20 and Under

The First Annual National Bonsai Exhibit has come and gone but the lingering glow of the weekend is still felt in my heart. It was a wonderful event - meeting bonsai friends that I see only at conventions and exhibits and meeting wonderful trees that were awe inspiring. One friend I met again was Michael Hagedorn, bonsai potter turned bonsai professional. I was a BIG fan of his pottery and still admire many that I purchased over the years. After a 2 1/2 year apprenticeship in Japan with Shinji Suzuki, he is now embarking on a journey as a professional bonsai artist. At the Exhibit, he was selling his newly released book about his apprenticeship - ‘Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk’. It is a very good read and one that I learned a lot from. Michael reacquainted me with the Japanese term ‘Aijou’ which means to ‘love, appreciate on a deep level’ (but not in a sexual or romantic way). Seeing the wonderful bonsai on display in Rochester made me feel a deep aijou towards these trees, some more than others. As far as shohin there were 14 different displays - some spectacular (sorry no pictures allowed - order the album!). I was most impressed by a shohin black pine from Texas that, not only had very nice movement and taper, fresh green short needles, but old bark that was adorned with lichens. My friend, Nick Lenz, says that even a not so spectacular tree can look good when it gets old.

In our journey exploring the beauty of bonsai, we often meet people that become inspiration to us in our pursuit. Many have inspired me in my love of shohin bonsai but the initial inspirations were definitely Suthin Sukolsolvisit and Dorie Froning. Dorie was very prominent in carrying the message of shohin bonsai to many in the US with her newsletter for many years. These were very insightful with many homespun experiences of growing shohin bonsai. I have some of these old newsletters and cherish them. Bonsai professionals can inspire in different ways - some by their work alone and others by their dynamic personality or teaching abilities. I have to say that I have come across many VERY talented artists who do not have much ability to teach. I count myself as a teacher - it takes work to assemble the necessary information to give your students but also the patience and listening skills to address the needs of whoever you are teaching. Demonstrations certainly have their place but become shallow entertainment only without some useful knowledge to absorb.
Dorie - thanks for all your teachings and inspiring work!

I am sorry for the long delay in writing. I’ve actually been very busy at New England Bonsai repotting trees since January (Hitoshi brought back some fine specimens from California then and many needed repotting). I’ve also been busy teaching classes and starting to work in my own collection.
This ume epitomizes the awakening of late winter/spring. My measure of the start of spring is the resounding chorus of peep toads that emerge from their winter slumber. This year they began their singing on the first official day of spring here in New England! I am very anxious to start styling some new shohin material and refining others.
Hopefully I’ll have time to write some more later but, for now, my ear is attentive to the sounds of new life.

There are many species traditionally used for bonsai that do not make very convincing shohin bonsai. The leaves may be too large, internodes too spacious, etc. It doesn’t stop us from trying them though! I still remember seeing a shohin magnolia in japan with one large and breathtaking flower stopping me in my tracks. That image has stayed with me for many years. Most of its characteristics are not conducive to shohin bonsai but that little window of flowering time make it worth while. Foolish attempt that it may be, one species that I am trying to make into a shohin bonsai is the Ponderosa Pine. I have two shohin sized collected trees that came from Andy Smith of South Dakota - one I purchased and one was a gift from him in exchange for my hospitality when he needed a place to stay some years ago when passing through New England. I also have a very nice collected chuhin (medium sized) Ponderosa Pine bonsai that I am working on. Pictured is one of the shohin trees I have been working on. The before picture is from about 3 or 4 years ago when I first received it. The lower trunk was quite good for shohin size and the surface roots are also quite good for this species, but ….. as with many of these trees, the internodal spacing is long and the needles are quite long. After spending a few years getting it healthy, I wired it up 2 years ago and this past year put it into a rustic shell pot from David Lowman (DaSu Bonsai)Dai Su Bonsai. It is a beginning. I am still not happy with the particular pot it is in - for one thing it needs to be smaller. Also, even though the needles are at least 1/2 the length of the originals, they still need to be shorter. Some friends have encouraged me to graft black pine foliage onto it but that would take all the fun and challenge out of doing this! Another time I will show the other shohin Ponderosa I have (and other non traditional species).

… I’ve come to talk with you again.’
I’m always reminded of these great lyrics from Simon and Garfunkels ‘Sound of Silence’ when late fall begins to slide into darkness.
Winter is the fourth season - the one many of us dislike the most. Why is that? It is the season of darkness, of cold, of dormancy. Fall can tease us with brilliant color and awakening cool but it also brings diminishing light and melancholy thoughts. Winter is more associated with Death - Death is the one human experience most of us wish to avoid and many people spend an inordinate amount of time trying to escape. Many of us in the colder realms fly off to take a winter vacation to a warmer climate to escape the cold and darkness. Although it can be seen as another human fantasy about avoiding death (by growing and admiring ancient trees, etc), bonsai is also life affirming.
Let us look at winter in a different light.- NOT the season of despair. Sure it evokes melancholy but that is part of life. Befriend it. Winter also means sleep, rest, dreaming….
Many of us know John Naka winter haiku - it is always fresh to remember it this time of year:

Last Leaf has fallen
Tree will sleep and I will dream
Spring is tomorrow.

