Oh heck yea! If anyone is in the Seattle/Tacoma area, its about just shy of an hour to Dan Robinsons Garden Elandan Gardens and is worth the drive! Not only that, Dan is willing to walk you through and give you extensive history of himself and all the trees he has collected and trained over the years!
Oh my GOD! Ryan Neil AND Dan Robinson! I think Dan has always been my favourite Bonsai Artist because of how he intuited so much of the art from sheer observation of nature. He saw those small trees in the mountains and realized suddenly that THIS is what it was about! It's not about what someone wrote in a book. It's not about following a strict code of design. It's about the damn tree! My feeling is that Dan is a real Bonsai "punk". A legend! A guy who follows his own principles of design which are solely informed by nature. He seems to have no love for convention or kowtowing to the "rules" of Bonsai. His attitude is so freeing. I was grinning ear to ear though the entire video! Thanks to the Mirai team for this gem of an interview! And a BIG thanks to Dan for his contributions to the art!
Ryan, I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but to me you are the true next generation guy. Hopefully you continue to get weirder and do some more Dan Robinson stuff to break out of the traditional mold. Your work and art are appreciated!
This interview is so inspiring. I dreamed about bonsai since ca 20 years. Six years ago I moved from apartment into a house. Starting then I turned my front yard, backyard, side yard and all of the terrain I have into a bonsai nursery. All of that thanks to my wonderful wife's approval and support. My goal is to create down here in Poland place like Dan's or Ryan's. Of course incorporating all the local conditions. So thank you for posting and wish me some good luck :)
Very interesting interview with Dan Robinson,it's always important to exchange high level opinions on bonsai,discussing help to increase our wealth of experience and this is fundamental in the wonderful world of bonsai. Thank you very much Ryan for sharing this video! 👍👍👍
One hour in and I can say I'd have felt right at home in Dan's 'school' of bonsai. The abstracted form, refined by the Japanese is beautiful, and I will pursue it with some of my trees to demonstrate this beauty. That said, I know the old (rarely ancient) deciduous trees that are prominent between the farmlands and urban plots in the UK have that distinct structure that is unlike traditional bonsai: deadwood; lack of taper (instead, the presence of proportionate bifurcation i.e. movement); dead tops, sparse canopies. Since starting bonsai, I have been going through my own exploration of form and representation vs abstraction - it's encouraging to get the exposure of people who have already found their aesthetic, so thank you Mirai for presenting this to us! ps. Not gonna lie, it's really amusing watching Ryan have to process some of Mr Robinson's radical opinions on bonsai practice. Dan makes Ryan seem like a super-conservative practitioner, which is saying a lot!
Please check out Walter Pall (pronounced Paul) of Munich Germany. He is another proponent of deciduous trees having deadwood and carving trees. Walter is another maverick and outcast like Dan Robinson who doesn't look for people's praise. He does bonsai his way. Here in the USA I have had the honor of meeting Walter four or five times. I have been doing bonsai for over forty years but I take every one of Walter's workshops that I can. Walter always says that if there is something ugly on a tree, make it uglier. He will carve ugly areas to make them interesting. I would love to meet Dan Robinson as well.
@@danielkosta3134 I follow his work, been on his blog and am familiar with his artistic approach. Indeed, he is an inspiration! Not that I'm looking for 'mavericks' in particular, but yes, he does demonstrate that naturalistic deciduous model really well.
I have been criticized about how I look at some of the trees I try to style. Dan Robinson hits it on the nail head. I spent my entire life traveling and now that I am in my 50's I see trees for what I saw around the world in the wild Hanging off the sides of mountains around the world , the look of striving to just exist. Traditional bonsai is soul wrenching to me and the beauty breathtaking, but to see a tree styled as though it is on the side of the hill buried in rocks can not be described in words. I feel a bonsai should leave you breathless and a loss for words.
I really enjoyed this interview. As a novice I am sometimes torn between trying to mimic the formality of bonsai so it will be concerned “good “ vs trying to mimic what I see in nature that I see when walking or driving around.
