Chronicles of Dogwood Studios Apprentice

DogwoodApprentice

DogwoodApprentice

Sapling
Messages
43
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Location
Statesville, NC
USDA Zone
8A
BN

Hi, I'm Jacob. Kannapolis' Winter Silhouette show marked my first weekend working as the apprentice of Tyler Sherrod at his garden, Dogwood Studios, in Hickory, NC. Tyler spent six years studying under the venerable Shinji Suzuki, and has come to be recognized as one of the top bonsai professionals in the US. Along with Instagram, I wanted to document some of the apprenticeship experience, our travels and garden goings-ons and the good @Bonsai Nut suggested here as an appropriate venue. Which brings me to another plug: Dogwood Studios Intensives are now being booked for 2025.

Tyler is letting me bring my smoker to the garden and I'm taking requests. We look forward to seeing y'all.

V/R
Dogwood Apprentice

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Good luck with the apprenticeship! I was in Tyler's study group in Atlanta for several years and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed some of my smoked shoulder at least once or twice. I'm absolutely sure he enjoyed working on my trees... and my manhattans! Good bonsai, good barbecue, and good bourbon all at once is worth the effort. Here's to meeting you in the garden with a hint of barbecue smoke in the air some day soon.
 
Submitted a form online for summer. See you then 🤙
 
Dav4 said:
Good luck with the apprenticeship! I was in Tyler's study group in Atlanta for several years and I'm pretty sure he enjoyed some of my smoked shoulder at least once or twice. I'm absolutely sure he enjoyed working on my trees... and my manhattans! Good bonsai, good barbecue, and good bourbon all at once is worth the effort. Here's to meeting you in the garden with a hint of barbecue smoke in the air some day soon.
Click to expand...
Thank you, hope to hit the triple-B with you and the Boss soon!
 
Way to go Jacob!

Will be really looking forward to hearing about your new bonsai voyage with Tyler!

Best
DSD sends
 
Deep Sea Diver said:
Way to go Jacob!

Will be really looking forward to hearing about your new bonsai voyage with Tyler!

Best
DSD sends
Click to expand...
I thought about picking up that sign-off as an homage to you, my friend. Then I remembered I was only a filthy enlisted, and that's not how we end messages ;)

V/R,
DA
 
Ugh! Not so fast off the enlisted slur sailor as I, too once was an enlightened enlisted sailor …. as you were.

Like the sign off you chose, was going to suggest…

“Dogwood 2 out”

Cheers
DSD sends
 
Very excited to have Tyler working in this area a bunch more this year. Signed up!
 
Chronicles #1

Happy New Years Everyone, I hope y'all are as fired up about bonsai in 2025 as I am. This past Monday, the 30th, I had the opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with Jeremiah on the Black Pondo podcast. We talked a bit about my background in the military, studying in Japan, and arrival at 32 year old apprenticeship, my relationship with Tyler, admiration for other US and Japanese professionals, and what it's like being self aware I'm at the peak of Mount Stupid of bonsai's Dunning Kruger Effect, among other topics. Be on the look out for that hopefully sometime later this month if it pleases you.

I have the idea to spread how I, and we as the garden, pursue a future growing appreciation for high level bonsai in a digital world. To that end I will be attempt at engaging with all the different "social" bonsai mediums in different ways (it would make me so happy to go viral on tik tok for blending my love of streetwear with my love of bonsai) but it is my intention to keep these Chronicles here on Bnut: 1 short 2 genuine 3 unpolished. Recaps of the day or recent happenings. Sometimes it will be deeply personal, other times perfunctory.

My first day working in the garden was a light one. Tyler allotted me my own corner of the studio to get set up with the tools I brought from home. They're loaded up in a black Craftsman toolbox I first bought as a Third Class Petty Officer stationed in Chesapeake, VA back in 2011 or so. It's seen 4 more states and about a dozen address since. Sometime between now and when our first intensives happen January 25-27 I have to make sure to obscure the broadly stickered "I went to Hawaii and all I got was called Dumb Fucking Haole." Anyway, after finishing my set up, I set about weeding trees due to be returned to their owner after a long boarding. In the early afternoon Boss cut me loose "...in the spirit of this being a big holiday in Japan and there's bowl games. Real work starts tomorrow."
 
Happy News Years Jake!

Really looking forward to your posts. Gotta Black Pondo on my next workout and listen to you guys tomorrow!

