This is an interview with me, done for a bonsai publication:
Q: When did you get your start in bonsai?
A: I got started in the art of bonsai way back in 1995. I was at a home and garden show with my late mother-in-law and saw a table full of these miniature trees and was instantly mesmerized. I took advantage of the vendors make your own bonsai and bought a book-Bonsai Special techniques Brooklyn Botanical Gardens. The mame article by Zeko Nakamura was really what got me hooked. I was involved in a serious car accident in 1997 and my collection of trees died except a ficus (which I still have). So fast forward to 2007 - spring time rolls around and I had an old bonsai pot sitting there taking up space and there was a red Japanese maple growing out in the yard that had been chopped a few times. The bug bit and I said to myself: I need soil. I went to my friend John Howle of Black Pines Nursery to get soil. He encouraged me to get involved with the Baltimore Bonsai Club and the rest is history.
Q: What do you love about it?
A: Bonsai, being a living art form, is appealing to me in so many ways - especially visually as I am an artist. Bonsai to me is therapeutic; it gets me closer to nature. It is a wonderful stress reliever and it gets me out of the art studio/dungeon.
Q: Do you have a personal specialty/favorite species of tree?
A: Absolutely. I go for the queen of bonsai the Japanese Maples. I love them. The problem is there are so many to love. Also, Shimpaku junipers. I don't care for the sticky junipers - I prefer scale junipers. I like yews, boxwood, and azalea.
Q: Who have been your greatest teachers?
A: Wow so many! John Naka, Saburo Kato, Yugi Yoshimura. Although I never got to meet them in person their books have taught me a lot. Jim Doyle, Frank Mihalic, Martha Meehan, Chase Rosade, Julian Adams, Arschel Morell, and Jim Sullivan are all of my local sensei. I learn everywhere I go and from everyone I meet. I get around so I've had workshops or seminars with Kathy Shaner, Ryan Neil, Peter Adams, Colin Lewis, Francois Jeker, Walter Pall, Pedro Morales, Rodney Clemons, Kunio Kobayashi,and the list goes on. I read a lot so Bill Valavanis is also a sensei to me. My friend George Wrede who lives 5 minutes up the street has been my best teacher through out my journey.
Q: What have been your goals during your tenure as president of the PBA?
A: My goals as president have been to promote the art and educate. I would like to see PBA have more of a presence in the bonsai world. We are custodians of the National bonsai collection. We have John Naka's Goshin in our back yard, yet I rarely hear club members talk about visiting the United States National Arboretum. I do not believe our presence is out there enough. I don't think there are enough educational programs either, but I work with a board of officers and a tight budget. Basically I'm all about education.
Q: How do you feel that your artistic abilities benefit you when styling bonsai?
A: I have an eye for seeing things design-wise others seem to overlook. I can visualize what I want the tree to look like and sketch it on paper to use as a blueprint. I understand composition, negative space, the golden triangle and other design techniques which really helps in the art of bonsai.
Q: Can you teach people to see what you see?
A: That's a trick question, but I can teach others to see things they weren't aware of before. Teach them to see things from a new or different perspective. To look at things artistically.
Q: If you had the ability to apprentice with anyone, alive or dead, who would it be?
A: John Naka.
Q: Do you have any tips for someone just starting out?
A: Find a local club, read books magazines, go to workshops, learn.
Q: What do you think is the future of bonsai in the United States?
A: American Bonsai...there are some really fantastic exhibitions here in the US and the trees just get better and better every year. I think bonsai has grown from its adolescent period to a more mature art form. Compared to other parts of the world I think for the limited time in which bonsai has been mainstream here we are doing just fine. Spectacular even.