"You can take the whole inside out, and enjoy that concavity and that look, and... the tree doesn't know you were there" Reminds me of a nugget of philosophy from rock climbing : When you get angry or annoyed that you can't climb a route or a boulder no matter how hard you've tried, and no matter how many times you've failed, no matter how much you've bled and suffered in your struggle to attain your goal, the rock doesn't care. Your yells dissipate in a moment, your sweat and blood will wash away with the next rain, and the features you cling to will, in time, erode away. The rock was there before you, and will remain long after you've tried climbing it. Enjoy it while you're there, but it has nothing to do with you.
I've been needing to watch this clip but kept putting off because everything all happening at the same time. My moms undergoing some surgery to be able to keep her on dialysis treatments and I'm like now I got time to sit back and listen to you and Dan talking it up. This was all good to take a break, relax, and pass the time with. Her surgery two of four went well. Thanks for helping me put my mind at ease today.
Enjoyable vid. Thks for that. He certainly thinks different to the paradigms we adhere to. However most enjoyable hearing him yarn about his 'drivers' and I must admit I like his work and style.
Love all the podcasts, but have this to watch next levelled it, giving us a greater appreciation for the occasion. I imagine instead off Dan ever leaving Elandan, I see Curly from City Slickers just leaned up against a rock or old trunk, not to soon though I hope. If Dan can't convince Ryan to take it on, a group or organization like the Pacific Bonsai Collection take it on to preserve it.
Great vid thankyou.. ryan and Dan togeather, am i dreaming, Love dans work . I bought his book ,and i live in plymouth, uk. His bonsai are truly something! Maybe the artform should take a little of his ideas forward into the future of bonsai. I was thinking i wonder what soil he uses.?? I know he uses a miracle grow to feed them.
The thing is the Japanese styled trees like the trees they saw around them. I do the same. I live in South Louisiana among 1000-year-old hurricane-ravaged bald cypress and 300-year-old live oak trees. That's what I see and I try to capture the essence of that.
Stalactites are indeed sedimentary, but they form via precipitation as opposed to deposition, so crystal formation is entirely possible. If you've ever made yourself a homemade salt crystal, that's basically how stalactites form.
I had a cool Jin on my Zelkova and thought it really made an interesting feature. I read a book which said that deciduous shouldn't have Jins so I took it off. Now I'm kicking myself.
I live just south of his garden and was surprised to learn about his methods being so different from what I had been researching as well. He uses a 1/3 small white pumice, 1/3 small red lava rock, 1/3 fine local fir bark mix.
@@ianrobinson8718 Bonsaijack online typically has a few different bark varieties available too. Lots of orchid bark packages have the bark far too big for bonsai use.
Can someone point me in the direction of repotting according to Dan Robinson? Regardless of agreeing or disagreeing, I would like to know what is done instead or trimming the white new growth.
Just imagine a juniper existing in its little rock crevice for 400 years. That's why they are so small and have 100 growth rings to the inch. They have reached and are existing at their balance point.
Who is Mr Kimura that you are referring to? I worked under Kimio Kimura @ the Japanese Garden(Hayward Area Recreaton and Park District) in Hayward, California. I’m a beginner in Bonsai
Ryan apprenticed with Mr. Kimura in Japan. We have a video that explores that journey if you're interested in learning more, here's the link: bonsaimirai.com/blog/apprenticeship
We are all deferent, i am 43years old but started i started "bonsai" at 28 year so my oldest tree is 15years old evin my yamadori are one year old seedlings when picked. I grow trees in bonsai pots i dont make bonsai out of trees
Young growth is more desirable to pathogens. This makes vigorous growing bonsai more likely to die from predidation. Just look at the state of the forest.
Oh heck yea! If anyone is in the Seattle/Tacoma area, its about just shy of an hour to Dan Robinsons Garden Elandan Gardens and is worth the drive! Not only that, Dan is willing to walk you through and give you extensive history of himself and all the trees he has collected and trained over the years!