Here is one of my shohin larch holding on to it’s needles for a few more days before it get tucked away for the season.

One of the sweetest feelings one can experience is coming across something surprisingly beautiful that was completely unexpected. Maybe walking through the woods and coming upon a wild red fox walking unsuspectingly across your path or looking through a nursery for bonsai material and finding something that stops you in your path as exhibiting potential for a beautiful creation.
About 6 or 7 years ago, Kunio Kobayashi was giving a talk at a California bonsai convention and spoke of a Japanese concept called ‘Kai Kou’. It refers to an ‘unexpected encounter’ or ‘crossing paths’. I have adopted this term as my bonsai philosophy (and use it on my bonsai card kai kou bonsai). At its best, bonsai opens my eyes to the beauty of nature and is an avenue to ‘cross paths’ with beautiful trees and wonderful people in bonsai. If you’ve studied philosophy at all, you know of Martin Buber’s ‘I and Thou’ philosophy in which he describes the nature of our relationship with the world as ‘subject to subject’ and not ‘subject to object’. Basically we are not separate from others or the natural world but are connected to each other. To extend this thinking further, we need to respect and be open to those around us (and the natural world) - to learn new things, experience beauty and wonder, etc. When our eyes are open to the many ‘surprises’ around us (eg. as exhibited in a bonsai), we will have many wonderful unexpected encounters of beauty and hopefully create many beautiful bonsai for others to enjoy.

The shohin symposium was a real charge. I met many great bonsai friends and learned a lot of new (and old) techniques for beautifying our shohin bonsai. The exhibit was better than I expected. Folks are really progressing in the artform. Bill Valavanis always puts on a top notch show and this one was no exception. I did get a chance to spend some time with one of my teachers, Kenji Miyata, who now resides in California. When he first came to the US, he spent 6 months a year (for four consecutive years) on a work visa at New England Bonsai Gardens (where I work) until he was able to secure citizenship. Kenji apprenticed with Mr. Yashuo Mitsuya in Japan. Mitsuya, who is well known in the US - having worked at many conventions here, studied at Daiju en, the home of the famous Suzuki family of bonsai artists. Kenji still refers to Tosh Suzuki as his ‘father’ - many apprentices have this kind of relationship with their teachers.
We were discussing the styling of bonsai and how that styling relates to the long term health of a particular tree. The Suzuki family practices what may be termed the ‘old style’ bonsai tradition in Japan. Bonsai are styled slowly with the intention of making a beautiful tree with emphasis on correct branching, taper, movement, etc achieved by proper growing techniques. Basically it is a slower way to develop a beautiful bonsai but, in the long term, a healthier way. Kenji feels that some contemporary bonsai artists opt for a quicker way to achieve a nice design by wiring branches in dramatic fashion to create a nice canopy BUT, he feels that the long term overall health of the tree may be compromised and problems may thus arise over time. It is something to ponder. I have seen Kenji work trees in a more subtle manner and achieve a simpler beauty than might have been achieved with the ‘quicker’ methods that others use. I am not eschewing one version over another but it is hard to criticize Kenji’s approach. Besides impeccable credentials, working with him daily at the nursery convinced me of the value of his technique. He often spoke of the ‘future’ of a tree. By future, he was referring to 5, 10, 15 or 20 years in the future! How often do we think of that far ahead while working with a particular tree? It reminded me of a visit to Japan bonsai grower who was in his 40’s. He showed us a 3 acre field of beautiful black pines growing in the ground preparing to be bonsai. These trees were to die for! He explained that they were not quite ready. We asked how long they were in the ground. He said that they were planted over 30 years ago by his father! He was caring for these trees with proper seasonal trimming, root pruning, etc. as well as paying high taxes for the land, watering, etc. but waiting until they were ‘ready’.
Lets remember that our trees have a life to live and, though we want them to be beautiful and healthy, we can take our time doing it, following their natural rhythm and time. I have some little Japanese maples that I started from seed 6 years ago. They are growing slowly (trained in pots only) but I have been carefully developing them so as to avoid scars, etc. it will take longer to achieve something (hopefully) nice and maybe someone after me can finish the work I started…. the cycle will continue…
Here is one of my favorite quotes by Tosh Suzuki’s father (considered the father of the zuisho variety of japanese white pine)
“In order to create art of your own time, there’s no simple formula. You just have to keep working at it while you are doing it. You feel you must make something quite different from anything you have ever seen. This does not mean that you malign the past; you perpetuate the good points of the old style and in addition you try to produce something even better. That is the mission of those who respect their era. Bonsai, which is a legacy for the generations to come, must not be a mere repetition of the past. Then the achievement of the generation before us will be meaningless… Bonsai is a very difficult art and if someone asks for a simple formula for it, you cannot give it. In the case of a painting, when the picture is finished it is completed and stabilized. But in the case of bonsai, it will always be changing. It’s a perpetual motion. How skillfully you can manage this changing object is the problem. Of course, this very problem provides us with a challenge and enjoyment as well. I always strive to free myself of a set bonsai style. To express it radically, even opposite or wheel formation branches should be made into a pleasing form without undue stress. Yet there are no set rules for doing it. Nature creates far more mysterious things than man’s imagination can come up with. So if you take in interesting forms of nature into the world of bonsai, it will be a great help to those who aspire to learn the technique.”

