The Art of Bonsai Project - Bonsai Artist Profiles

Bonsai Artist Profiles

Julian Adams

Julian R. Adams, proprietor of Adams' Bonsai, has been active in bonsai since receiving a gift bonsai in 1971. Beyond improving his own bonsai skills, Julian's primary interest is to make bonsai plants and supplies conveniently available to bonsai enthusiasts and to spread the word about this great art form. Adams' Bonsai was formed in 1984 to facilitate this interest.
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Morten Albek

Morten performs Bonsai, and Shohin and Mame-bonsai demonstrations and workshops, both nationally in his native Denmark, and internationally. In 2005, his two closest bonsai-friends and he opened a bonsai school to promote bonsai further by workshops in Denmark. Morten's non-bonsai work is as a camera operator at a regional TV-station in Denmark, which is his full time job.
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View Morten's Gallery of Shohin Bonsai >>
View Morten's Gallery of Accent Plantings >>

Vaughn Banting

Vaughn Banting's life story is truly an amazing one that will take you from the jungles of Vietnam where he was wounded in action to his incredible journey though the world of bonsai where he eventually taught the art in such far-away places as Columbia South America and South Africa. He helped to start the The Greater New Orleans Bonsai Society and the Thursday Knights Bonsai Study Group, which was home to such well known artists as Guy Guidry.
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Dan Barton

Dan first acquired an interest in bonsai in 1969. He has never had any formal training in bonsai and was essentially self taught, but he was fortunate in having been trained and qualified in the first instance, as an art teacher, and, later in graphic design with Applied Photography being his main subject, he was self-taught in this too.
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Farrand Bloch

Farrand Bloch was born in 1965, his interest in Japanese Zen gardens eventually evolved into bonsai and his later studies under Hotsumi terakawa, Yuji Yoshimura and Suchin Ee. Farrand later traveled to Japan and followed workshops at Shigeo Kuroso's bonsai garden near Omiya. In 1993 opened his studio garden in Voorschoten holland called Sozo bonsai studio and he begun a long journey of giving demonstrations and workshops. Farrand was one of the demonstrators during BCI in 1998 in Puerto Rico and he was a demonstrator in 1997 at Long Island Mid Atlantic event USA.
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Peter Chan

Peter Chan has been awarded a record 21 Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medals, a feat no other bonsai specialist has ever achieved. He has also received many awards including a prestigious Honours award from the Association of British Bonsai Artists. He is the author of seven best selling books which are sold worldwide and has appeared on television many times to talk about Bonsai.
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Cheng Cheng-Kung

Born and raised in Taiwan,Cheng started his bonsai career in 1980. Surrounded by the beautiful mountains and scenery of his country,he had many occasions to observe the work of nature at its finest. Studying the structural impact of natural enviroment created the base for Cheng's extraordinary "Silk Carving Techniques"(Si-Diao). "Si-Diao" is a method of peeling wood fibre with special tools without leaving any toolmarks. Due to his talent to visualize outstanding bonsai material, Cheng ingeniously adds "durable" age to his otherwise perfectly styled tree.
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View Cheng's Gallery >>

Jack Douthitt

His bonsai have been selected, numerous times, as "Best of Show" at various regional bonsai exhibits, and they have won many Blue Ribbons and Awards of Merit. His bonsai have also been featured on the covers of six bonsai magazines. Jack's bonsai have been selected to be included in both the National Arboretum Collection of American Bonsai in Washington DC and the Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection in Tacoma WA.
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Jim Doyle

In 1973, with a B.S. degree in horticulture from Delaware Valley College of Science and Agriculture, Jim started Nature`s Way Nursery and developed an early interest in Asian culture and plants. By 1980, through the influence of Chase Rosade, bonsai passed from being a hobby to a business/life-style. Jim attends many symposia, teaches year round to both adults and children at his studio and travels extensively.
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Lindsay Farr

Lindsay Farr began dabbling in bonsai in early childhood. His first real collection was realized as a 13 year old when he mixed bonsai with Rhododendron collecting. His interest in bonsai diminished briefly when he became voluntary Aussie Motown rep with the duty of persuading Australian Radio to play the Motown hits. By the late sixties he became a saxophone player touring with numerous outfits including Sydney Jazz/Rock fusion pioneers Heart'N'soul and the iconic Australian Rock band Daddy Cool.
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Christine Hayward

