Sponsor Feature: Pacific Bonsai Museum

WHY DID YOU CHOOSE TO SPONSOR THE ARTISANS CUP? 
Pacific Bonsai Museum is a vanguard in the advancement of the art of bonsai. We are dedicated to the American bonsai movement, to bonsai as an art form and to fostering a vibrant community. What better way to demonstrate our commitment than by sponsoring the Artisans Cup. 

AMERICAN BONSAI IS
While the concept of “American bonsai” is not new, what is new is it's rejuvenation over the last five years to the front of our collective conscious. American bonsai is moving away from an adherence to traditional Japanese aesthetics to contemporary American designs, from plant art to fine art. American bonsai is no longer conceptual but tactile. It’s grown from an idea, into a movement. 

Pacific Bonsai Museum
2515 S 336th Street
Federal Way, WA 98003
Phone: (253) 353-7345

Get outside. Be surprised. Connect with living art.

Feature in Portland Monthly

The Artisans Cup is the lead story in the September issue of Portland Monthly Magazine! 
 

“Unless you’re totally numb to the natural environment, there’s something to identify with. Trees are an inherent part of civilization.” 

Read the article at Portland Monthly

PATRONS OF AMERICAN BONSAI: CATHY & MARK EDGAR

Cathy is retired after a career in information technology and Mark works in the area of pharmaceutical drug development. They have lived in San Diego for the last 20 years, but have resided in many places such as Arizona, the San Francisco Bay Area, Colorado, Bahamas, and France. Besides their active participation in the San Diego Bonsai Club, Mark and Cathy belong to the National Association of Watch and Clock Collectors, and collect and repair antique clocks. It turns out that many bonsai people have old clocks that need to be repaired, which they gladly do. However, these days they prioritize bonsai over clocks. They also volunteer at the San Diego Bonsai Club’s bonsai pavilion at Safari Park, which has an extensive collection of bonsai.

FAVORITE BONSAI-RELATED QUOTE
We have been studying bonsai for only five years so our favorite quote relates to our relatively short experience with bonsai and the challenge in choosing good material: “It will never be a bonsai”. Someday, we hope to have skills good enough to prove that statement wrong.

FAVORITE TREE SPECIES
Since we are still experimenting with various species we have not settled on a favorite species yet. Some of the more interesting trees are different types of junipers, sweet gum, coast live oak, and trident maple. Part of the fun of bonsai is to learn how different trees grow in our environment and how they respond to training.

HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN BONSAI? 
We were looking for someone to trim the seven black pines we have in our yard and eventually we were introduced to the San Diego Bonsai Club and Fred Miyahara who later became our teacher.

WHO HAVE BEEN YOUR MOST INFLUENTIAL MENTORS IN BONSAI?
We have several good teachers including Gary Ishii, Fred Miyahara, John Jackson (curator of the San Diego Bonsai Pavilion at Safari Park), and most recently Ryan Neil. All of these teachers have taught us the basics and helped us improve our skills, but more importantly they make bonsai fun and they are our friends.

WHY ARE YOU PASSIONATE ABOUT BONSAI?
It is interesting to see how design and style perspectives change as technical skills improve. A tree that was difficult to style becomes easier as experience is gained. The more people we talk to and learn from the broader the perspective becomes.

THE MOST IMPORTANT LESSON WE’VE LEARNED THROUGH PRACTICING BONSAI IS
Patience in design and the importance of developing healthy trees.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE FOR THE FUTURE OF BONSAI?
For us bonsai is a hobby, an all-consuming hobby, but still a hobby. We want it to be fun. We hope that good teachers and suppliers of bonsai material will continue into the future so that others can have the same type of opportunities we have had so far.

WHY DID YOU WANT TO BECOME A PATRON OF AMERICAN BONSAI?
It is very simple. We have taken some classes from Ryan and we have seen how hard Ryan and Chelsea work to make bonsai the best that it can be. We felt we had to contribute to that type of dedication and work ethic.

ANNOUNCING THE ARTISANS CUP EXHIBITORS

We are thrilled to announce the 70 finalists selected by the Jury to be exhibited at The Artisans Cup. Receiving over 300 submissions, competition was fierce, and we are humbled by the artistry displayed in our field of finalists. We couldn’t be more excited to see what happens this September when the real competition begins!