Yea, I couldn’t believe his collection, I got to talk with him too!
@@1jeremyb you can tell he is passionate by the way he talks about bonsai!
Oh my GOD! Ryan Neil AND Dan Robinson!
I think Dan has always been my favourite Bonsai Artist because of how he intuited so much of the art from sheer observation of nature. He saw those small trees in the mountains and realized suddenly that THIS is what it was about! It's not about what someone wrote in a book. It's not about following a strict code of design. It's about the damn tree!
My feeling is that Dan is a real Bonsai "punk". A legend! A guy who follows his own principles of design which are solely informed by nature. He seems to have no love for convention or kowtowing to the "rules" of Bonsai. His attitude is so freeing. I was grinning ear to ear though the entire video!
Thanks to the Mirai team for this gem of an interview! And a BIG thanks to Dan for his contributions to the art!
What an amazing interview. Dan Robinson is everything I try to be in bonsai. Get weirder.
I hope mirai filmed a garden tour, his garden is different, rough, wild and simply beautiful
I just let this play while I work. Love Dan's free spirit. He is like the uncle of the American Bonsai family that dances to his own tune.
Ryan, I'm not sure if you'll ever read this, but to me you are the true next generation guy. Hopefully you continue to get weirder and do some more Dan Robinson stuff to break out of the traditional mold. Your work and art are appreciated!
Man, I didn't know about this guy at all so this was a TREAT to listen to. Dan's enthusiasm and independent spirit, incredible!
This interview is so inspiring. I dreamed about bonsai since ca 20 years. Six years ago I moved from apartment into a house. Starting then I turned my front yard, backyard, side yard and all of the terrain I have into a bonsai nursery. All of that thanks to my wonderful wife's approval and support. My goal is to create down here in Poland place like Dan's or Ryan's. Of course incorporating all the local conditions. So thank you for posting and wish me some good luck :)
I feel like you’re onto with ‘Side Yard Bonsai’ . Good luck sir
@@Todd_Kobell Thank you!
Some people are wise beyond their years, this man has been waiting all his years for others to catch on to the wisdom he found young.
What a great and interesting interview! Thank you!❤❤❤
Very interesting interview with Dan Robinson,it's always important to exchange high level opinions on bonsai,discussing help to increase our wealth of experience and this is fundamental in the wonderful world of bonsai. Thank you very much Ryan for sharing this video! 👍👍👍
One hour in and I can say I'd have felt right at home in Dan's 'school' of bonsai. The abstracted form, refined by the Japanese is beautiful, and I will pursue it with some of my trees to demonstrate this beauty. That said, I know the old (rarely ancient) deciduous trees that are prominent between the farmlands and urban plots in the UK have that distinct structure that is unlike traditional bonsai: deadwood; lack of taper (instead, the presence of proportionate bifurcation i.e. movement); dead tops, sparse canopies. Since starting bonsai, I have been going through my own exploration of form and representation vs abstraction - it's encouraging to get the exposure of people who have already found their aesthetic, so thank you Mirai for presenting this to us!
ps. Not gonna lie, it's really amusing watching Ryan have to process some of Mr Robinson's radical opinions on bonsai practice. Dan makes Ryan seem like a super-conservative practitioner, which is saying a lot!
Please check out Walter Pall (pronounced Paul) of Munich Germany. He is another proponent of deciduous trees having deadwood and carving trees. Walter is another maverick and outcast like Dan Robinson who doesn't look for people's praise. He does bonsai his way. Here in the USA I have had the honor of meeting Walter four or five times. I have been doing bonsai for over forty years but I take every one of Walter's workshops that I can. Walter always says that if there is something ugly on a tree, make it uglier. He will carve ugly areas to make them interesting. I would love to meet Dan Robinson as well.
@@danielkosta3134 I follow his work, been on his blog and am familiar with his artistic approach. Indeed, he is an inspiration! Not that I'm looking for 'mavericks' in particular, but yes, he does demonstrate that naturalistic deciduous model really well.
