my second public showing display

every year the Milwaukee Bonsai Society puts on a public display at the Wisconsin State Fair and asks it members to submit trees with simple displays consisting of a tree and accent only (is that a 2 point display ?) with limited space for the display... and this year i am submitting one (though not without reservations, mainly revolving around it not being in my care and only receiving distant, weak, fluorescent light for almost 1 week).

the state fair exhibit is mainly geared toward getting the public interested in bonsai, but i think there may be a contest with gold stars or blue ribbons or "attaboys" or something like that...

at any rate, i had difficulty choosing a tree that might endure potential public poking and prodding etc, but decided on the spekboom (portulacaria afra) on a blackish brown footed stand with an accent of a small vine raised on a stone nestled in the base of a suggested mountain, all sitting on a black bamboo mat, hoping that the black mat would help create the illusion of some distance where very little exists due to limited space... also the pot is by one of the club members john menzel... (none of my native trees are ready for show yet and my defoliated ficusus (fici ?) have not fully leafed out yet.)

so here is what i came up with and please keep in mind that as a novice this is only my second display, though i did put a lot more thought into this one than my first    (and once again please excuse the crappy pictures... i really should start grabbing my good camera rather than my point n shoot pea-shooter   )










i feel the tree is solid (even with the both lower branches though i will probably remove one in the future)
however i dont pay much mind to "rules of display", but i can see how they can make certain decisions much easier to make when creating a display... but then again, who said art should be easy ?

scale: the mat is 12" x 18" (30 x 45 cm) and the tree is about 7.5" (19 cm) +/- from the soil up.

so... any CCCs are welcome
(Comments Critiques Criticism)

Credible. In such a compact display, though, I think I could have left out the tall driftwood(?) thingy. In a larger situation, it might work. And the dark mat and the dark (and interesting!) stand might be changed. Do you have a rattan (tatami) place mat that could be substituted?

credilble ?
well heck, thats good enough for the girls i date !!!   

and yeah... i went back and forth between a rattan type mat and one woven of interesting sticks and another of the one i used except in brown... finally settled on the black one for the spatial illusion reason (which might NOT be all that credible).

and in a way i agree about the driftwood, but went with it anyway as it is a bit less intrusive in real life....

thanks for the input !

You should not use 2 items that match in colour.
I think if you loose the bamboo mat, and just place the items on the surface shown the whole thing would come together.
Maybe, place the mountain a bit more to the back would give perspective.

normally when i hear "should not", it makes me want to "should"   

however i do see what you mean about the colors, but anything else i had clashed with one or another of the elements...
(maybe some quick sandpaper so they dont quite match as closely)

and i wanted the accent further back, but i am confined by space, which i why i was trying to "ground" everything within the area of the mat... (and unfortunately the surface shown is my steel topped rolling work cart)

maybe i can see what the exhibit's provided surface is...

or hit a thrift store on the way to drop it off

beer city snake wrote:or hit a thrift store on the way to drop it off

well, i got lucky on the way to drop it off, checked one place and found a different mat...
not the best, but still...

better ?
(i say yes)







i thought the black stand on the black mat would create some distance and disconnect between the fore and back grounds, which sounded good on paper, but not in reality... and i didnt want to ditch the stand as i think it "feels" african...

thanks again for the earlier input.

Yes! I like the stand.

JimLewis wrote:Yes!  I like the stand.

well, hot dang !!!
thanks jim !

at least i got one element right !






(he says as he slowly reels in his rapala from his last cast    )

Hi Kevin,
its much better now that the mat has a contrast... but the drift wood is a bit tall perhaps smaller than the tree? Or put another stand that would not have the same level ( the jade plant ) ... Cheers
Regards

beer city snake wrote:





(Comments Critiques Criticism)

Whatever you do my Friend, dont loose your dayjob.    

No seriouslly,  you are brave in you display.  

The guys are right, the black on black does not work.  Its not so much the colour that looks wrong but the textures of the coarse Bamboo Jitta and Stand that doesnt harmonize.  If you wanted to create the illusion of space, then a smooth polished black jitta would have sufficed.

Thats  why the plain Jitta works best  because now the scale  looks right.   And the tree looks bigger and older.

The ceramic pot of the accent also bothers me, but this is just personal taste.

When placing items on a Jitta or board or duban, always draw an imaginary frame around the edge, and then dont cross this line, this is empty space and necessary to ground your display.  Otherwise it looks as if the items are going to fall of over the edge.  Like a building line on a plot.  Do you know what I mean.

I think you should use the stone alone as an accent and then not in the alcave of the mountain either, because this IS something that you want the viewer to see, but yet you hide it and fill it in with your stone and accent.  Keep all the elements separate, each with its own space, and loose one,  I would drop the accent.  And speak with a clear voice... hihiihihi  just seeing if you are listening.