Christine, child of a Naval Officer, grew up moving around the United States and many parts of the world. After her parents visited Japan in the fifties, bringing home kimonos, block prints, ceramics and other items, she has had a strong attraction to the Japanese and other Asian cultures since she was quite young. She also expressed a strong artistic inclination as a child, which was encouraged. This interest has continued throughout her life, education, and developed into a decorative arts business which she has maintained for more than 20 years, painting in mostly high end residential situations, in a wide range of styles and painting techniques. Her specialty is the art of illusion called trompe l'oeil.
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View Christine's Gallery >>

Horst Heinzlreiter

Horst Heinzlreiter is an Austrian ceramic artist known world-wide for the innovative, organic forms that he creates for kusamono and the ageless, rustic perfection of his bonsai pottery. Horst is also an accomplished bonsai artist, specializing in Mugo pine and larch that he collects himself from the alps. Additional photographs of Horst's work can be seen on his website and in Wolfgang Putz's kusamono gallery here at the Art of Bonsai Project.
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View Horst's Gallery >>

Marco Invernizzi

When developing this profile on Marco, the staff at AoB found themselves hard pressed to narrow his accomplishments down into a brief summary as there have been so many. Marco travels all over the world teaching bonsai, his energy and love of the art is obvious to all who meet him, his talent and drive has lead him to don many great things for the bonsai community, how could we possibly condense so much into a brief paragraph or two?
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Robert Kempinski

Living in central Florida, USA, my collection is a mix of tropical and temperate trees that can take the heat of our summers and very mild winters. I especially like Buttonwood, Japanese Black Pine and Willow Leaf Ficus trees. I've had the good fortune to travel extensively around the US and the world visiting bonsai gardens and exhibitions.
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View Rob's Gallery

Al Keppler

Al Keppler has been a carpenter by trade since 1972 and he started bonsai in 1983. He started making stands in 2000 due to stands not being very plentiful. Since then he has shipped stands all over the US and a few to Europe.
He belongs to three bonsai clubs, he is the Vice President and program chairman for Hanford Bonsai Society, Akatsuki Bonsai Kai, and Kofu Kai.
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View Al's Gallery of Stands >>

Masahiko Kimura

A Japanese native, his teenage years was spent, by the wishes of his mother, as a apprentice under a bonsai master (He wanted to be a rock and roll musician). After working in the horticultural field, his work was featured in Kindai Shuppan, where his incredible skill with carving deadwood quickly made him well known in the bonsai community.
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Sam Lee

Sam spent all if not most of his free time, in, on or under the ocean, having no interest in horticultural pursuits. Keeping the lawn mowed and cultivating an occasional backyard vegetable garden with the help of the kids was about it; so in 1996 when Sam decided to try bonsai, all the people in Sam’s world arched their eyebrows, shook the heads and walked away muttering. . .
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Nick Lenz

Nick Lenz is a crazy old hermit, not unlike Obi Wan Kenobi, who lives in the wooded hills of Massachusetts. He's also perhaps the best bonsai artist and potters in the United States. His work exhibits a flair for the dramatic and many surprises await those who carefully examine his bonsai. Deadwood may contain a demon's face, root structure may resemble legs, and the bonsai may be planted on something ...different; like a bowling ball. Nonetheless, there is no mistaking the excellent craft and artistry in Nick's work.
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View Nick's Gallery

Colin Lewis

Colin Lewis grew-up in southern England where he received formal education in graphic design. This education had a strong influence in the development of the bonsai artist. Colin has been studying bonsai for over thirty years and has published several bonsai books and numerous bonsai articles.
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Min Hsuan Lo

Min Hsuan Lo received the grand prize of the JAL World Bonsai Contest in 1999 and he has won several other honors since. He was one of the headliners at BCI 2004 in Taiwan and has traveled to Malaysia, the Philippines, South Africa, India, and U.S.A. He looks forward to more trips abroad to share his knowledge and to also learn more about bonsai in other countries. As a child LO was at his father's side learning the art of bonsai. After graduating from the University of TAM KANG in Taiwan where he studied Chinese Literature, LO returned home to learn more about bonsai, not only from his father but also from every master in Taiwan.
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Please enjoy the images in Min's gallery.

