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1917 -- Masayuki Fujio was born. (He would serve as an MP for
31 years and, working in the Diet, would serve as the Minister of Labor
and the Minister of Education. He would end his career as a
politician in 1996 and be rewarded with the
Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun for his duties. A
well-known bonsai enthusiast, in 1989 he would make a speech at the
World Bonsai Convention in Omiya to announce the establishment of the
World Bonsai Friendship Federation. A former consultant for the
Nippon Bonsai Association, he would support many of their projects for
over 20 years and be elected as the president of the association in
2004.)
["Masayuki
Fujio Becomes President of the Nippon Bonsai Association," by Kazuya
Morita, Editor, Nippon Bonsai Association magazine, Japan Region, World
Bonsai Friendship Federation,
http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/rjapan.shtml, accessed 05/31/04.]
1965 -- The Santa Anita Bonsai Society became officially effective as an organization today. (Khan Komai's Bonsai Nursery in Temple City, east of downtown Los Angeles, had been the site of a monthly Study Group led by volunteer instructor Jim Barrett since 1961. Khan's was one of the few widely scattered places for any type of bonsai instruction at the time, plus the two established bonsai groups -- the California and Los Angeles Bonsai Societies -- conducted their meetings mostly in Japanese. The Nursery had opened in 1958 and Jim had first visited it that Autumn. This Study Group had the inherent dichotomy of trying in the same format to satisfy the desires of the continuing influx of beginners while providing experienced students additional levels of education. Students from the Study Group had begun to enter bonsai in the Pasadena Star News Fall Flower Show at the nearby Los Angeles State and County Arboretum in Arcadia, Ca. They were receiving favorable results. The Arboretum Superintendent had also been encouraging Khan Komai to bring a bonsai group to the Arboretum and exhibit there. The combination of dissatisfaction with the Study Group's format and encouragement plus opportunity for exhibitions led to an organizational meeting in December 1964 at Melba Tucker's house.) The initial officers were Jim Barrett, President, Khan Komai, Vice-President and Program Chairman, and Virginia Danaher, Secretary-Treasurer. Thelma Denslow and Dick and Dixie Shaner were also charter members. The Santa Anita Bonsai Society became the third formally organized bonsai group in Metropolitan Los Angeles and probably the first to hold meetings only in English. [The Study Group would be divided into beginner and intermediate students, with Harry Hirao, Dixie Shaner, and Melba Tucker joining in teaching. The club's initial show would be held over the Memorial Day weekend in late May and be the first all-bonsai exhibit at the Arboretum. For twelve years this Spring Show would be the only one sponsored by the Society. A Fall Show would be added in 1976.] ("Color Santa Anita Silver: A Bonsai Society and its Exhibits" by Sidney Rumbold, Journal, ABS, Vol. 23, No. 1, Spring 1989, pp. 9-11; RJB conversation with Jim Barrett, 08/20/94) SEE ALSO: Feb 25, Jun 19, Aug 26, Sep 9. 2005 -- George Yamaguchi died. George was a kind of father/authority figure for the core of Japanese-American bonsai people like John Naka, Richard Ota, Ben Oki, and the large handful of California pioneers. The Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery was the headquarters for all the West Los Angeles/Gardena people in the early days. In 1993, the George Yamaguchi North American Garden at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum in Washington, DC was established. It is composed of a broad range of plants native to North America and has matured to create an informal, natural appearance. A 28"H formal upright Japanese black pine ( Pinus thunbergiana ), which was grown from seed and trained since 1955, was donated by George to the North American Collection of the Museum. Named Shinsei, meaning "voice of the gods," this tree resides in a Japanese container of Tokoname ware from the Yamaaki kiln. ("Yamaguchi Bonsai Nursery," http://www.bonsaichat.org/forums/showthread.php?t=145 ; "George Yamaguchi North American Garden," http://www.bonsai-nbf.org/gardens/yamaguchigard.htm ) SEE ALSO: Jan 15, Oct 15. |
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1994 -- The
Takagi
Bonsai Museum
opened in an ultra-modern nine-story building across
from central Tokyo's Ichigaya Station. The project was the brainchild
of then 67-year old Reiji Takagi, founder and president of Meiko Corporation.
