NABF Newsletter #7

Feature #5

Looking From Here...

By Pedro J. Morales

I feel the need to write about this subject mostly because of all the situations that have been presented to me and to others during bonsai demonstrations either at conventions or where I have been a speaker, an organizer of the event or a participant.

It is important to realize that a demo can only be as good as the material and the speaker's knowledge of that material are. Sometimes we encounter very poor material for demos; in most cases, we would prefer to put the trees back on the ground than to work with them. So I want to express my feeling of both situations since I have the opportunity to work from all sides, as a speaker, an organizer and a participant. What should be the duties of the speaker, the organizer and the participant?

First, from the participant's and organizer's point of view, let us see what we expect from the speaker when we invite someone to give a demo or a lecture, and what are the duties of these organizers or participants in order to get the best information from the activity.

As an organizer, I have to select the best possible material for my guest speaker to work on. If I'm not sure if the material is good, I should ask another member of the club to help me out in selecting good material. In the U.S., there are a lot of nurseries that specialize in bonsai material, and they have persons there who will recommend suitable material for demos. You just need to contact them and let them know what you want.

You have to consider that the price of the material will also tell you its quality. Don't expect to pay less than $100 for good demo material. Also the organizers should provide all tools required in case the speakers need them. Most of the speakers bring their own tools, but it is a courtesy to have available tools in case they need them. These include: extension cords, a garbage can, drinking water, paper towels, turntable and enough wire of all sizes! As a courtesy, it is also good to know what type of wire each speaker prefers -- aluminum or copper. There are many sources to get this on the market.

It is good, if possible, to elevate the speaker a little higher than the audience so everyone can see better. A good sound system also helps.

What about as a participant? If I am very interested in the topic of the lecture, I will take either a recorder or a notebook. Be as silent as possible to get all the information that the speaker provides. Ask questions in accordance with the speaker's wishes, either during the lecture or at the end. There are some people who like to make loud comments during a lecture to make everyone else think they know a lot. In most cases, however, they don't have any idea of what is going on. So it is better to keep quiet.

But also as a participant we expect to receive from the speaker all of his thoughts, what he is looking to achieve with the tree and what he thinks during the demo. Most importantly, we want the speaker to explain his techniques to do his work.

Now let us look from the speaker's point of view. He expects very good material so that when he finishes the result will be outstanding. Each speaker is different. For example, some welcome a challenge whereas others like to bring about dramatic changes in the tree that no one would have expected. Some well-known speakers ask for more than one tree so they can have a choice of which one they will work on.

I recall one situation in which the speaker was not satisfied with any of the 8 to 10 trees offered to him. I was an observer so I had no idea what was going on, but I know this guy was mad. I understand both sides: The organizers believed they had provided the best material possible and, although it was not that great, it was nice demonstration material anyway. As a speaker, you need to realize that the material offered is what the organizers have available, nothing else, and that you have to work with that and make the best of it. In this particular case, the speaker made it clear to the audience that he was not satisfied. He was angry and smashed the trees to nothing without giving the material any chance. The result was really disappointing.

As a speaker -- and here is where men are separated from children -- you need to work with everything. You need to adapt to each group basically because they don't know what you know. For me, a good speaker will work with any kind of material and, even if the material is not suitable, he could do a demonstration explaining why it is not suitable.

Bougainvillea in Mexico

I remember one demo in Mexico a few years ago where they brought me a bougainvillea. It had a nice trunk but bad branches -- they were extremely heavy branches for the size of trunk. When I saw the tree, I knew nothing could be done that would look nice and finished, but that was the material they brought me. So I began to explain the basic trunk line, where the branches should be, what size branches will be appropriate for that size of trunk, the ideal branch positions and the ideal front. I used a blackboard to make a little drawing (what I definitely need to practice) of the future appearance of the tree. At the end of the 2 hours, I only left one single trunk with no branches, but I explained one by one why I had to take those branches out.

Bougainvillea in Mexico 2

Bougainvillea in Mexico 3

I remember another case when the speaker just said: "Now I will work," with no other comment or explanation of why is pruning in a certain way. That is not good.

On another case, I received a very good lesson. I had a guest speaker at our studio, and I picked for him very nice material to work on. Before he started to work on this nice material, he selected a poor quality tree from the nursery and worked on it first to demonstrate that you can work with anything, That was a learning experience, as the audience enjoyed more and were more impressed with the first demo with the "bad" material than the later demo with the nice tree. Why? Challenge! To do something from nothing. To make dramatic changes, that always impresses the audience.

I try to participate in every lecture I can as an observer, because you can always learn something. In my case, I look for new techniques from the speakers, and how they relate to the audience. I also learn what not to do. As a participant, I can always learn something new.

We have in the U.S. outstanding speakers, some are better with their hand only, no talk. Some are better talking only, no hands! But no matter what they do we always look for something to learn. When you think you already know everything in bonsai, it is time to move on to another hobby because in bonsai you never finish learning.