20 and Under

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.