One of seven children from a wealthy banker's family, Takagi's contact
with horticulture began at an early age as a sort of gardening assistant
to his father. When he was 18, his house and garden were blown to
bits during the Allied bombings of Tokyo in WWII. After two years
of going back and forth between being penniless and prosperous (repairing
nylon stockings), he came upon a windblown pine seedling on Shikoku Island
in southern Japan. Seeing his life mirrored in the tiny creature
tossed about by life's torments, Takagi placed the seedling in a pot and
filled the container with nutritious soil. He watered his "special
friend" twice a day, and began to learn more about the art of bonsai --
and, unconsciously, about business. Takagi's life began to improve,
he turned his attention to selling the newly introduced copy machines,
and in 1956 opened his first company office. As his business grew,
so did his bonsai collection. He invented a paper shredding machine
four years later, and that overnight success led to a recycling side business.
By now, thanks to huge profits brought about by his expanding business,
Takagi's bonsai collection numbered in the hundreds. Some of the
oldest and most esteemed of Japan's bonsai, often with documented histories,
were purchased by Takagi for hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece.
For three years, 1988-90, Takagi's collections won first prizes in Japan's
national bonsai competitions. (He then took himself out of the running.)
The nine-story building in 1994 allowed more room for both of Takagi's
pursuits, bonsai and business. [Some of the 500 trees would be displayed
on a rotating basis in the museum when not in the open-air rooftop garden.
Additionally, rare
ukiyo-e
(woodblock) prints, hanging scrolls,
and 4000 bonsai pots would be exhibited. Today, his priceless collection
is classed in the same special category as the Imperial Household's --
for presenting to state guests. And Takagi's "special friend" is
now a superb bonsai, as radiant as its proud owner.
The Museum would temporarily close on October 31, 2004 to allow the trees to rest for awhile after eleven years of indoor display.] ("Tree Story" by Scott Lynn Riley in All Nippon Airways' Wingspan, Complimentary Magazine, November 1996, pp. 27-31; Katsu Ogiya in personal e-mail to RJB on Jan. 27, 2002; http://www.bonsaimuseum.org/e/ ) SEE ALSO Apr 27. |
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1921 -- E. Felton Jones was born on a farm in eastern North
Carolina. [He would be the first of three boys in the family, and
would be educated at Duke University where he would major in
botany and minor in zoology and geology. Although he would become
interested in bonsai at age 14, he wouldn't actually start studying it
until the mid-1950s when Frank Nagata of Los Angeles would take him in
as a student. Studying with John Naka then, Jones would return
leave California in 1960 after six years and move to Matthews,
NC. There he would open the Sho-Ko-En School of Bonsai, moving
the school to Atlanta at the start of 1967. In 1964 he would
found the Bonsai Society of the Carolinas. He would
lecture/demonstrate at a number of conventions, including American
Bonsai Society in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1975, and 1979 (the last two being
joint with Bonsai Clubs International, for which he'd also do the 1971
and 1981 Symposiums.)]
(Dillon, Jim "Sokumenzu - Profiles,"
Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XI, No. 9, November 1972, pg. 20)
SEE ALSO: Apr 4, Aug 19, Nov 15.
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1984 -- California master Ben Oki was given a tour of the numerous
greenhouses at Union Correctional Institution in Raiford, Florida, one
of which was devoted entirely to bonsai. Here he saw the great
variety of plant material, the numerous styles employed, and the
inmate-made containers being used. Ben selected a number of
bonsai to take to the education building, where he critiqued and then
made refinements on them. This was followed by a slide
presentation of his own bonsai collection, which was punctuated by
appreciative “oohs” and “aahs” from the audience. The final part
of the program was his creation of a three-tree bonsai. No
audience was ever more attentive, and none more appreciative, and Ben
seemed to sense that this was a very special occasion for everyone in
the room, inside these walls. He rose to the occasion magnificently,
and produced a presentation which lasted over eight hours, and which
was truly memorable. [The first year Ben accepted a check for his
workshop fee, but for the next 19 years he has not accepted any
money. Every visit usually starts with a demonstration or slides
followed by a long workshop with every man a hands-on participant
(about 20).] (The members of Taki Bonsai Society of Lake City had
made a visit in 1983 to the Horticulture Division of the U.C.I.
