Esprit Bonsai International – August 2019

#101 EspritBonsaiInternational - 57

developing techniques over more than
12 years to create fantastical bonsai.
Since the style has now been validated
by its accession to two of the biggest
European exhibitions of the art of
bonsai – that is, the European Bonsai-
San Show (in Saulieu, France) and
The Trophy (in Genk, Belgium) – the
legitimacy of applying the term “bonsai”
to this type of creation is no longer in
question. There is now every chance
that all the young bonsai practitioners
who have been following us for years will
at last be able to express themselves
freely without having to suffer jibes and
mudslinging from their contemporaries.

From another planet
Having introduced the subject, it is
worthwhile for us to go over a few key
points so as to re-establish the truth
about it. We’ve seen a flurry of cynical
articles all over social media as well as in
many European magazines, comparing
the Burton style to the Japanese
octopus style, the Chinese lingnam
style or trees growing in nature such
as dwarf beech or corkscrew hazel.
But on the contrary, what is special
about the Burton style is creating
miniature trees that are completely
unlike any trees which grow in the
countryside or in mountain settings.
The curves that we instil in our creations
are not, and cannot be, produced by
nature. The fact is that these curves are
induced using branch lengths which are
obtained artificially from a horticultural
point of view, and wired in order to give
them movement that can exist only
through the work of human hands. The
idea is to try to create the illusion of
trees growing on another planet, with
different rules of nature than the ones
we observe on our dear old planet Earth.
Having clarified this, we hope that
those who write future articles about
this particular way of styling bonsai
will no longer hesitate to approach
us for information, so that they won’t
end up writing nonsense. •••

Thanks!

We will never be able to thank Fred

Chenal enough for letting us display

a Burton-style tree at the European

Bonsai-San Show, his renowned

international exhibition, and likewise

Farand Bloch (Bonsai Focus) for

awarding us his “New Style” prize.

Indeed, what other prize than this

one could we possibly have received

in a field that seems not to want to

accept that bonsai, like all art forms,

also sometimes needs to be able to

innovate?

Equally we will never forget the

unconditional support of our friend

Michèle Corbihan, Editor in chief

of Esprit Bonsai International, who

was the first person to offer us an

opportunity to publish an article about

this style of bonsai.

(^1) JuJuly 2012. The elm, grown from a 2006
seedling, was moved from open ground to a pot
five months ago.
(^2) A little wiring and defoliation work.
(^3) The tree is placed in a larger pot. Initial
scarification and styling of the main branches.
Note the apical sap-drawer to help it take off
again.
(^4) Detail of the work.