Might be an interesting thread...
Here's my story:
I used to play tennis at the tennis courts at Piedmont Park in Atlanta when I was in high school. There arts festivals in the Park a couple times a year. One time, one of the vendors had some bonsai. I can't remember much else, but one little tree was a trident maple shohin (never heard the term "shohin" untildecades later!). It was maybe 5 inches high, with spreading nebari, extreme taper, and only had three or four tiny branches, and a half dozen leaves!
I was fascinated!
Didn't buy it, not even sure it was for sale.
Anyway, sometime later, went to the local garden center, and asked about bonsai. They didn't know anything, but they had the "Sunset" book. I bought it and devoured it! (unfortunately, it's probably the worst book on bonsai ever published!). The Garden Center did tell me about the Monastary in Conyers.
So at 16 or 17, I drove to a Monastary. Where the Btothets aren't allowed to talk. Except Father Paul could, because he had to deal with the public selling bonsai. I wasn't there for the bonsai, but for the information. Well, Father Paul was a man of few words. Oh, he was nice enough, once I bought a tree, a Japanese maple, he gave me a couple of switches of Zelkova from which to make cuttings, and I bought the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's little book on bonsai. It wasn't very big, but the information there was much more advanced than the Sunset book.
So, I messed with a couple junipers from the Garden Center, and my Japanese Maple. The Mapke was in absolutely the ugliest bonsai pot I've ever seen! Made by one of the other Monks. Out of concrete.
Well, the trees were literally taken by the wind when a tornado hit my parent's house in 1974.
In 1976, I was in Graduate School, and happened to pick up the paper and see that classes in bonsai were offered at a place in Atlanta, taught by David Cook. There was a beginner series: we worked a tree a night every two weeks. First class was formal upright, next was informal upright, then slant, then your choice of semi-cascade or full-cascade, then finally we made a forest. We used foemina juniper for the formal upright! For real! The others were Procumbens. The forest was little Japanese Maples seedlings. We all bought a starter set of Masakuni tools (that's all there was), and a set of copper wire. There was no aluminum in those days.
But, that's were I bought a copy of Yugi Yoshimura's "Miniature Trees and Landscapes". That book was my bible for many years!
I got involved with the Atlanta Bonsai Society, took many workshops with visiting artists over the years.
Some time I started messing with Japanese Black pines, and John Naka taught us about decandling. He had just learned about himself. The following year he told us about needle pulling, but, let me tell you, what he showed us to do is NOTHING like what we do now! Lol!!! I was so confused by needle pulling, I didn't do it!
It wasn't until my association with Boon that he was able to reach me the proper use of needle pulling!
Anyway, about 5 years ago I started studying with Boon, and he had to purge old bad habits and methods from me before I could really apply his methods. My bonsai have taken quantum leaps forward ever since.
Anyway, that's my story.
What's yours?
Here's my story:
I used to play tennis at the tennis courts at Piedmont Park in Atlanta when I was in high school. There arts festivals in the Park a couple times a year. One time, one of the vendors had some bonsai. I can't remember much else, but one little tree was a trident maple shohin (never heard the term "shohin" untildecades later!). It was maybe 5 inches high, with spreading nebari, extreme taper, and only had three or four tiny branches, and a half dozen leaves!
I was fascinated!
Didn't buy it, not even sure it was for sale.
Anyway, sometime later, went to the local garden center, and asked about bonsai. They didn't know anything, but they had the "Sunset" book. I bought it and devoured it! (unfortunately, it's probably the worst book on bonsai ever published!). The Garden Center did tell me about the Monastary in Conyers.
So at 16 or 17, I drove to a Monastary. Where the Btothets aren't allowed to talk. Except Father Paul could, because he had to deal with the public selling bonsai. I wasn't there for the bonsai, but for the information. Well, Father Paul was a man of few words. Oh, he was nice enough, once I bought a tree, a Japanese maple, he gave me a couple of switches of Zelkova from which to make cuttings, and I bought the Brooklyn Botanical Garden's little book on bonsai. It wasn't very big, but the information there was much more advanced than the Sunset book.
So, I messed with a couple junipers from the Garden Center, and my Japanese Maple. The Mapke was in absolutely the ugliest bonsai pot I've ever seen! Made by one of the other Monks. Out of concrete.
Well, the trees were literally taken by the wind when a tornado hit my parent's house in 1974.
In 1976, I was in Graduate School, and happened to pick up the paper and see that classes in bonsai were offered at a place in Atlanta, taught by David Cook. There was a beginner series: we worked a tree a night every two weeks. First class was formal upright, next was informal upright, then slant, then your choice of semi-cascade or full-cascade, then finally we made a forest. We used foemina juniper for the formal upright! For real! The others were Procumbens. The forest was little Japanese Maples seedlings. We all bought a starter set of Masakuni tools (that's all there was), and a set of copper wire. There was no aluminum in those days.
But, that's were I bought a copy of Yugi Yoshimura's "Miniature Trees and Landscapes". That book was my bible for many years!
I got involved with the Atlanta Bonsai Society, took many workshops with visiting artists over the years.
Some time I started messing with Japanese Black pines, and John Naka taught us about decandling. He had just learned about himself. The following year he told us about needle pulling, but, let me tell you, what he showed us to do is NOTHING like what we do now! Lol!!! I was so confused by needle pulling, I didn't do it!
It wasn't until my association with Boon that he was able to reach me the proper use of needle pulling!
Anyway, about 5 years ago I started studying with Boon, and he had to purge old bad habits and methods from me before I could really apply his methods. My bonsai have taken quantum leaps forward ever since.
Anyway, that's my story.
What's yours?
