This One Seed Juniper (J. monosperma) was collected (see below) and styled by Michael Hagedorn. Michael is the author of Posted Dated, The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk. Michael lives, teaches and practices bonsai in Portland Oregon. His company is Crataegus Bonsai.
Comparisons are odious
I don’t know that the oft use phrase ‘Comparisons are odious‘ is always true, but I think there is something there. A comparison that has been showing its (odious?) head lately has to do with European vs American (or North American) bonsai. Another is Asian vs Western bonsai.
Relatively speaking…
This quote from an interview I did with Michael Hagedorn a few months back presents one perspective on our theme:
Wayne: Can you say something about Japanese and North American bonsai; the relationship and how it is evolving?
Michael: There will probably always be a parent/child relationship there. In that sense Japan is the parent of any country that is interested in bonsai, as China was to Japan long ago—and ‘overtaking’ Japan is unlikely. Bonsai work in Japan is probably evolving faster than is generally known. They are very inventive, and seem to have the best balance of holding on to things that worked well and keeping an eye out for some new way. For a traditional art this attitude works better than our ‘throw out everything with the dishwater and start again’ impulse. And so I see their work progressing steadily whereas our progression is more erratic and dependent on individuality more than community. But I’m generalizing too much. The bonsai community in North America is coalescing, and that is very positive.
Before. It helps to start with good stock. Still, it takes a lot of skill to get from here to there (see above).