In touring the dozen greenhouses they discovered there was one that was
devoted entirely to the training of Bonsai. The other eleven
greenhouses grow all of the ornamental plants that are shipped to all
of the offices of the State of Florida. Some of the inmates under
the guidance of their Supervisor, Mr. M.B. Jordan had been working on
the bonsai for years. Mr. Jordan had encouraged the bonsai
efforts of the men. He felt that he could help them to better
their knowledge of God’s creation and they would be better able to
return to society and be a better person. Statistics show that
prisons that have Horticultural Divisions have zero recidivism in
prisoners paroled from that section. What does that say for
horticulture and bonsai? The Taki Bonsai Society (which only
lasted ten years) began to think of a way to make a link with the
prison and the local bonsai group. As luck would have it, the
Speaker’s Bureau of Bonsai Societies of Florida, which Jean Smith
chaired, had an open day in the vicinity of the prison during the Ben
Oki tour. Ben agreed, prison permission was gotten and everything
fell into place.)
(Hindson, Edna and Jean Smith and Harold Harvey ,"The Twentieth Anniversary of Bonsai Behind Bars,"
Florida Bonsai, BSF, Vol XXXV, No. 1, Issue 141,
February 2005, pp. 28/18-32/20) SEE ALSO: Jan 26
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| 12 | 1959 -- Yuji Yoshimura, 37 years old and in the U.S. barely six weeks with over one ton of teaching and demonstrating material, gave his first course at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, "Bonsai Study & Practice." The very successful course -- one of the orginal students was Jerald P. Stowell -- was one of many which Yoshimura-san taught on many levels during the spring and autumn of that year while on a C. Stuart Gager fellowship grant. ("Yuji Yoshimura, A Memorial Tribute To A Bonsai Master & Pioneer" by William N. Valavanis, International Bonsai, IBA, 1998/No. 1, pg. 34) SEE ALSO: Feb 27, Apr 23, Jul 17, Dec 24 |
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| 14 | 1905 -- Takeo Fukuda was born in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. [He would serve as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister of Finance, and Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries before becoming Japanese Prime Minister from 1976-1978. In 1983 he would found the "Interactive Council" (OB Summit) of elder statesmen together with former West German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt and others. In 1988 he would succeed Nobusuke Kishi, also a former prime minister, as president of the Nippon Bonsai Association. In 1990, he would be elected president of the World Bonsai Friendship Federation.] ("Profile", Tsukiyama, Ted T. (ed.) Bonsai of the World, Book I (Japan: World Bonsai Friendship Federation, 1993), pg. 2) SEE ALSO: Jul 5, Oct 20 |
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1924 -- Tom T. Yamamoto was born in Honolulu, HA, the youngest of
six children. [He would graduate from McKinley H.S. (Honolulu)
and
enter the military service two years later in 1944. When young he
would always be interested in horticulture. His first exposure to
bonsai
would come in 1946 when he was a member of the U.S. Occupation Forces
in Japan.
He would be fortunate to be stationed in Japan on and off for eleven
years.
During this time he would become very interested in bonsai and start to
learn
this fascinating art. One unfortunate thing about being in the
service
is that whenever you are transferred, you can't take the bonsai with
you.
Upon retirement in 1965, a veteran of WWII, Korea, and Vietnam, Tom
would decide to go back to Japan to learn more about bonsai.
When he would start his training under Mr. Kawamoto and other experts,
he had
no idea that one day he too would be teaching this art. After
studying
for several years, he would be compelled to start teaching
because there were
no English-speaking teachers around. Some of his students would
be Ambassadors
from other countries and their wives. There were also many people
working at the Embassies and other foreigners living temporarily in
Japan.
