editorial
Exceedingly passionate . . .
As an editor one is always on the search for
talented artists who are passionate about bonsai. Sometimes you don’t need to search at all
because one just turns up your e-mail inbox.
Like it did when mail arrived from an Australian
guy, accompanied by a whole bunch of pictures
of him working in a bonsai garden on the most
mouth-watering trees. I recognized the trees and
garden; it was the famous Shunka-en of Kunio
Kobayashi. The Australian guy, Sam Thomson,
had taken a break from his studies to follow his
dream: learning from the best bonsai Master.
Browsing through the many pictures attached
to his mail I was instantly jealous. The garden,
featured in earlier issues of Bonsai Focus, is
one of the most beautiful I have seen in Japan
and quite the opposite of how Japan looks in its
daily life. So what a refreshing moment it was
on my first visit to Kobayashi’s garden when,
having worked my way through the ugliness of
monster mega city Tokyo, I passed through the
gate to find myself in a kind of hidden paradise.
The traditional wooden buildings, the beautiful collection of various trees, it’s overwhelming
and the pictures made me long to be back and
surrounded by those magnificent trees. It’s Kunio
Kobayashi’s quest to show bonsai at its best to as
many people as possible. It’s his inspiring mission to make all aware of the beauty of bonsai.
Many students from all over the world find their
way to his bonsai school. On their return home
they bring bonsai to a new level. And so it happened with Sam Thompson who, after a three
months’ stay, is totally fuelled up, giving lectures
and workshops in his home country and passing
on the passion for bonsai.
For more Inspiration and out of the box ideas,
Michael Hagedorn shows us his invention for
levitating a rock planting on nylon board. We
are very happy to have this talented artist back
in our magazine. I had a great encounter with
Takashi Iura, with whom I did a photo shoot. He
is a very talented up-coming artist in Japan. Francois Gau, who is totally into Buxus, also makes
an appearance in this issue. He creates impressive trees and explains all the ins and outs. More
impressive trees can be admired in the Gallery
devoted to the Italian national show.
Farrand Bloch
Chief editor
Enjoy the read.
The wonderful garden of Shunka-en
(Photo: Sam Thompson)
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