Friday, November 15 Club Meeting – Jerry Braswell - The Art of Viewing Stones: From the River to Radiance

by Lynne O’Dell

Our guest presenter, Jerry Braswell, has been collecting stones from all over California and beyond for many years. He’ll share his insights into what to look for in a viewing stone, using stones as accent to bonsai, how he “works” the stone into a tactile piece of art and tips on making a carved wooden stand (Daiza) for the stone. He may even reveal some of his collecting sites.

Members are invited to bring their viewing stones for show and tell. Jerry will bring a number of his stones for sale and a few for a silent auction and raffle. Bring cash or check for purchases or payment for the silent auction.

Jerry in the wild and one of his amazing stones. Find more info at his site Art of the Daiza

American Bonsai is noted for their quality stainless steel tools at reasonable prices.

Our Club code KBC10 can be used at check out online. 

AmericanBonsai.com

Club Website Refresh

We’re proud to announce the newest version of our club website is live! You don’t need to do anything differently to access it, we’re still at KusamuraBonsai.org.

A big thank you to our outgoing webmaster Dave Curbow and to a round of applause each for Richard Phillips and Paticia Lee for building the new site and transitioning from the old one.

The work isn’t over and more changes and upgrades are in the works, so thanks for your patience and stay tuned!

Monthly Club Workshop Update

by Rita Curbow

ALL club members are invited to attend the upcoming monthly workshop on November 23. Refer to the schedule breakdown below to determine if you want to attend the Intro session which runs from 12:30 - 1:30PM. Intro session attendees are encouraged to attend both sessions that afternoon. Please bring one or more trees for the session starting at 1:30PM. If you don’t have a tree to work on that afternoon, you are welcome to still join us and learn by observing.

Please refer to www.kusamurabonsai.org/monthly-tasks to determine what species of tree can be worked on at this time of year. Note that most trees can be pruned and/or wired in November.

Dates for Upcoming Workshops

• Saturday, November 23: Wiring
  Attendees will participate in hands-on exercises to support learning via muscle-memory. Those who have a copy of the ABS “Introduction to Bonsai: A Course Syllabus” are asked to read Chapter 5 on Wiring prior to this class. Note that wire sizes typically available for the bonsai enthusiast are listed in Appendix D.

  All wire used in the “Intro” session exercises will be provided by the club. Attendees will learn how to determine what size wire is needed to hold the bend in a branch, how to wire the branch based on what direction it will be bent, etc.

• December: no club workshop (due to the holidays)

• Saturday, January 25: Containers/Pots

• Saturday, February 22: Repotting
  (the Saturday after our Friday night meeting - it’s a short month)

Schedule of Workshops

12:30PM-1:30PM “Intro to Bonsai” Portion of Workshop

For those new to bonsai or who want to brush up on basis bonsai techniques, special instruction will be offered starting at the beginning of the workshop and running for about an hour. After the special instruction/exercise, attendees will have the option to work on their trees with assistance from more advanced members in the club.

Members should bring trees that can be worked on in that time of year. Club wire will be provided for beginners as needed. Some club tools will also be available, but members will be encouraged to purchase their own set of tools eventually in order to work on their trees at home, etc.

1:30PM-4:30PM for all members of the club

Members at the intermediate or advanced levels who aren’t assisting other members in the beginners level are asked to arrive starting at 1:30PM. They will setup on the side closest to the main entrance (near the closet with tables).

Most members who attended the “Intro” session in September were able to stay for the entire afternoon and were joined by two additional members at that time. Since this was a low turnout for intermediate or advanced level members, we encourage more members to join us and work on their trees in a group environment and enjoy the camaraderie in the process.

Refreshments at the Workshop

Feel free to bring refreshments to the workshop to share with fellow members. Water will not be provided so do remember to bring that. Everyone enjoyed Dave Curbow’s homemade cherry strudel at our first workshop.

Setup and Cleanup at the Workshop

The club kindly thanks everyone who helped with setup and/or cleanup at the end. We definitely filled the green recycling bin at the end. I’ll try to remember to bring some paper grocery bags for that going forward to facilitate easier cleanup of the individual tables.

“Intro to Bonsai” Syllabus

If you did not attend the “Intro to Bonsai” workshop in September and would like a free copy of the Syllabus prior to the November workshop, please contact Michael Greenstein via email at michael.greenstein@comcast.com. Note that you must be a Kusamura member to participate in these workshops.

Follow-up on Sam Tan’s Rocky Mountain Juniper Demo Tree

by Lynne O’Dell

During our July Club meeting, Sam Tan demonstrated the initial styling of a Rocky Mountain Juniper which was in early development. By mid August he completed the wiring and thought we’d be interested in seeing its transformation.

Bjorn, in response to a question, began discussing his own fertilizer program, which varies depending on the stage of development of the tree: heavy fertilizing with high nitrogen for trees in early stages of development, then more balanced fertilizer, then low in nitrogen for trees in refinement. Osmocote Plus and Bio-Gold recommended, along with supplements of liquid kelp and fish emulsion.

Yannick discussed the Moyogi (informal upright) design of bonsai. Bjorn discussed the effects of severe cutbacks (to stimulate bud back) and reviewed a schedule for cutting candles. Yannick recommended potting the trees in a colander to develop root growth.

Bjorn’s tree was raffled off and the winner was a lucky young man and his father. Yannick’s tree was auctioned—after a spirited exchange Steve Iwaki was the highest bidder.

