Bonsai – A Constantly Growing Art

As ignorant as I may sound, before the classes, I had this impression that bonsai is like a gardening style that only grandfathers love. However, after learning more about bonsai art and meeting some bonsai enthusiasts, I was quite surprised to find that there are actually quite a big group of bonsai enthusiasts, both women and men, who are in their 30’s and 40’s.

And instead of a gardening style, I should say that bonsai is a type of art. Bonsai takes pruning and controlling growth of plants to the extreme. With normally full-sized trees and shrubs being dwarfed, bonsai artists create miniatures that suggest great age and resemble the nature. The objective is to take an 8 year old tree, and by using the skills and techniques in bonsai, make it look like an 800 year old one.

As said earlier, my appreciation and respect for bonsai has deepened. I especially like how it encourages the artists to get close to the nature, and observe the nature in great details, so for them to be able to resemble the nature closely in their bonsai trees. It seems fun, especially when I like both art and nature. But only that it takes way too many years to grow a bonsai tree into a presentable artwork.

Like many other city dwellers, I am surely too used to the instant culture we have today.