I have been criticized about how I look at some of the trees I try to style. Dan Robinson hits it on the nail head. I spent my entire life traveling and now that I am in my 50's I see trees for what I saw around the world in the wild Hanging off the sides of mountains around the world , the look of striving to just exist. Traditional bonsai is soul wrenching to me and the beauty breathtaking, but to see a tree styled as though it is on the side of the hill buried in rocks can not be described in words. I feel a bonsai should leave you breathless and a loss for words.
Oh wow!!!! speachless! Such a meeting!
I really enjoyed this interview. As a novice I am sometimes torn between trying to mimic the formality of bonsai so it will be concerned “good “ vs trying to mimic what I see in nature that I see when walking or driving around.
the two could not be more different. it's a wonderful world.
Totally agree with you.
I've been to Elandan in the 1990s,still delighted to hear Dan the Man.
I could listen to these guys talk bonsai for hours
I love every interview I see with Dan.
He's just soo honest, open and willing to buck convention.
Thank you!
Super stoked for this conversation! I could listen to Dan and Ryan talk about trees for days. Hoping to make a trip up to Elandan this summer.
Such a delight to listen and watch Dan speak . If I have ever watched something and thought " what a guy " this is one them moments .
This was Dope. Very cool to hear Dan's approach. Ryan great as always.
I wanna buy his book, “Mo’ Betta Bonsai”. Hehe great interview. Videographer team is excellent. Met them down in Fl.
Well, I've never heard a conversation like that before! Loved it
Fascinating. Great interview. Thanks Gents 👍
"You can take the whole inside out, and enjoy that concavity and that look, and... the tree doesn't know you were there"
Reminds me of a nugget of philosophy from rock climbing :
When you get angry or annoyed that you can't climb a route or a boulder no matter how hard you've tried, and no matter how many times you've failed, no matter how much you've bled and suffered in your struggle to attain your goal, the rock doesn't care. Your yells dissipate in a moment, your sweat and blood will wash away with the next rain, and the features you cling to will, in time, erode away.
The rock was there before you, and will remain long after you've tried climbing it. Enjoy it while you're there, but it has nothing to do with you.
As you like to say, it was a very inspiring interview. Me encanta la idea de representar la vejez de una manera mas cruda.
Fantastic conversation. What an interesting man and great attitude. I could’ve listened to another 2 hours of this
Dan Robinson is my hero now. Thank you Ryan
Legends. Thanks Mirai team and Sir.
I've been needing to watch this clip but kept putting off because everything all happening at the same time. My moms undergoing some surgery to be able to keep her on dialysis treatments and I'm like now I got time to sit back and listen to you and Dan talking it up. This was all good to take a break, relax, and pass the time with.
Her surgery two of four went well. Thanks for helping me put my mind at ease today.
Glad it was helpful for your during a tough time!
Brilliant. A true artist learns rules are merely suggestions. Love this guy
That was a great interview, thanks for sharing. Dan is very interesting and Ryan did a great job!
You should also interview Walt pall who is another pioneer of naturalistic bonsai
Enjoyable vid. Thks for that. He certainly thinks different to the paradigms we adhere to. However most enjoyable hearing him yarn about his 'drivers' and I must admit I like his work and style.
this was an amazing interview thank you for bringing this to us
Quel personnage! Merci pour la vidéo!
Looking forward to going to visit Elandan gardens.
This is Epic.
Thanks again Team Mirai.
Love all the podcasts, but have this to watch next levelled it, giving us a greater appreciation for the occasion.
I imagine instead off Dan ever leaving Elandan, I see Curly from City Slickers just leaned up against a rock or old trunk, not to soon though I hope.
If Dan can't convince Ryan to take it on, a group or organization like the Pacific Bonsai Collection take it on to preserve it.
His Pitch Pine is up there with all time greats in my book.
