Assigning scores to trees is one thing – selecting a winner based on these scores is another matter altogether. By publishing the judges’ scores from the 2015 Artisans Cup, Ryan Neil shed light on a process that doesn’t get as much notice as it deserves – the process by which exhibited trees are recognized as […]
Judging
Artisans Cup judging rubric
It’s hard to know where to begin. From the concept, to the outreach, to the staging and execution of the event, Ryan Neil did a great job with the Artisans Cup. For all of your effort, thank you very much! Thanks too to the exhibitors, vendors, volunteers and visitors without whom the event could not […]
Judging bonsai at Bay Island Bonsai meeting
This month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting featured some of my favorite activities – evaluating bonsai and bonsai display. Boon regularly gives members opportunities to hone their understanding of judging by bringing trees for us to evaluate and having us score them. Scoring trees forces the viewer to look closely and think about a tree’s characteristics in […]
Evaluating bonsai
As we prepared to begin a judging exercise at this month’s Bay Island Bonsai meeting, Morten asked a good question. It was something to the effect of, “Is the highest scoring tree the most valuable tree?” I knew the two were closely related, but had to think for a moment before coming to a conclusion. […]
Evaluating bonsai at Bay Island Bonsai meeting
Learning to evaluate bonsai is a big part of the Bay Island Bonsai experience. If one doesn’t understand a tree’s good and bad points, it’s hard to improve the tree, and it’s hard to know how much to pay for it. We’ve been using a simple form designed by Boon for over 10 years. The […]