Brussel Martin

Brussel Martin is well known by many practitioners of the art, his stock has found its way to benches, workshops, and demonstrations around the world and his reputation as a nurseryman is respected by the beginner and advanced artist alike. The following bio is from his website brusselsbonsai.com.
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Jerry Meislik

Jerry Meislik has been a major influence in American bonsai since the 1980s. In addition to his international reputation for growing many tropical and native North American species, Jerry is well known as a frequent demonstrator at clubs and conventions. He is also the author of more than fifty magazine articles and his 2004 book Ficus: The Exotic Bonsai. Jerry's gallery here at the Art of Bonsai project illustrates a number of his trees.
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Pauline Muth

Whenever someone mentions bonsai artists who are inspirational, Pauline Muth's name seems to always top the list and for very good reasons. She has been actively involved in bonsai for over thirty years, a member of her original club (Mohawk Hudson Bonsai Society in the capital district area of New York State) for over 25 years where she now serves on the the board of directors, and she has studied with some of the greatest masters in bonsai, such as John Naka, over the years.
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Matt Ouwinga

Bonsai has been a huge passion of Matt's since he was 17 years old. When he was 21 he visited Japan for the first time and saw the Kokufu-en exhibit and was inspired to follow his dream of going to Japan to study bonsai. About a year later he came in contact with Mr. Yoshi Nakamizu who organized the International School of Bonsai through Mr. Kunio Kobayashi who, at the time, won more Kokufu-ten and Sakufu-ten grand prizes than any other bonsai master. Mr. Nakamizu and Matt talked regularly and eventually Matt decided that going to Japan to study was something he had to do. For one summer Matt lived, worked, and studied bonsai in Japan under Mr. Kobayashi.
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Antoni Payeras

Antoni Payeras is a Spanish bonsai artist, born in 1963. His interest in bonsai began in 1984, at the age of 21. After graduating with a degree in Landscaping Architecture, he started a garden and landscaping company along with a nursery. There he began to produce commercial bonsai from native Mediterranean trees. He is a collaborator for the Spanish bonsai magazine "Bonsai Actual", for which he has written numerous articles. He began teaching the art of bonsai to others in 1989, and owns the Bonsai School of Menorca.
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Walter Pall

Walter Pall is well known throughout the world for his distinctive style, willingness to teach, and straightforward approach. He has received several dozen national and international awards for his bonsai. He has won the most prestigious Crespi Cup Award of Italy for his Rocky Mountain Juniper and has come in among the top six, every time he has entered. He has also won second and third places in the Gingko Cup Awards of the Belgium bonsai competition of which he is the first artist to have 10 bonsai accepted. Walter's gallery here at AoB highlights his remarkable talent.
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Steve Pilacik

Steve Pilacik is known by many as the "American Pine Master". He is the most experienced grower of Japanese Black Pine in the United States, having specialized in Japanese Black Pine and Japanese Maples since 1977. During his bonsai career he has also written the book "Japanese Black Pine"; put out the DVD "Japanese Black Pine Expanded". In addition, he has also written numerous articles that have been published in International Bonsai, Bonsai Today, Bonsai Clubs International, American Bonsai Society and Frank Mihalich's on line bonsai magazine. Steve is also known as "Sensei Sam" in Clippings, which has been his column in the Potomac Bonsai newsletter for the last 10 years. This prolific artist has also written, periodically, for the Florida Bonsai Journal.
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Wolfgang Putz

Austrian, Wolfgang Putz, is an accomplished bonsai artist and cultivates many species of flowering and decorative plants besides bonsai. Wolfgang is a remarkable presence in the world of bonsai, his work with kusamono and bonsai is recognized and respected around the globe. He has been published in many English and German publications, won numerous awards, and is an active collector of yamadori. His gallery of kusamono here at the Art of Bonsai project highlights his talent for this art form.
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View Wolfgang's Miniature Hosta Gallery >>
View Wolfgang's Bonsai Gallery >>

Dan Robinson

Dan's personal bonsai collection numbers more than 200, and are significant for their quality and age. His work is also represented in numerous public and private collections, including the American Bonsai Collection at the National Arboretum in Washington D.C.
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Sara Rayner

