But how does someone
accomplish such a process--or even begin? How are ideas generated for a
good design?
ACBS's own Dan Tullius
tried out a different format to answer such questions at the August
meeting. He attempted to illustrate this design idea stage of creating a
bonsai from raw material.
Working on a healthy
nursery stock yew project, Dan presented a drawing on how he envisioned the
tree as a bonsai. He then called on other club members to propose more
design ideas for the yew-- a sort of "design by committee" or idea
sharing approach. This meant for much discussion.
Ideas flowed. The tree was
rotated to consider different possible fronts. Options for how trunk's planting
angle might be changed were looked at. Each design vision for the yew was
discussed in detail. Proposals included 1)a cascade, 2)a neatly curving
informal upright, 3)a slightly taller more literati style, and 4) a very short
shohin style tree.
This kind of discussion
illustrates the value of taking time to study a piece of raw material. It
also showed how things like altering the trunk angle and looking at several
possible fronts might aid in planning a design. Additionally the exercise
brought home the point of how collaboration can sometimes launch into new ways
of looking at the stock, new considerations and ways of envisioning how the
tree might look after four or five years of development. It was also valuable
to see such discussion involve a specific piece of stock and not just in the
abstract.
This style by committee
format was a concept well worth repeating at future meetings. Much thanks to
Dan for offering this novel concept and leading this discussion for the club.
A video compilation of
some of the discussion ideas is posted our the ACBS Youtube page at this
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