Page 39 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2016Q3

Six shapes or forms have been described as Afri- Top row, left; Flat top form in
can styles. They vary considerably as far as individual Yangzhou style.
Top row, right; Umbrella
characteristics are concerned and actually only de- form tree at an old temple
scribe the typical growth habit of some African trees. in China.
The Pierneef style is possibly the only exception as Second row, left; Brazilian Rain
this bonsai style reflects the way the artist, JH Pierneef Tree by Erik Wigert, USA -
painted and sketched trees, especially the camel thorn, African style.
Acacia erioloba, in various locations in Africa. Second row, right; Tree with
Different tree species in other parts of the world nat- Umbrella shaped foliage
urally grow into similar shapes and forms as some Af- pads at an exhibition in
China.
rican trees. These trees can certainly not be described
as "African" just because they look similar.
A bonsai that is trained to represent a form or shape
that commonly occurs in Africa can have enough dis-
tinctive characteristics to be classified into the African
style, but a tree with a flat top does not necessarily
represent the African style.
Characteristics of the African Style
With other art forms i.e. painting, architecture, etc.
it is often difficult to describe a specific style. Most of
the time we rely on instinctive pattern recognition to
identify the specific style of the painting or building.
Salvador Dali, the surrealist painter, had a very spe-
cific style of painting that made his work unique and
instantly recognizable, but still very difficult to de-
scribe. Words like funky, weird, way-out, dream like,
fantastic, brilliant and more, will not bring a Dali im-
age to mind. Once we have seen a couple of his paint-
ings, we will be able to identify other paintings as his
work by instinctive pattern recognition.
It is even easier to identify everyday objects by pat-
tern recognition. Once we have seen an apple, you will
just know that the object in front of you is an apple, not
an orange, although it might be laborious to describe
their characteristics in words.
A description of the African Style poses similar
challenges, but there are a number of elements that
collectively make this style recognizable.
Tree forms and other notable characteristics
The Acacia's are probably the most representative
tree shape in Africa. Their natural growth habit as
well as Africa's inherent climatic conditions produced
some typical forms. They often grow into a broom
form with single or multiple trunks. The trunks are
slender with slight movement.
Primary, secondary and tertiary branches grow pre-
dominantly upwards and outwards. The canopies are
very informal with a rounded, umbrella or even flat
silhouette. It is not unusual for the canopy of a tree to no more than a third of the total height of the tree. Third row; The surrealistic
be wider than the total height of the tree. This growth Most trunks have a lack of taper with a width to height style of Salvador Dali is so
habit provides shade to keep the roots cool during the ratio greater than 12:1 or even as much as 20:1. unique that we identify his
very hot summer months. The wider canopy will also J H Pierneef (1886- 1957) was a well-known South work by “instinctive pattern
recognition.”
maximize the tree's ability to collect dew during the African artist. He painted and sketched many typi- Bottom row; JH Pierneef
night or early morning mist. cal African landscapes and trees and it is interesting also had such a unique
They lack the pyramidal or scalene triangle form to note how he depicted the slender trunks, branch style that we recognise his
seen in cold climate or high altitude trees. The canopies height, canopy shape and canopy size in relation to work by “instinctive pattern
have an open, rather informal, loosely arranged struc- tree height. These relationships and ratios appear con- recognition.”
ture. Branching and ramification only start at half the sistently in his work. He also portrayed the trees with
tree's height and not at the traditional one third or one a typical open, well refined and clearly visible branch
quarter mark. The total foliage mass often comprises structure.

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