Cheers
DSD sends
 
Chronicles #2

A week and a half into a fine arts apprenticeship and I already have annoying facial hair.

The past 10 days probably spent 50/50 doing classic deshi work: unwiring and weeding. On the unwiring days, every time I closed my eyes I would see the tool pictured below turning over, again and again. Zoned in prepping the return of a large private collection, the progress made by Boss, myself, and Garden Manager Chilo in our respective projects has been firing us all up. Teamwork makes the dreamwork, baby.

Photo details:
I was given this "knipper" by my teacher in Japan, Koji Hiramatsu. It A. Has spring handles B. Pointed tip allows even fine wires deeply embedded to be grabbed C. Will cut copper up to about 12-14 pretty handedly. D. excellent for cleaning out dead junk. E. I recently found quite handy at pulling deep seated weeds!
It can be found cheaply on japanese amazon, and kaneshin packages the same exact tool for 3x the price, and that's the price difference in Japan. Full throated endorsement after 30 hours of unwiring
 

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Chronicles #3

Tyler and I had a conversation about "learning to become a piece of the puzzle." How what I do reflects on him and Mr. Suzuki, for good and bad.
Something I have turned over in my mind again and again in the days since; the master-apprentice relationship is incredibly important to both of us and I treat it as such. One take away was how I interact with my bonsai friends means something different now- perhaps a unique experience as opposed to those that go away to apprenticeship and come back a professional, as I've stayed in North Carolina I will continue throughout my apprenticeship to see those "in the scene" I was once a hobbyist in.

As an aside, I wish the conversation would've happened before I went on a popular podcast. I riffed and joked while optimally caffeinated for 90 minutes straight, so naturally I've now begun dreading it's release. After I spent 9 years standing watch at all hours of the night cracking jokes with other Sailors and Marines, I wonder if at times my brain is broken to propriety. I guess we will find out soon.

If you've been to Dogwood Studios in the past few years, you're really going to be blown away at the work done over the last month. Huge changes in the garden. I spent a day reorganizing the greenhouse and sorting the collection by species and size. It was a blast.
 
I enjoy seeing your updates here and on Facebook. The pictures are fun and educational, too. I understand and relate to the transition that you are describing as you go from a hobbyist to learning how to create high-level trees and any other next steps (whatever that may be).

You / we are evolving with time and experience. With more knowledge comes more responsibility. You are fully invested with a very talented teacher. You can put your previous mind set behind and embrace this responsibility.

For me, I have committed to preside the BSOC, be a mentee under Creighton, and then use this knowledge to help the club, and mentor the next selected candidate as part of the Mike Brawley Mentorship program (statrted this year). I have questioned some of my previous actions. Learning from mistakes has kind of been my MO. However, I am committing to being more thoughtful and diligent and to do better planning. Therefore, your message resonates with me.

Im excited to see the evolution and benefits that the Dogwood experience is giving you and the community and to do what I can to advance rapidly, too.
 
Attach0.jpegAttach0.jpegChronicles #4

I tried to wear a raincoat I got a couple years ago and it would not fit over my back and shoulders. Turns out, lifting 20-100lbs from ass-to-grass squat position, and farmer’s carrying dozens of cinder blocks builds more muscle mass than being an office worker. Who would’ve thought?

My friend and frequent student of Tyler, Mr Michael Ring came to pay us a visit. I had some venison from our mentor in the Triangle, so Michael and I had ourselves a cookout with a view.
 
Chronicles #5

First intensive weekend at the garden has begun! Most of my day was spent in the greenhouse, but there was some occasional moments I found myself in the studio where all the action was happening. In those moments, hovering nearby when Tyler is applying advanced techniques, I do my best to, as generations of apprentices have done before me, “steal” my masters techniques.

Being January, most of the work was repotting pines. Some of the techniques securing trees to their containers had me really floored to see in person happening. A so-so JWP came in the batch. When placed on a stone, wired-in by little copper eyelets secured in place by a putty to the stone, the whole room was floored how much a change the container made.One student brought in an interesting eastern white pine that I’m curious to see develop.

One of Tyler’s focus throughout intensive is in the formal presentation. What season might you show this tree in? With what scroll? Why? Which direction is the tree? And so on. We took the JWP and Tyler taught how to set up in a suiban of sand while I went into the greenhouse to pick a complementary tree. I brought three options back to the studio, but my first choice was the winner. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn classical display.
 
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