Page 45 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q4

Top left; Douglas Fir, Pseudo
tsuga menzezii
Top right; Daniel pruning a
larch.
Middle right; Mugho pine, Pinus
montana mughus
Bottom right; Alpine Hemlock,
Tsuga mertensiana

There is something of steel in me, I think, and every
student after, which sharpens him and spurs him on
with delight, and there is something in him which
takes the willing and launches them into the air like
a catapult past the restrictions of their self-imposed
limitations to fly like the eagles he believes us to be.
That line of instruction continues, to my joy. Daniel
and I joke often as we watch the young men currently
under his tutelage working on great Japanese Black
Pines in the garden, how such works are a lesson as
well as test of resolve. After all, if they can do that, they
can do anything. That these years of teaching cost me
nothing but the sweat of my brow and a commitment
of my time still hold me in awe of his great generosity.
There are no words to describe the measure of the gift
he gives so freely to those who come seeking to be a
fellow sojourner in the art.

A principled man:
There was a time early on when Daniel was called
unprincipled by some. People looked at his avant-
garde work and could only see what they perceived
as a complete lack of regard for the traditional way
things were done. The carving of trees would not
come into common acceptance for many years,
except on the oldest of yamadori where it already
existed. So in response to this, thinking it might be a
good idea to have some principles people could use to
understand his work, Daniel outlined his treatises on
Focal Point Bonsai Design, and still abides by those
same principles today.(The full Robinson Addendum
can be read at www.elandangardens.com.)

October/November/December 2014 | BCI | 43