THE EXHIBITORS

Mike Andrews, Pinus flexilis (Lebanon, PA)
Marc Arpag, Sasanqua camelia (Rochester, NY)
Marc Arpag, Mixed Shohin Composition (Rochester, NY)
Amy Blanton, Juniperus scopulorum (Murfreesboro, TN)
Bonsai Garden At Lake Merritt, Juniperus californica (Oakland, CA)
Linda Breeden & Doug Bradley, Tsuga mertensiana (Seattle, WA)
Linda Breeden & Doug Bradley, Pinus parviflora (Seattle, WA)
Greg Brenden, Pinus strobiformis (Milwaukie, OR)
Loren Buxton, Carpinus turczaninowii (Lincoln, NE)
Troy Cardoza, Punica granatum (Portland, OR)
Lee Cheatle, Pinus ponderosa (Tigard, OR)
David Crust, Larix (Brainerd, MN)
Jonas Dupuich, Carpinus turczaninowii (Alameda, CA)
Jason Eider, Juniperus communis (Seattle, WA)
Scott Elser, Fagus sylvatica (Portland, OR)
Scott Elser, Pinus ponderosa (Portland, OR)
Anthony Fajarillo, Tsuga mertensiana (Maple Valley, WA)
Michael Feduccia,Conocarpus erectus (Plant City, FL)
Melvyn Goldstein, Ulmus parvifolia (Euclid, OH)
Melvyn Goldstein, Shohin Composition (Euclid, OH)
Howard Greisler, Juniperus scopulorum (Portland, OR)
Jim Gremel, Juniperus chinensis ‘Kishu’ (Occidental, CA)
Gary Grunow, Pinus densiflora (Dodgeville, WI)
Huntington Library Bonsai Collection, Olea europaea (San Marino, CA)
Konnor Jenson, Punica granatum (Salt Lake City, UT)
Konnor Jenson, Pinus parviflora (Salt Lake City, UT)
Peter Keane, Pinus parviflora (Salem, MA)
Bob King, Tsuga mertensiana (Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada)
John Kirby, Juniperus californica (Colchester, CT)
Randy Knight, Sequoia sempervirens (St. Helens, OR)
Randy Knight, Juniperus scopulorum (St. Helens, OR)
Mike Lebanik, Jaboticaba myrciaria cauliflora (Davenport, FL)
Louise Leister, Pinus thunbergii (Palm Coast, FL)
Michael Levin, Juniperus horizontalis (Littleton, MA)
Stephen Liesen, Pinus parviflora (Quincy, IL)
Ram Lukas, Picea abies ‘Nidiformis’ (Roseville, CA)
Ram Lukas, Acer palmatum ‘Kashima’ (Rosevilla, CA)
Scott Lee Luke, Juniperus chinensis ‘Kishu’ (Lincoln, NE)
Ned Lycett, Juniperus occidentalis (Forestville, CA)
Ted Matson, Juniperus chinensis ‘Foemina’ (Pasadena, CA)
Greg McDonald, Quercus chrysolepis (Diamond Springs, CA)
Pacific Bonsai Museum, Pinus thunbergii (Federal Way, WA)
Pacific Bonsai Museum, Fagus crenata ‘Fuji’ (Federal Way, WA)
Pacific Bonsai Museum, Taxus cuspidata (Federal Way, WA)
Pacific Bonsai Museum, Hydrangea petiolaris (Federal Way, WA)
Pacific Bonsai Museum, Cedrus atlantica ‘Glauca’ (Federal Way, WA)
Doug Paul, Pseudotsuga menziesii (Kennett Square, PA)
Paul Pikel, Conocarpus erectus (Orlando, FL)
Mike Pollock, Pinus sylvestris ‘Beuvronensis’ (Pound Ridge, NY)
Mike Pollock, Chamaecyparis obtusa (Pound Ridge, NY)
Tim Priest, Juniperus occidentalis (Grand Rapids, MI)
Michael Roberts, Quercus suber (City of Industry, CA)
Dan Robinson, Tsuga mertensiana (Bremerton, WA)
Dan Robinson, Tsuga mertensiana (Bremerton, WA)
Eric Schikowski, Tsuga mertensiana (Solon, OH)
Todd Schlafer, Picea pungens (Denver, CO)
Eric Schrader, Juniperus californica (grafted with Juniperus chinensis) (San Francisco, CA)
Seiji Shiba, Juniperus californica (Monte Sereno, CA)
Seiji Shiba, Juniperus californica (Monte Sereno, CA)
Bob Shimon, Sequoia sempervirens (Point Arena, CA)
Roger Snipes, Carpinus tschonoskii (Spokane, WA)
Cheryl Sykora, Pinus ponderosa (Hudson, WI)
John Thompson, Juniperus californica (grafted with Juniperus chinensis) (San Jose, CA)
William Valavanis, Acer palmatum ‘Shishigashira’ (West Henrietta, NY)
William Valavanis, Acer palmatum ‘Koto Hime’ (West Henrietta, NY)
Dennis Vojtilla, Betula pendula (Newburg, OR)
Dennis Vojtilla, Acer palmatum (Newburg, OR)
John Wall, Taxodium distichum (Charlotte, TN)
Robert Wofford, Ulmus (Cork Bark Elm) (Keizer, OR)
Carl Wooldridge, Taxus cuspidata (Indianapolis, IN)

