Bonsai Gallery of Walter Pall: Services

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Demonstrations

I am willing to perform demonstrations in the standard way. I will work on all sorts of trees in all sorts of forms.

Please check out Material for Bonsai Demonstrations to see what one should offer. If in Europe, I can bring my own material. In North America I can sometimes find the right material for you. I can work on very complex trees in the standard two to four hours if I have one or two assistants. I try to make a demonstration educational and entertaining at the same time.

With assistant(s) it's even possible to work with several trees in parallel.

I normally need all kinds of wire, preferably copper wire from 1 to 6 mm. Power tools: a regular die grinder, like Makita, speed 20,000 to 25,000 turns per minute, preferably speed adjustable, opening for 1/4 inch or 6 mm bits; several bits for this grinder. Another Dremel like grinder with 3mm opening and bits. A small torch which is used for jewelry or glass work or also for the kitchen. Sometimes I need a large torch which is used for regular household or craft. It should have a long flexible shaft. This torch is available in any hardware store. In addition there should be an assortment of normal bonsai tools available. A turn table which really turns and which can be fixed is also a good idea.

Demonstration of new techniques

Lots of folks are quite interested to learn about new and often drastic techniques for bonsai styling. This can be exiting for the audience and the teacher. It should be assured though, that the audience is really advance and capable to grasp what is going on. An innocent audience will think this is terrible, although it is really quite professional. Such demonstrations are NOT a good idea for general club members and certainly not for the broad public. I will NOT do this on big conventions.

Extended tree critique

Instead of standard demonstrations or workshops I have developed another concept for a major lecture: People bring one or several trees to the public critique. The trees should be in all stages of development: outright raw material, intermediate and 'finished' bonsai. They should be in all variations of quality: very poor, normal, very good.

Normally I get from 10 to 30 trees for such a lecture. I then thoroughly analyze every single tree and discuss it with the audience. Make sure that everybody understands that a tree critique is about hearing the truth about a tree. Such a session can last from two hours to four hours.

The advantages over a regular demo: very educational, very entertaining, no cost to the club for demo trees, no problems of providing the right kind of demo material, interesting for all levels of experience, from outright novices to masters.

The advantages over a regular workshop: more educational than a normal workshop, more participants possible, in fact, the number is almost unlimited, participants with all levels of experience find it interesting.

I think this concept can dramatically change the mainstream demonstrations. I have the strong feeling that something must be done here. The public obviously does not accept the old-fashioned way as it used to anymore.

One idea is to have several masters doing a critique on the same trees on stage. Like one hour master #1, one hour master #2 etc.. This could be quite interesting. People in all stages of expertise should want to see this. We could get back the major part of the audience which we are loosing with standard demonstrations.

BTW: in case you are worried about the general tone of such a critique, I do know about the cultural differences. A critique in Europe will be much more direct than in America. An obvious amateurish tree will get moderate critique to not hurt a beginner too much. But I call a spade a spade in the end.

To read more please check out Thoughts about Tree Critiques.

Tree critique

This is the normal procedure as handled in North America. It can be public or private. I walk through an exhibit or a collection and speak about all or most trees. I analyze the tree as I see it and give constructive criticism. I say what I would do if it were my tree.

It must be understood that to be of value a tree critique is not an exercise in diplomacy. It is not about being nice to trees or people. it is about analysing trees and giving workable advice. Sometimes people misunderstand this. It is more about what the artist thinks and not so much about what the student thinks.

The number of participants for a tree critique is almost unlimited. It can be one person; it can be a dozen to twenty if in an exhibit area where there is only so much room for the audience; it can be hundreds if the critique is on stage in a big hall and the trees are delivered on stage.

If you worry about the tone, see above.

Workshops

I offer regular workshops too. Every workshop begins with a thorough tree critique of all trees. This is interesting not only to the owner of the tree, but also to the other workshop participants and possibly a silent observing public. It can take an hour or more. Then people should start working on their tree themselves.

I do not touch people's trees normally, I do not make the decision for them, I give them several options, I do not style the tree for them. I inspire people to do what they really can do for themselves. I want people to walk away with the strong feeling that they have done it themselves and they can do it again. If you want people to have a good tree in the end which really the master has styled, then take another artist. If you want people to really learn something in a workshop, you can take me.

The maximum number of participants varies:

• 5 or 6 beginners. They must have a basic understanding of bonsai and they must have had some introductory courses.
• 8 intermediate.
• 10 advanced to very advanced.

The material used is totally up to the organizers. I work with anything. It is a good idea to provide material which is challenging for the level of the participants. It is not a good idea to bring a tree which the owner knows exactly what to do with. It is perfectly OK to bring several trees to choose from. 'Impossible' trees are OK. Often they are possible, sometimes not; bring an extra one for this case.

For more reading about material please check out: Garbage for Dinner at Bonsai Talk

Silent observers are welcome if the workshop participants agree.

Powerpoint (slide) presentations

I need a regular PC with Windows an MS Power Point installed. It can be a desk-top. If the audience is small, I can present right from the monitor screen. If the audience is larger there should be a connection between the PC and a large TV set or a projector.

Presentations available:

• Development of conifers: from the tree on the mountain to a 'masterpiece' in several examples. Detailed explanation what to do and what not. See some examples in the gallery of what to expect. From one hour to 90 minutes.
• Development of non-conifers: similar to above.
• Trees in nature and what we can learn from them. America: 45 to 90 minutes.
• Trees in nature and what we can learn from them. Europe: 45 to 90 minutes.
• Bonsai styling seminar, naturalistic style: 45 to 90 minutes.

Any other general subject that you agree with me well in advance. I will try to prepare a professional presentation.

Unfortunately I cannot do old-fashioned slide presentations with 32/24 mm slides anymore.

Moderation

I have developed the concept of moderating several artists who work in parallel on stage.

A single standard demonstration often can be quite boring. Either the artist is not a good entertainer although being a good artist. Or there comes the time of endless carving or wiring and everybody falls asleep or leaves the room.

When several artists are working in parallel there is always something going on which is of interest. A moderator makes sure that there is not a boring moment, that all artists can speak when they have something to say, that the public can ask questions or even participate in a discussion if feasible, that everything runs smoothly. A moderator can even be translator at the same time. We all were bored before by poor translations on stage. It is very helpful if the moderator knows what he speaks about.

A good moderator makes sure that the work of the artist is shown in the best light and that the audience gets the best possible show at the same time.

This concept can also make the sometimes outrageous costs of demonstrations obsolete. It is a good idea to bring several new artists on stage in parallel. They will be happy to do it for nothing. A good moderator still makes a remarkable event out of this. It is quite possible to have a big star and one or several much smaller stars on stage at the same time. In Munich in spring of 2004 Kimura was on stage with several second liners at the same time, moderated by myself.

Development of collections

I am willing to work on trees of individuals and collections. These can be raw material and also 'finished' trees. It can be an outright new styling or an enhancement of an existing styling. I will also do re-styling. The trees can be good to very good and even world class. I will work on almost all species.

One-to-one workshops

This can be anything. The client decides what he/she wants me to do.

Podium discussion

In front of small to very large public I can discuss anything with the public or with several other competent participants.

Bonsai academy

On a regular basis visits to your club to run a succession of coherent courses. These sessions could include all of the above.

The aim is to get away from these one off workshops or lectures which don't contribute all that much. Only successive lectures will make sure that the students really progress.