Here right now, it is awesome!🤯
Great vid thankyou.. ryan and Dan togeather, am i dreaming, Love dans work . I bought his book ,and i live in plymouth, uk. His bonsai are truly something! Maybe the artform should take a little of his ideas forward into the future of bonsai. I was thinking i wonder what soil he uses.?? I know he uses a miracle grow to feed them.
I thought 2 hours good lord that’s long but that was amazing. Thank you
I love this fuc@en guy, his outlook and new approach is time and tested to a full proof method..
I know Ryan works for a living but he really is a great interviewer!
Dan needs to have his own channel too!
THIS WAS AMAZING THANK YOU.
wow amazing contnent! more please!
Awesome interview!
Thank you
To say this fella is a maverick would be the understatement of the century lol
The thing is the Japanese styled trees like the trees they saw around them. I do the same. I live in South Louisiana among 1000-year-old hurricane-ravaged bald cypress and 300-year-old live oak trees. That's what I see and I try to capture the essence of that.
Nice interview thanks for the inspiration
Very interesting interview Ryan 🙏
Breathing in Fukushima now a days.
thanks for sharing nice stories
I like Dan's no bullshit approach and questioning of all the unnecessary conventions.
What a Rock Star!
This was great! Hey Ryan bring that maple video u just put out back!!!!
Greetings from Madera : )
I use a preshrwasher to work on some plants. It worked out well
Stalactites are indeed sedimentary, but they form via precipitation as opposed to deposition, so crystal formation is entirely possible. If you've ever made yourself a homemade salt crystal, that's basically how stalactites form.
I live a mile from Elandon garden.
Hadir nyimak bosku
Hadir kawan👍👍👍👍👍
I had a cool Jin on my Zelkova and thought it really made an interesting feature. I read a book which said that deciduous shouldn't have Jins so I took it off. Now I'm kicking myself.
Great interview! So he hasn't repotted any of his developed trees in 35 years? Wish that would have been elaborated on a little more.
Wish yours had off covered his substrate for his trees if he doesn’t repot ?? Never the less amazing interview loved it thanks.
I live just south of his garden and was surprised to learn about his methods being so different from what I had been researching as well. He uses a 1/3 small white pumice, 1/3 small red lava rock, 1/3 fine local fir bark mix.
@@GritCityBonsai thanks for that might give it a try fir bark will be tough to get a hold of I know it’s in some orchid mix’s ?? Thanks 🙏
@@ianrobinson8718 Bonsaijack online typically has a few different bark varieties available too. Lots of orchid bark packages have the bark far too big for bonsai use.
Can someone point me in the direction of repotting according to Dan Robinson? Regardless of agreeing or disagreeing, I would like to know what is done instead or trimming the white new growth.
These guys are cool ! One went to Japan the other to China !
Pepsi with sweet n low. Koolaid in beer... Holy moly
😂 I think I found my favorite Sensei 🥰🥰
Dope..
Just imagine a juniper existing in its little rock crevice for 400 years. That's why they are so small and have 100 growth rings to the inch. They have reached and are existing at their balance point.
1:33:27 Ha! Dan's on to something here.
Who is Mr Kimura that you are referring to? I worked under Kimio Kimura @ the Japanese Garden(Hayward Area Recreaton and Park District) in Hayward, California. I’m a beginner in Bonsai
Ryan apprenticed with Mr. Kimura in Japan. We have a video that explores that journey if you're interested in learning more, here's the link: bonsaimirai.com/blog/apprenticeship
We are all deferent, i am 43years old but started i started "bonsai" at 28 year so my oldest tree is 15years old evin my yamadori are one year old seedlings when picked. I grow trees in bonsai pots i dont make bonsai out of trees
Why the disclaimer at the beginning, for left supremacist?
The biochemistry of my laceleaf acer is completely compromised just by the smell of my thoughts about straight being the enemy.
The intro ????? Why
Young growth is more desirable to pathogens. This makes vigorous growing bonsai more likely to die from predidation. Just look at the state of the forest.
It takes great intelligence to live a simpel life...
forking beautiful