Tom would enjoy sharing his Bonsai-Saikei knowledge with others.
His other
love would be breeding and showing Yorkshire Terriers. He would
be on the Board
of Directors of the Nippon Yorkshire Terrier Club and also a judge at
those
shows. His two interests would keep him busy throughout the
year.]
("I.B.C.
'78,"
Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XVII, No. 1, Jan./Feb. 1978, pg. 12 with b&w
photo of him assisting Mr. Kawamoto in a workshop in Kansas City in 1972)
1989 -- A most elegant naming ceremony for seven outstanding bonsai was conducted at the Japanese American Community Center in Los Angeles, CA by the Bei Koku Bonsai Meigo Kai, a panel of distinguished bonsai experts. The honored designers were Marybel Balendonck, Harry Hirao, Mas Moriguchi, John Y. Naka, Ben Oki, Richard Ota, and George Yamaguchi. The presentations were made by the Honorable Hiromoto Seki, Consul General of Japan. ( Bonsai, BCI, March/April 1989, pp. 16-17) |
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2006 -- Frank Okamura, retired bonsai master from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, died at age 94.
(Obituary by Botanic Gardens Conservation International, Jan 18, 2006,
http://www.bgci.org/worldwide/news/0157/)
SEE ALSO: May 5.
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| 17 | 1978 -- Editor of the American Bonsai Society Bonsai Journal Dorothy Ebel Hansell died unexpectedly. When she was a young woman in her twenties, she inherited from her father the publishing and editorial responsibilities of The Gardeners' Chronicle of America. At the same time, she was appointed executive secretary of the National Association of Gardeners. During the next 50 years she was a founding member, director, editor, and/or officer of many plant societies, including the American Rock Garden Society, the American Horticultural Society, the American Association of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta, the Holly Society of America, the American Iris Society, the Garden Writers Association of America, and the New York Botanical Garden. Beginning in 1968, within a year of its founding, the American Bonsai Society was fortunate to have her as a consulting editor and then editor of its quarterly. ("A Tribute to Dorothy Hansell" by Dorothy S. Young, Bonsai Journal, ABS, Vol. 12, No. 1, Spring 1978, pg. 1) |
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2001 -- Bonsai master Ken Sugimoto died in Palo Alto, CA.
(
RJB phone call to Tak Sugimoto on Aug. 16, 2005
) SEE ALSO: Apr 1
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| 22 | 1970 -- The episode "Mr. Osaki's Tree" aired for the CBS-TV series "Family Affair." California teacher John Naka served as consultant for this episode about an old and sick Japanese man (Teru Shimada) going back to his country to die there. He gives his bonsai to Jody (Johnny Whitaker) who believes Mr. Osaki's health depends on the tree's health. [Naka, Bonsai Techniques, pg. 258; http://dawnrain.com/BrianKeith/contenus/fa-episodes.asp?episodeID=108&Submit=selected+episode+details ; http://us.imdb.com/Name?Shimada,+Teru ] |
| 23 | 1981 -- Fifteen individuals met at Fuku-Bonsai in Kurtistown, Hawaii to form the Big Island Bonsai Association (BIBA) as a non-profit group of individuals dedicated to the promotion, advancement, and fellowship of bonsai. It began a three year project consisting of the "Revitalization of Bonsai on the Big Island" that included forming new clubs, "bonsai day" promotional events in various areas, the first All-Big Island Bonsai Show at Wailoa Center in Hilo, and a 10-session bonsai course held over 10 weeks in Hilo, Kamuela, and Kona. The entire project was co-sponsored by the University of Hawaii at Hilo College of Continuing Education and Community Service, University of Hawaii at Manoa Cooperative Extension Service, State of Hawaii - Wailoa Center, County of Hawaii Department of Parks and Recreation, and various business sponsors and individuals. [The project would be an outstanding success and in 1984 BIBA would be honored with the Hawaii State First Lady VIP (Volunteers in Paradise) Award. And on the occasion of the 20th All-Big Island Show at Wailoa Center in 2001, certificates of appreciation were presented to those members that were still active and four of the original group were asked to create a formal bonsai niche exhibit.] ("Big Island Bonsai Association & All-Big Island Big Show," http://www.fukubonsai.com/5a12.html ) |
