Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees – The Life and Works of Dan Robinson – Bonsai Pioneer
paul stokes
For a long time now most of the books about bonsai are, for all intents and purposes, the same. They usually start by telling you what bonsai is, the history of bonsai, how to plant seeds, and basic styling, and provide some pictures of fairly good looking bonsai. Honestly, I have come to expect this sort of format from every bonsai book I pick up, and I am rarely surprised.
Before reading Gnarly Branches, Ancient Trees: The Life and Works of Dan Robinson – Bonsai Pioneer, I knew very little about Dan Robinson. I had read an interview about him and had seen pictures of some of his trees, but I didn’t really appreciate his raw, unscholarly approach to the art of bonsai. This book is a tribute to Robinson’s life as well as his bonsai. It is written as a narrative by people who must have been very close to him. As I read it, I felt I was getting to know Dan’s personality.
What makes Dan’s bonsai so different? Basically, Dan is not practicing orthodox, mainstream bonsai, the traditional, classical style that dominated bonsai in America. Instead, he creates trees in the “naturalistic” style.
Dan’s Pioneering vision astonished the bonsai world, emphasizing a naturalistic, ruggedly realistic American at a time when only the abstract styling of the Japanese tradition was desired or considered correct.
The book is divided into three main sections, the first of which titled The Roots. This section is a sort of biography. It covers Dan’s humble beginnings as a child collecting unusual plants, his later studies in Forestry, his landscaping and military career, his first exposure to bonsai, his career as a bonsai demonstrator, and finally the creation his seven acre public bonsai gardens in 1995. Named Elandan, these gardens consist of over 250 bonsai.
…how does a man with no art training, and no formal bonsai training, become the Picasso of Bonsai?
When reading The Roots, I learned of Dan’s explosion on the bonsai scene and how he threw all of the preconceived notions and rules of bonsai out the window. As far as I know, Dan was the first artist to style trees in a way that was not abstract and in line with the Japanese standards of the time. Yet he styled them in a way that would make you think that man had no hand in the formation of the tree; in a sense, perfectly imperfect.
People talked about this guy who was, in some respects, a wild man with a chain saw who just cut up trees. He was a revolutionary in a lot of things he did…was a free thinker…mostly because of the fact that he spent an awful lot of time in the wild studying trees.
The second section, The Main Trunk, contains four fantastic stories of Dan’s adventures collecting trees in the wild and of how he passionately went about styling them.
…Dan has a way of styling them [(his trees)] that retains that kind of fresh, wild look.
The most important thing to know about deadwood is that nothing else matters.
Foliage, Flowers and Fruits is a gallery of fifty of Dan’s best and most important trees and is truly inspiring.
Some might shy away from buying a book for $50 but the quality of the writing and exquisite photographs, along with the fascinating subject matter (Robinson himself), make this book something truly special. I would recommend this book for anyone that would like to “get inside” the head of a bonsai genius, and to see what can be accomplished when passion runs your life.
Anyone interested in ordering the book may do so – and get a copy signed by Dan Robinson, Will Hiltz and Victrinia Ridgeway – through the Elandan Gardens web site.
Disclosure: I agreed to write this review and received the book free of charge. I will always tell you the truth about anything I review, free or not.
Paul, thank you for your thoughtful review. It captures the essence of the book’s qualities well.
I hope no one implied anything that led to your disclaimer: Copies of books are sent out to “The Press,” such as yourself, as a matter of routine for promotional reasons, not in the spirit of a bribe that might influence any reviews that might be written. I have sent out a number of such books already for one purpose or another, and I have a box of others still to use for that purpose. Typically, the promo books I use are unsigned copies that are set aside because they are slightly damaged, as I believe yours was – certainly not a special gift meant to gain favor.
We don’t know each other, and when you expressed an interest in writing a review I was careful to put no influence or expectations on what you might write, except the proviso that I wanted you to actually read the book before writing about it, which is why I sent the promotional book: I wanted the review to accurately reflect the book, and not to merely be based on a cursory skimming of the text and photos. I am pleased that your review was a positive one, of course, but that was never a certainty. Ultimately, I welcome an honest review most, whether positive or not.
I appreciate the time and effort you put into the review. I hope it adds to the site you are putting together here for the ongoing benefit of the online bonsai community.
Will Hiltz
I have read the book, after buying it. Yes, it was worth every penny! Gives alot of wonderful information about bonsai while blending in Dan’s story. It will not disappoint, even if you find yourself throwing the word “gnarly” into every day language after a while.
And if anyone was mistaken, Dan is still alive. At times you wonder because of the past tense discussions; but, he is still at Elandan. I contact him by email and am trying to work with him on purchasing one of his Black Pine.
Paul, i agree with your observation of the “cookie cutter” format of most current Bonsai books, having read close to 100 of them since july of 2009, when i got interested in Bonsai. I was often left with the feeling that something was missing. I was fortunate enough to actually meet Dan Robinson at Elandan Gardens this past August when i was in Seattle and as we walked through Elandan, he told the story of certain trees and how he applied his vision of what they should look like. Dan had to leave and i still had close to two hundred trees that i wanted to take pictures of. Dan did mention that his book was coming out this fall, and when i found out it was available i had ordered it immediately. Irrational, not in the least, after meeting Dan, listening to his stories and seeing his trees in their natural setting was all the information i needed to make the decision. I was not disappointed in the least. Dan, Will and Victrina have set a new Standard for Bonsai lesson Books, Dan blends the concept within the story, Will conveys the story into words and Photographs the results, while Victrina uses Macro Photography to highlight the concept of focal point design, which is at the heart of all of Dan’s trees. This book is not a “must read”, it is a “must study” book for anyone interested in trees.
I pretty badly want to add this book to my collection. As someone who studied art history, my only quibble is in calling Dan Robinson the Picasso of bonsai. Picasso was an abstract artist, Dan Robinson is a naturalist of the American West. If anything, Dan Robinson is the Frederic Remington of bonsai.
Charles, both to let you know the origins of Dan’s “Picasso of Bonsai” moniker, and maybe to whet your appetite a bit more for the book, the chapter, “Becoming Picasso,” starts off with this paragraph:
“At the 1978 convention in Portland, Oregon, Dan Robinson burst onto the bonsai scene, waking up a staid, tradition-bound art with a dynamic demonstration – transforming a huge, upright Ponderosa pine, upending it into a sweeping cascade of dramatic beauty. In the audience, as the story goes, Frank Okimura, Curator of the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens’ bonsai collection, murmured to himself with hushed awe, ‘The Picasso of Bonsai.’ It was overheard, circulated, and it stuck, Dan’s title ever since.”
Hope you enjoy the book someday.
Never heard of Dan Robinson, the first thing I did when (even before) reading this was search on google who he was, I found pictures of his work and some of his history, then I’ve red this article and it gives me a little impression of him. This book is going to be on my list I think, thanks for the review!