Sara Rayner is a self taught potter of 30 years, the last 14 years of which she has worked solely on producing bonsai containers. Sara works out of an old carriage house in her home town of Red Wing, Minnesota. She originally became interested in Bonsai 17 years ago when she attended an IBC convention in Minneapolis. She then joined the Minnesota Bonsai Society and has been an active member since. Much of her time is taken up with bonsai pot production and attending various conventions around the country. Some of it is reserved for her real passions, which include maintaining a manageable collection of bonsai trees, and serious bird watching.
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View Sara's Gallery >>

Andy Rutledge

Andy Rutledge has worked with Bonsai Today, published an online magazine for a couple of years, worked 3 spring seasons at New England Bonsai in Massachusetts, conducted about a dozen interviews with artists around the world and translated/edited Robert Steven's book, "Vision of my Soul."
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Enrico Savini

Enrico Savini is a well known bonsaist from Monteveglio, Italy who contributes greatly to the local bonsai scene. He won the 2003 Ben Oki International Design Award with a remarkable Juniperus Chinensis and gives classes, demonstrations and holds workshops both on the road and at his Progetto Futuro Bonsai School in Monteveglio.
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Wayne Schoech

Wayne is the editor and publisher of Stone Lantern/Bonsai Today. Born and raised in Northern California, he studied linguistics at UC Berkeley and psychology at Sonoma State College. He saw his first bonsai collection in 1978 while operating his upscale landscaping company in Berkeley. He started New England Bonsai with Hitoshi Kanegae in 1987 and sold his shares to Hitoshi in 1998. Later, joining John Palmer at Stone Lantern/Bonsai Today in 1999, he purchased Stone Lantern/Bonsai Today from John in October 2001 (right after 9/11 was a tough time to purchase a business).
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Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith is a contract forester in South Dakota's Black Hills. He became fascinated in bonsai in about 1994 while collecting core specimens from very ancient pines to use in past climate studies. Smith transplants 300-400 trees per year for bonsai and has supplied demo and workshop trees to many of the world's best bonsai artists. He enjoys learning about this beautiful and extraordinary art and meeting with other enthusiasts around the country.
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View Andy's Gallery >>

Jim Smith

Jim Smith is well known in the world of bonsai. He has exhibited at the BCI Convention in 1975, at all the BSF Conventions since 1976, at all the BCI Conventions in Florida, at all the Epcot Flower shows, and at WBFF in Orlando, Florida. He founded the Treasure Coast Bonsai Society in 1975, the Dura-Stone Nursery in 1979, and he has conducted workshops and demonstrations in many major venues. We are proud to present his profile and gallery here at AoB.
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View Jim's Gallery >>

Mauro Stemberger

Mauro Stemberger was born in Italy in 1978. He is member of UBI Unione Bonsaisti Italiani [the Italian Bonsai 'Union'], serves as one of the instructors of the Progetto Futuro Bonsai School with headquarters in Monteveglio, Italy, and serves as the president of the bonsai club of Feltre. His interest in "that fascinating Bonsai World" began in 1993 while reading books on bonsai. Mauro states he "was very curious about the intrinsic beauty of these 'small-large' works of art, a beauty that harmoniously interacts with nature and man, and makes us appreciate these small creatures day by day, having the pleasure of seeing them on the stands in our garden."
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View Robert's Gallery >>

Robert Steven

Robert Steven has been involved in the art since 1979 and has won more than 50 competition awards nationally and internationally. He is also very active in national and international bonsai organizations. His recent book 'Vision of My Soul' brings his thoughts and his love for the art of bonsai into the light it well deserves. Robert's gallery here at AoB highlights his remarkable talent.
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View Robert's Gallery >>

Budi Sulistyo

Budi Sulistyo of Jakarta, Indonesia first began bonsai in 1976 and started teaching the art in 1984. He gives seminars and teaches in classes and workshops throughout his country and on national television. As the first Indonesian to win an international award (International Bonsai Exhibition in Osaka, Japan) and as the author of the Indonesian language book "Bonsai", he is well known and respected in the bonsai community.Read More >>
View Budi's Gallery >>