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| 25 | 1968 -- The first meeting of the Indianapolis Bonsai Club was held today. Bev Oliver was elected president. In the Spring of 1965, she had set up a bonsai booth at the Indianapolis Flower and Patio Show. Having been transferred from the Cleveland area where she had been exposed to the Cleveland Bonsai Society, she was determined to find others in the area who shared her interest. In October 1967 the local newspaper ran an article to determine the extent of interest. Response was very good and finally a club was started with 18 charter members. [The first IBC Show would be held on May 23 at the Glendale Shopping Center Auditorium, in conjunction with having Lynn Perry Alstadt as lecturer and demonstrator. About 75 people attended. The following day, Lynn gave a workshop limited to members only.] ("Indianapolis Bonsai Club, Club History," http://www.indybonsai.org/history.html ) |
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1927 --
Ben Oki
was born in Sacramento, CA [Six years later
he
would go to Japan for his formal education, returning to California in
1950 after graduating from Matsu Moto Business School. He would
marry Sadako, have two children, and begin a landscape business.
In 1958
he would start studying bonsai with teacher John Naka, the latter
recognizing
the former's keen eye and talent with the art. Ben would assist
John
in his demonstrations, travel with him beginning in 1973, and become a
sought-after teacher in his own right. He would be best
recognized
for his rugged free form style, fine detail work, and whirlwind wiring
technique. Ben would become a member of numerous clubs in the
U.S.,
and an honorary member of clubs in Columbia and South Africa. In
1989, Los Angeles Consul General of Japan Seki Hiromoto would honor Ben
with a prestigious recognition of the teacher's collected California
juniper, "Ryu No Ma" ("Dancing Dragon"). The tree would become a
part of the North American Collection at the National Bonsai and
Penjing Museum, U.S. National Arboretum in Washington, D.C. in
1991. Ben would also have a 35-year-old hackbery displayed as
part of the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection of Weyerhaeuser in Tacoma,
WA. Since 1984, Ben would lead "Ben Oki's Japan Bonsai Tour" to
visit gardens, nurseries, and pottery shops. Ben's design work
would include the garden of screen star Cybil Shepard in Tennessee, and
others in the Pacific Islands and South America. Ben would become
curator of the Bonsai Collections at the Huntington Library and
Botanical Gardens in San Marino, CA.]
1939 -- Dan Robinson was born in Seattle, WA. [Thirty-nine years
later while demonstrating for the first time at a national convention (Portland,
BCI '78), he would transform an upright Ponderosa Pine into a cascade --
using a selection of power tools. This radical approach would be
vilified by some in the bonsai community, but the BBG's Frank Okamura would
comment at the convention that Dan was "the Picasso of Bonsai." Many
-- including some of Dan's critics -- in this country and elsewhere would
adopt similar methods for creation within a dozen years. Collecting
trees across this continent, his undisputed artistic talents would always
be tempered with a passion for "bringing them back alive." Dan would
be hailed as the Father of American Bonsai as he further broadened our
horizons with "
Focal
Point Bonsai Design." This would challenge the traditional triangular
design for all trees by shaping the foliage and branches to surround and
frame the area of greatest visual value in our arboreal compositions.]
(
RJB telephone conversation with Diane Robinson, Apr. 15,
2000;
www.elandangardens.com
website) SEE ALSO: Nov 5
1996 -- The
Dai Ichi Bonsai Kai Web site
was established by Rick Wagner. With the club President's
permission, a homepage for DIBK was established at Geocities, a free
homepages Web service. At the time, not only was it the first
bonsai club Web site, it was the first bonsai Web site of any
kind. A few weeks after it was established, a search using Yahoo!
on the keyword "bonsai" found only the DIBK homepage. (The club
had been organized in early 1986 to serve the South Bay (southern Santa
Monica Bay) area of Los Angeles County.)
