Contributors
Antoni Payeras
While still in high school, Bjorn had the opportunity to visit Japan as part of an ACOM Cultural Exchange Program, and it was during this short trip that he first met bonsai master Keiichi Fujikawa in Osaka. At the time, Mr. Fujikawa jokingly offered Bjorn a position as an apprentice if he ever returned to Japan for an extended period of time. Little did Mr. Fujikawa know that Bjorn would in fact take the offer to heart and would focus his full energies on one day returning to study bonsai at Fujikawa Kouka-en nursery.
During his final year at the University of Tennessee, Bjorn wrote Mr. Fujikawa a series of letters asking if his previous offer (then six years past) still stood. Following several months with no response, Mr. Fujikawa finally answered with a single, short letter. Unfortunately, however, the response was somewhat unexpected as it expressed concern and apprehension about Bjorn’s Japanese language skills as well as his work ethic. Through several more letters and a bit of convincing, Mr. Fujikawa agreed to allow Bjorn a three-month trial period as an apprentice beginning in the spring of 2008.
Candy J. Shirey
Currently, Giang is focusing on his main activity of creation of unglazed figures or mudmen bonsai figures, another art associated to Bonsai-penjing for over 1400 years. The figures are made in stoneware clay and baked between 1000 and 1250 °C. Each piece is unique and bears the seal of the author. These figurines will soon be available to bonsai enthusiasts and collectors.
He writes about bonsai at http://bonsaitonight.com
Jonathan Maples
Website: Custom Japanese Calligraphy
Juan Antonio Pérez
kev bailey
College, marriage and a career in teaching kept me away for a few years, until my interests in gardening were re-awakened through mountaineering and alpine plants. Then back into bonsai once more when I discovered Dan Barton's book. A real passion and an exponential growth in my knowledge and confidence began when I discovered that a local club had been set up.
I propagate plants constantly from seedlings, cuttings, air-layers, and grafting. They range from sticks in pots to thick ones growing on in garden beds. I also collect yamadori each winter.
For me it’s become a lifestyle.
I've written several articles on bonsai that are reproduced here and have contributed to two of Craig Coussins books, including being technical editor on one.
Chairman of the Vale of Clwyd Bonsai Society for three years.
I’ve been a serial hobbyist since my teens; as well as the Propagation, Alpines, & Cacti, I'm a keen Mountaineer, into Canoeing, Speleology, Photography, Writing, Video, Web Design, Computer Building, Palaeontology, Suiseki, Pottery, Gardening and too many others that I really should curtail, but can't. Overriding them all for the last fourteen years - bonsai.
PERMANENT ATTEMPTS,
PERMANENT FAILURE.
NEVER MIND, TRY IT AGAIN.
BETTER FAIL.
This dictum by Samuel Beckett pervades my work to a great extent. It explains very
clearly how my creative work has developed.
At the beginning I made bonsai pots just for the joy of it and now it has been more
than 30 years since I got involved with the handcrafting and spiritual depth of pottery.
I was born in 1943, am married since 1965 and have two sons and four
granddaughters. After school and some “wild years” during which I tried several
professions I served an apprenticeship for offset printing. After 25 years of
professional experience I realized that the creativity, spontaneity and the art of colour
handling in the world of printing has come to an end because of the new technologies
and machinery.
In January 1993 I risked to back out of my secure position to a job that I hoped would give more quality to my and my family’s life. As my pottery hobby ran parallel to my professional life I can build on a longtime experience in pottery and try today to fathom the last depths of this handcraft.
Bonsai pots are the book of my pottery work, consisting of clay,
written with earth and fire.
Each single pot is a page of this book, which was so much fun for me to write.
These pots provide an insight into my work.
My other hobbies have also become a profession. These are the construction of Japanese gardens and being a fitness coach with special qualification for spinal health, Pilates, Flexibar, Step-Aerobic, Stretching and Maxxf.
http://www.peter-krebs.de/
http://www.bonsaipots.net/
http://www.bonsaischalen.info/