judge in full gowns, by Velázquez.