Do you like this nebari, or is it a bit much? If you just look at the bottom photo, does the nebari seem to strong for the trunk? That’s the way it strikes me, but when I look at the whole tree, it works just fine. The image is a whole page from Bonsai Today issue 63.
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Here’s another nebari that we featured in an earlier post (April 2009). This one does seem a bit over the top, though I suspect it will look a little less dominant when the tree is in leaf. What do you think? Trident maple from Bonsai Today issue 70. Both issues in this post are still in print and available at Stone Lantern.
I agree that the top maple’s nebari works in context, although I have seen more refined, realistic nebari. Were it my tree, I might bury some of that nebari a little bit.
The trident, on the other hand, seems to follow the maxim, “Just because you can, doesn’t mean that you should.” It’s often an issue with tridents, that growers think bigger is better, when after a certain point, it ceases to evoke the feeling of a real tree. It becomes more of a caricature than thing of beauty. An important aspect of the art of bonsai is achieving quiet subtlety–I know Japanese has a word for it, but I forget what it is.
-Al
Way over the top on both. It’d be tough to find anything similar in the wild.
Yeah. Maybe too much focus on nebari. I have seen some pretty outrageous ones in nature though. Never quite that balanced, and probably not proportionally so big in relation to the trunk.
Hi Al,
Thanks once again for you insights. I pretty much agree about both trees, though the trident does stick in my mind, for better or worse there’s something about it that demands attention.
Maybe the term you are searching for is wabi sabi?