Karl Thier

His introduction to the art of bonsai occurred in1987 at a bonsai nursery in Vienna. Two years later he bought his first bonsai books, and in 1992 began his 'bonsai journey' with a few trees 'indoors' learning the proper care of the “little trees”. He quite soon became disenchanted with the available 'imported' trees, and started to experiment with trees that were indigenous to the area where he lived
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View Karl's Gallery >>

Ed Trout

A member of many clubs in the area, he has served two terms as president, is a lifetime member of his local club, Gold Coast Bonsai Society which is one of the oldest clubs in Florida and is also a charter member of the Chishiki Gawa Study Group. He is past president of Bonsai Societies of Florida, a board member of the National Bonsai Foundation at the National Arboretum in Washington D.C., as well as a board member of Bonsai Clubs International and the American Bonsai Society.
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View Ed's Gallery >>

Steve Tolley

English bonsai artist Steve Tolley began his bonsai education under the guidance of Dan Barton, with an emphasis on aesthetics and philosophy. Steve later studied with some of Europe's finest bonsai artists in particular Japanese bonsai master Hotsumi Terakawa. He is known for his attention to detail and great technique and for his work in creating beautiful bonsai, being particularly associated with conifers. Pines, junipers and yews are among Steve's favorite species.
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View Steve's Gallery >>

William N. Valavanis

Bill became interested in bonsai and horticulture at age 11 and persued his interest by studying Ornamental Horticulture at SUNY Farmingdale and Cornell University. He has made over 40 trips to Japan and formally apprenticed with Kyuzo Murata and Kakutaro Komuro in Omiya Bonsai Village in Japan. Additionally a 30-year study and association with Yuji Yoshimura combined with his formal horticultural degrees, apprenticeships in Japan and his artistic talent provide Bill with the solid background to promote and teach Classical bonsai art around the world.
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View Bill's Gallery >>

Hans Van Meer

He is a self taught bonsai artist that became interested in bonsai in early 1990 and kept a few bonsai on a tiny balcony. In 1992 he moved to a house with a garden where he first began to style his own bonsai from nursery material. That same year he joined a local bonsai club, and got involved in the Dutch bonsai scene. He also won the Edo bonsai trophy with a "Pinus parviflora" which he styled from a former ornamental garden plant imported from China.
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View Hans' Blog >>

Brent Walston

With more than 20 years direct experience in the field of bonsai horticulture, Brent Walston is a leading light in the US pre-bonsai nursery business. From a landscaping background, Brent has developed a number of species that were previously unknown to bonsai and is constantly looking to improve the standard of stock and bonsai in his native country. Respected also as a bonsai commentator through his long-running internet blog, there are few people with his experience of stock development, in the western world. The owner of Evergreen Gardenworks shares his thoughts and vision with AoB, in the following interview.
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Peter Warren

Peter Warren became interested in Bonsai in Japan when he was there to watch the World Cup in 2002. He graduated from the University having studied Physics and fancied a bit of a change, but more importantly, he didn't want to get a 'nine to five' job. After going on a Bonsai tour, he immediately fell in love with the beauty, the power, and the grandeur, so he began to study at a weekly class at Shunkaen, the garden of the world famous master Kunio Kobayashi.
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Vance Wood

Vance Wood has been involved with bonsai for almost 50 years, he has won numerous awards, he has given demos and workshops across the U.S., he invented and patented a screen sided training planter for bonsai, and he is considered by many to be an expert in the cultivation of Mugho Pines. Vance's gallery here shows a number of examples of his work with this speices.
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Qingquan Zhao

Qingquan 'Brook' Zhao is one of the best known penjing artists to Western audiences, and rightly so. Zhao has pioneered the land-and-water form of penjing, in which quiet microcosms of the natural world are sculpted from rock, soil, and trees, usually on a marble slab. Bringing together a staggering talent for placing stones, a sensitive eye for natural beauty, and a mastery of tree penjing, Zhao creates marvelous plantings that capture the imagination of young children as deftly as they win the admiration of experienced penjing artists. Qingquan's gallery here on the Art of Bonsai project showcases his achievements and extraordinary talent; his book Penjing: Worlds of Wonderment offers many further examples of his artistry.
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Profile Showcase

Bonsai Artist Profiles