Knowledge of Bonsai

Dorothy Schmitz

Dorothy Schmitz is a professional bonsai artist from Southwest Florida who has a Southern European origin. As a tile contractor she used to develop and lay her own original mosaics,but is now lucky enough to be able to concentrate on bonsai full time. Dorothy started in bonsai only 4 years ago and won the open Florida BSF Instructor Scholarship Award in 2005 followed by the covenant Ben Oki Award in 2006. She is presently the Vice president of the Bonsai Society of Southwest Florida and Vice president of the Naples Bonsai and Shohin Society. She also just recently became District Trustee for the Bonsai Societies of Florida, she is the program chair for the 2008 BSF State Convention and is actively involved in planning the All American Bonsai Show in 2008. Not enough she is an active editor for the Knowledge of Bonsai Forum and the Art of Bonsai Project and owns a Bonsai Studio in Bonita Springs together with her partner in Life Ernie Fernandez. Her goal is to actively support Saburo Kato's idea of bonsai 'no kokoro' worldwide and to help further develop the quality and the public acceptance of bonsai as an art form in the US.