ALTERNATES
Linda Breeden & Doug Bradley, Acer palmatum (Seattle, WA)
Eileen Knox, Pinus sylvestris (Portland, OR)
Paul Krasner, Rhododendron ‘Kinsai’ (Portland, OR)
Dan Robinson, Callitropsis nootkatensis (Bremerton, WA)
Roger Snipes, Pinus ponderosa (Spokane, WA)

Collaborator: Skylab Architecture

Daniel Meyers is Design Director at Skylab Architecture, our partner in designing and developing The Artisans Cup exhibition experience. He’s an Architect, but his experience hasn’t been limited to Architecture. He’s spent a significant percentage of his career as a Creative Director in the Agency world, leading teams working in architecture and interiors, exhibition design, immersive digital environments, urban planning and industrial design, retail, and advertising. We’re thrilled to be working with Daniel and the rest of the team at Skylab in creating a stunning and memorable experience for The Artisans Cup. We asked him a few questions about his background and process, as well as how the art of Bonsai has influenced and inspired him. Here’s what he had to say.

What do you do?
I’m really fortunate to do what I do, and work with this incredibly talented team. I work with people that shape contemporary places and create narrative environments. Our practice is pretty omnivorous – we’re interested in any project that presents the opportunity to make an experience of unique quality and character for people, and allows us to contribute to cultural discourse in our own small way. As a result we wear a lot of hats! 

How did you get started?
I didn’t know it at the time, but I got started in design when I was a kid; I obsessively drew all kinds of machines, took apart every mechanical object in my house, made needless repairs and alterations to my cars, painted and sculpted, played music, wrote. Eventually, I went to grad school for architecture in my late 20’s. In the interim period I had served in the Navy, trained and then practiced as a guitar maker, took an undergraduate degree in Medieval English literature, and played in a bunch of mediocre art rock bands. It took me a really long time to put all the dots together, to realize that this schizophrenia was actually just design! 

What excites you most about The Artisans Cup?
The Artisans Cup is a celebration of a stunning and venerable art form, but also an expression of the emerging and unique practice of American Bonsai. This balance between deep respect for a great tradition, and the optimism, courage, and rigor required to try something new, is something we always aspire to in our own work. It’s a real honor to be working in this context, and humbling to learn about all of the great artists practicing in this medium.

What initially drew you to The Artisans Cup? What made you want to partner with us?
We were drawn by several things: first the ridiculously talented and humble people involved in the Cup, second the trees themselves – these living compositions are so architectural! The art form itself, that way it’s being practiced by these emerging practitioners – it just floored us.

Who has had the biggest influence in your career (living or dead)?
I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to intersect with a lot of great teachers and collaborators over the years, and of course I have my little list of favorite historical icons – but the honest answer is that my partner Traci Sym (who also happens to be Experience Design Director at Skylab and is also on the team working on the Artisans Cup) has been by far the biggest influence on me as a practitioner. Among other things, Traci is a trained actor, and her temporal, human-centered perspective on art and design has been, and continues to be, a revelation for a guy trained in a discipline that can sometimes be pretty old-fashioned.

Tell me about your creative process.
Tiptoeing along the ridge that separates the valleys of too much structure and too much freedom? Process is fluid, and evolves, so of course this question is always impossible to answer – but we try to exploit the opportunities that present themselves at the intersection of rigor and free expression. The path that gets us there is fluid, and depends a lot on the problem that we’ve been presented.

Where do you find inspiration?
We look to patterns in nature; we look to human behavior; we look to the sciences and to art. The world is overflowing with an embarrassing abundance of beauty, structure, incongruities, and serendipity. That, and Tumblr. 

Does your work often involve collaboration? What’s your perspective on collaboration?
All creative work is collaborative, period. Individual artistic processes obviously flow from an individual’s unique and authentic experience of the world, and to some degree are therefore unique expressions. But to go from experiencing to expressing involves the contributions of other humans – even if only as receivers of the message – 100% of the time. Design even more so. Learning to dance the dance with others is what a life’s work in design is all about, and the joy of making things is amplified by doing it with a like-minded team. 

Have the principles of the art of Bonsai influenced you since working with The Artisans Cup? How?
Leaning about Bonsai has been a really humbling and gratifying experience. The lessons embedded in the process of Bonsai – the conversation in time between the artist and the tree, the symbolic language of an art that speaks to our manipulation of nature in an age that is all about the nature-culture nexus – are intense. I’m not sure I understand fully just yet how this experience will shape our work to come, but I’m sure that it will.

Follow Daniel and Skylab Architecture on Instagram.