What about placing the mountain in the foreground,right,   keep the edge, place the tree behind it, middle-of centre,    and place the stone to form a triangle.
This is just a suggestion.  Lets first see what it looks like.....

Other than that it looks fabulous.  hihihihihihi

Love and light

The light coloured mat is a great improvement. The tree and stand go well together, the small accent is good but I'm having trouble with the height of the driftwood. I think it throws off the balance, too high. The accent alone on a flatter stone would suffice imo.

BTW I love the tree, a Crassula?

Hi Kevin
I too definitely like the lighter colored mat.

I have seen your spekboom, Portulacaria afra in person, and I do feel it is really nicely trained. Not many, even seasoned hobbyists, pull off a decent tree with Portulacaria. The tree is particularly well done. And it is relatively young material too.

Kevin did a quick set up of this display with the lighter colored mat, at the club meeting Tuesday, and it is "pretty OK", in person. I think, and only think, the driftwood is too large for this display in the limited space you were allowed. In a full sized display, you might be able to put enough distance between the driftwood and the spekboom, but in the space you were alloted I too might skip the driftwood. Save the driftwood for a larger tree, your elm or Metasequoia perhaps. Of course at the meeting I was "busy" and didn't get a chance, and didn't think to comment then. But as it is, it will look fine in the state fair setting.

Well done for only a second try. Better than my first displays. It will be interesting to see what you come up with for the "Art Beat in the Heat" art show and block party. And I need to get myself moving on what I'm going to do.

i appreciate all the input, but as of now it is what it is, as it is where its at (as in already on display and probably being "judged" as i type this)

andre: isnt "jitta" a car made by volksvagon >>> ???  
(sorry but my asiatic-german is a bit rusty   )
btw, andre - i'm looking for 4 elephant teeth: got any laying around ?

re: the driftwood piece, i was trying to suggest mountain, but didnt have the space to pull it off convincingly (and the accent should have been smaller for that) AND the tree i wanted to use was much larger, but hadnt leafed out enough yet from an earlier defoliation...

but no worries... all the input will be helpful for next time, so thanks again !

leo: i already have some good ideas for ART BEAT as that will be more loose and fun...
and i have a really solid idea for my display for the MBS fall show...
if its anything like what i see in my head, it should be pretty cool (i hope)

when i walked up to do my tree sitting shift, i thought "they must be joking..."



apparently they weren't     



hey andre !
brave in display ?
well, do i look afraid ???



and guess what ?



i quit my day-job !!!     

i know - beginners luck.

Happy daze

hey congratulations! Competition like this will only make you better each time. Thought bonsai and stand work well together and the texture of the mat also is a plus. thanks for sharing

Mazeltov!     

From no on I will just shut up.   

Did you win the display, or dit the tree win for best tree?

Love and light

Congratulations, Kevin! I watched this thread and was reminded of the saying by Shunryu Suzuki (Buddhist monk) - "In the beginner's mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert's there are few". Never lose your beginner's attitude - luck has less to do with almost everything that succeeds than any other component. Cheers. Rick.

see, "Pretty Okay" at the State Fair is First Place!

Congrats.

thanks guys...

dick... actually it's the competition part that i don't like (at all !), as i dont believe competition has any place in art,
but getting the judges comments and feedback from all of you is certainly worth it.

leo... "pretty OK" winning first place makes me very suspect   
i still say it's rigged to lure in the new guy   
(joking)

andre... i assume it was for the whole package as there weren't separate awards for displays vs trees
(again, this was just state fair and intended more as public relations type of deal)

and the minute you shut up    
is the minute i quit this forum...

why do you think we abducted... er... i meant invited, you into our little cult... er, whoops, i meant collective   

beer city snake wrote:

why do you think we abducted... er... i meant invited, you into our little cult... er, whoops, i meant collective   

O gawd. You mean this is not a cult?, What shall I do with all the chicken feet now?

hi hihih hi hi hi hih h

Thank you my friend I feel wanted, and honoured.

Once again Congrats on your display!

Love and light

Bravo, Snake!!!

beer city snake wrote:... ...actually it's the competition part that i don't like (at all !), as i dont believe competition has any place in art, but getting the judges comments and feedback from all of you is certainly worth it... ...

I am not in a level to make the slightest of comments, so no worthy feedback from my part. But I'd say I completely agree with you that competition is not a part of art.

Andre Beaurain wrote:

beer city snake wrote:

why do you think we abducted... er... i meant invited, you into our little cult... er, whoops, i meant collective   

O gawd.  You mean this is not a cult?,   What shall I do with all the chicken feet now?

SMOKE 'EM !
love and light back to you !

and thanks nellie !