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Exciting GSBF Bonsai Rendezvous 2025 All Club Exhibit and Joshua Roth "Rising Stars" Competition

by Dodie Newman, Bonsai Rendezvous Chair and Michael Roberts, GSBF Chair

Hello all…

The GSBF ‘Bonsai Rendezvous 2025’ committee held its first meeting last week and there’s a lot to be excited about. First, if you haven’t heard we have two great headliners this year, Suthin Sukosolvisit and Mauro Stemberger. Both will be hosting three-hour Bring-Your-Own-Tree workshops on Friday morning and afternoon October 24th, 2025. On Saturday the 25th and the morning of Sunday the 26th, they will simultaneously style trees and educate us on their process. Both are very well respected, here in the U.S. and internationally, so it should be an amazing experience.

In 2025 the focus will be our member clubs throughout the Bonsai Rendezvous. Check out the programs below:

ALL CLUB BONSAI EXHIBITION

This year’s judged bonsai exhibit will feature our GSBF Member Clubs. We are asking each club to submit, transport, and set-up one formal tree display of their choice. Suthin and Mauro will be judging the conifers; broadleaf evergreens; deciduous; and shohin categories: Each category winner will receive $500 from the GSBF ‘Give Back Program’. Winning clubs will be announced at the Saturday Awards Banquet. Each club will determine the process for their tree selection and how to use and/or how to disperse the prize money.

JOSHUA ROTH ‘RISING STARS’ COMPETITION

We have assigned team leaders for each of the club regions. These individuals will work with clubs from their region to find the perfect representative for the competition. Your representatives are:

• Northern Region – Mike Pistello

• Bay Area – Sam Tan

• Central California, Arizona and Nevada – Mike Roberts

• L.A. Basin – Marcus Juniel

• Southern California – Robert Hoogeveen

Club representatives will receive emails or phone calls from the team leaders to help regions determine their selection process. Our large geographic areas could complicate the selection process. It could be as simple as having each club submit photos of their representative’s bonsai work to be judged by the group along with a brief bonsai history bio. Another option could be an actual timed tree styling competition which would then be judged by the group.

Contestant qualifications are: 1) no more than ten years of bonsai experience; 2) be an active member and; 3) able to attend the Bonsai Rendezvous 2025, all day on Saturday October 26th. The demo trees will be medium sized (under 18”) junipers, that will be live auctioned after the winner is announced at the Saturday night awards banquet. All participants will receive a Joshua Roth gift certificate and the winner will receive a $1,000 check!

Good luck to all our clubs. We look forward to seeing you at the Rendezvous 2025 one year from now, October 24-26, 2025.

Summary of Joint Meeting of Kusamura and Sei Boku, October 23

by Idris Anderson

The two clubs jointly arranged and sponsored the visits of Bjorn Bjornholm from Japan and Yannick Keegan from Belgium. The two world-class bonsai artists were available for workshops with members of the two clubs on Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday evening the clubs met together for a style off.

Steve Iwaki had sourced two pines from Ed Clark. Bjorn and Yannick began styling the two trees as they took turns talking about their thinking processes and design choices. Yannick began by picking the front and explaining that pines back bud on up to 16-year-old wood. He made his first big cut of a large straight branch. Yannick’s tree lent itself to a more compact design, Bjorn’s tree to a more elongated design.

They both eliminated branches to avoid whorls. One spot of Yannick’s tree had as many as 12 branches coming from one location. Normally, you would cut back to no more than two. He left three so there could be another selection later as the tree developed. They both considered the nebari in choosing the front. The nebari on Yannick’s tree was the better of the two. Bjorn at least initially decided that the best view of his tree may be the pigeon breast side, which one would normally not choose. Both cut off large thick branches and made them into jins. The thinner branches could be bent more easily when they are wired and set into place. Yannick kept a sacrifice branch to thicken the trunk.

It was a totally engaging double demonstration with good chat between these two friends. The trees lost lots of foliage and were wired to set basic structure.

We really enjoyed these two professionals. Many thanks to Steve Iwaki and Lynne O’Dell for all the planning and arranging that made this meeting and workshops possible.

Highlights from the Pacific Bonsai Expo 2024

by Idris Anderson

Many members of Kusamura attended the exhibit in Oakland, CA on Saturday, October 26 or Sunday, October 27, or both. The trees were, of course, spectacular. (Eric and Jonas are still using the backdrop fabric that Kusamura sewed for the first Pacific Bonsai Expo (PBE) 2 years ago).

We enjoyed studying the displays of the trees with their accents, a few with scrolls. There were many 2 or 3 point displays, as well as shohin displays. We found many favorites to linger over and come back to and photograph, of course. Most trees were the fairly reserved, Japanese-traditional style, but there were some wild ones, and many surprises. Best part of the day was talking with friends and fellow bonsai practitioners about what made each tree distinctive and worthy to be selected for the show. We were also able to enjoy the demonstrations and guided tours. And then of course there was the sales area. More than one of our members had major “shopping accidents,” scarfing up pots, loading them on the carts. It was great to chat with the various venders. Do we really have to wait two years for another Expo?

Until then, enjoy some snapshots from the show here. Additionally, Aaron Kupfermann of 3DBonsai.com create 3D interactive scanned images of all the exhibition trees in the show and the scans are available through the site with a $20 lifetime access subscription. You can find a great sample and more information on the PBE site.