Creativity in Bonsai Pots

I suppose this another post that will get me trouble.

But.

When to comes to Bonsai Pots I suppose I am a traditionalist. I don't believe that a pot should be more interesting that whatever is planted in it.

However, I suppose many potters (I am not a potter.) get bored with doing traditional style pots so they get creative. I am not opposed to creativity or very decorative pots. I just don't buy them or put my plants in them.

Billy
As I potter I do agree that bonsai ceramics can be a little constricting but in my opinion as long as the pot compliments the tree then you have achieved what you have set out to do. The pot is 50% of the bonsai equation and 50% as important. If you get the balance right then if using traditional or modern pots then I think that's all that is important

Kind regards

Andy

Dear Billy

MMMMMMhm ,

How do the " traditional " pots look , feel , measure , shape and shine ??
Mean the pots You write about.

Kind regards
From a no longer handmade active ,
but in soul , heart and head very active contemporary bonsaipotter
Morea

ARBOL+CERAMICA= BONSAI
TREE+OLLA=BONSAI
thank you

Kind regards Anza

Stone Monkey wrote:Billy
As I potter I do agree that bonsai ceramics can be a little constricting but in my opinion as long as the pot compliments the tree then you have achieved what you have set out to do. The pot is 50% of the bonsai equation and 50% as important. If you get the balance right then if using traditional or modern pots then I think that's all that is important

Kind regards

Andy

I do not agree that the pot is 50%. Would you say the frame of a master's painting is 50%.

I'd say the setting of any artwork is a combination of all of the parts. Percentages are unimportant. Whether it looks right is what matters. If the pot dominates, it is wrong. If the tree/pot/stand combination is right, then it can be perfect.

Billy

This is only my interpretation of why I consider it 50%. The Kanji for Bonsai is made from two characters Bon = Pot & Sai = Planting / Tree, therefore the pot forms 50% of the whole image. If the pot does not compliment the tree or the tree compliment the pot then IMHO I don't think this reflects what the two Kanji that make up the word Bonsai means, a harmony between the tree and the pot.

However then we fall into the age old argument of what is the right combination and the wrong combination, there are rules and guidelines to make your tree look bigger, older, etc etc. I think the bottom line is if you like what you have done then that's all that matters whatever style or type of pot you use.

I do think that if a master painting is in the wrong frame then it may ruin the entire image. The right frame would compliment a painting whether its by Gaugin, Gaudi, or Graham Jones from down the road.

Anyway off to make some traditional shaped pots with a modern twist

Best regards

Andy

Sorry Billy, I'm with Andy and Kev on tis one. Percentages, and figures in general can be misleading but the 2 must compliment each other. That said, I'm talking about the "finished" composition. Collecting, training, resting between Shows etc it does really matter what the container looks like as long as the tree itself thrives.

There are many,many trees on the IBC that fall into this catagory and it does worry me a llittle that some folks are too eager to get their tree into the correct before before it is ready. Don't get me wrong, we've all done it but it doesn't make it right. Progress moves on and putting a "twist" (as Andy puts it) on traditional pot designs is no bad thing. Bonsai display is always pushing the bounderies and although might not be liked by all (very much like peoples choice of tree) there is nothing wrong with it! Bonsai ceramics, stands etc will also evolve and I'm all for it,

Ook, Ook,
Simon

Hi Billy

I've never really made the traditional type of bonsai pot, so i don't think that it has anything to do with boredom in my case.
I originally started making pots for my own trees, because i wanted something different to what was on offer at the time.
My inspiration has always come from nature, i try to reproduce the colours and textures that i see around me. Colours that accompany trees in their natural state. I like to go for long walks in the country side around where i live and i always have new ideas for glazes and textures on my return. Near to where i live there is a gorge and a recent walk there inspired this pot that i have just posted in my new thread -



As i was walking through the gorge i noticed a beautiful Downy Birch growing on the clif face in a perfect cascade style and the colours and texture of the rock and the bright clear sky that framed the tree were just stunning. So i did my best to reproduce these colours in a pot.

Cheers
Vic

Hi Billy,

You can not argue about taste.

The one loves rough pots, the other loves smooth pots. One loves modern pots, the other more classic.

I have an own thread about pots in the German Forum BFF
Here is my taste:

http://www.bonsai-fachforum.de/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=28616

Best wishes
Peter
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THE WORLD OF THE POT: http://www.peter-krebs.de/