~ Saichi Suzuki, Daiju-en (Okazaki, Japan)

Sorry I haven’t written much lately - I’ve had other committments that have kept me away from the computer. I’ve moved my youngest son to college in New York City and spent a few days there. I was struck with how little natural space residents had for plants in the city. Most people live in high rise apartments with no yard, some with a little fire escape. I couldn’t imagine living without a space to grow some trees outside! The joy of bonsai for me is the experience of living with trees in the four seasons of nature and interacting with the natural world. In Japan, people also have very little living quarters but you would still see a rooftop bonsai growing area or a little 20′ x 20′ closed in ‘yard’ filled with bonsai and plants! Here is a little picture to keep you inspired. It is a shimpaku Juniper owned and styled by Mario Komsta who is an apprentice of Mr. Urushibata in Japan- a very talented young bonsai artist. Hope to see some of you at the Shohin Symposium in a few weeks!

Saw this quote on a site the other day:

It is essential to experience all the times and moods of one good place. (Thomas Merton)

I have lived in my house for 27 years and have cultivated a bonsai collection for about 20 of those years in this same place. The quote resonated in me as I was thinking about my bonsai collection and the responsibility of caring for it. Because bonsai is part of my life and a reflection of my love for nature, they teach me about the rhythmic changes of the seasons, about the responsible caring of life, about beauty, etc. I was reflecting, however, on the how I have often abused that for my selfish pleasure. I have often looked to ‘accumulate’ trees I want to have this or that tree, I need to have different varieties, etc. at the expense of being able to care for them. I have to admit that I always struggle with what is a good size for my collection a good manageable size. I have lost some good trees (a few fantastic trees!) that I have lamented and some of these died because of maybe having too many and possibly neglecting one here or there. Hey, we all have to fess up to this. I am not beating myself up but have to admit that I’ve made mistakes in having too large a collection at times.
The Merton quote reminded me to experience the beauty of my trees in all their grandeur and also all the care necessary to maintain this beauty and health. Some of my trees have been in my ‘good place’ for many years and I joyously bring them out of hibernation each spring, put them on the same (or another) pedestal and begin the cycle again sunshine, water, trimming, feeding, etc.
Right now I am attempting a new pledge one that is based on Colin Lewis’ statement that ‘when one buys a new tree, it must be at least as good as the top three that you have’ (or something to that effect). I have modified it a bit. First, yes a new tree must be as good as my top five (at least in potential) but also, if I am serious about purchasing this tree, I must give up two in it place. I told this to Hitoshi at New England Bonsai and he sometimes teases me and says that I owe him 2 or 3 trees because of ones that I purchased. I also try to give trees away to my students as gifts. The point is not to simply be a consumer who is simply accumulating ‘things’ of beauty but one who loves and learns from your trees and therefore makes a conscientious, artistically critical and thoughtful decision when considering buying, collecting or trading for a new specimen. Remember they will become part of your ‘good place’ to experience.
A view of a small portion of my bonsai collection (shohin bonsai and chuhin area).

after my last entry on the Shohin Bonsai Symposium in Rochester and mention of an American Shohin Bonsai Society, I was contacted by two shohin bonsai enthusiasts who have become motivated to try and get the organization started again. Bravo! I’ll let you know of any progress. Shohin is very popular in Japan right now and has gained strength in Europe with the good work of Morten Albek. We have some very talented shohin bonsai artists in this part of the world also and it would be great to have a ‘voice’ for our unique appreciation of shohin bonsai. I think the best shohin bonsai artist, by far, in this country is Suthin Sukolsovisit. Amazing talent! I think he has a intrinsic gift for working with plants - almost a physio/spiritual connection with them. I know - this sounds stupid to some - but his work is amazing and I have thought his plants are often beyond the ordinary. Just here in New England, we have Suthin, Colin Lewis, Nick Lenz, etc. who bring a wealth of talent to the area. We’ve also been blessed at New England Bonsai Gardens to have had Kenji Miyata here in residence for 3 previous years before moving on to California as well as visits by Hiromi Tsukada and other Japanese bonsai artists. Also, not so far away, are other great talents - American Shohin bonsai pioneer, Dorie Froning in Pennsylvania (and Bill Valavanis in NY, etc, etc) I do wish these organizers well in their attempt at restarting the ASBS.
I’ve been thinking lately about the curatorial responsibilities of caring for and cultivating a large bonsai collection and will have an entry on that in the near future. Also, I have a small needle juniper that I will be styling for a shohin bunjin cascade in the near future also. Here is a picture of a shimpaku that I worked in at Taisho en in Japan.