("Club History,"
http://www.gsbf-bonsai.org/daiichibonsaikai/history.html
) SEE ALSO: Apr 9
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| 27 | 1949 -- Qingquan Zhao was born in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. [He would become seriously involved with penjing around age twenty when his father would introduce him to an old friend, penjing researcher Xu Xiaobai. Learning also from other old masters from various parts of China, he would spend time in the traditional studies of painting and poetry. In the 1970s he would begin developing the "Water-and-Land" style of penjing. In 1992 he would make his first Western appearance demonstrating before the Bonsai Societies of Florida Convention; the following year before the second World Bonsai Friendship Federation Convention, also in Florida and in conjunction with BCI and ABS. A third generation enthusiast, "Brook" (as he would be known to the West) would be Vice-President of the Association of Penjing Artists of China.] (Karin Albert personal e-mail to RJB, July 15, 2002; "A Chinese Penjing Artist Visits America" by Karin Albert, Bonsai, BCI, Vol. XXXI, No. 4, July/August 1992, pp. 11-13; Hu, Yunhua Chinese Penjing, Miniature Trees and Landscapes (Portland, OR: Timber Press; ©1987 Wan Li Books Co., Ltd., Hong Kong), pg. 59 ) SEE ALSO: Mar 15, Sep 25 |
| 28 | 1902 -- Saichi Suzuki was born in Okazaki, Japan, a town some thirty kilometers southeast of Nagoya and 150 km east of Osaka. [His homeroom elementary school teacher would teach him the basic techniques of bonsai when Saichi was in sixth grade. Part-time apprenticeship would also be spent at the Toka-en, the bonsai garden of Mr. Kyuichi Kato in Narumi. In those early days he would be often called "bonsai crazy" because meals and other duties would be delayed until the bonsai were watered. He originally would not want to become a "professional" but merely wanted to create something he liked. He would jump into the field starting his professional career as a bonsai artist in 1931. He would then travel extensively in the Kanto area tending bonsai for his customers while maintaining his collection in his Daiju-en Bonsai Garden in Okazai. He would go on to be considered the foremost authority and bonsai artist for conifers, especially Japanese black and five-needle pine. "Zuisho," a dwarf variety of the latter, would be named and championed by Suzuki beginning in the late 1940s, who also would also win the 1976 Prime Minister's award at the First Bonsai Creator's Exhibition. "In order to create art of your own time, there's no simple formula. You just have to keep working at it while you are doing it. You feel you must make something quite different from anything you have ever seen. This does not mean that you malign the past; you perpetuate the good points of the old style and in addition you try to produce something even better. That is the mission of those who respect their era. Bonsai, which is a legacy for the generations to come, must not be a mere repetition of the past. Then the achievement of the generation before us will be meaningless... Bonsai is a very difficult art and if someone asks for a simple formula for it, you cannot give it. In the case of a painting, when the picture is finished it is completed and stabilized. But in the case of bonsai, it will always be changing. It's a perpetual motion. How skillfully you can manage this changing object is the problem. Of course, this very problem provides us with a challenge and enjoyment as well. I always strive to free myself of a set bonsai style. To express it radically, even opposite or wheel formation branches should be made into a pleasing form without undue stress. Yet there are no set rules for doing it. Nature creates far more mysterious things than man's imagination can come up with. So if you take in interesting forms of nature into the world of bonsai, it will be a great help to those who aspire to learn the technique." Suzuki's son, Toshinori, would be a skilled bonsai artist as well and eventually take over the running of Daiju-en. He would win two Prime Minister's awards for creativity himself. His son, Toro, would also study the art and work with Saichi and Toshinori.] ("Zuisho, Part 1" by Saichi Suzuki, International Bonsai, 1986/No.1, pp. 18-19, "About the Author" and "Zuisho, Part 2," 1986/No. 2, pg. 18) SEE ALSO: May 14 |
| 29 | 1991 -- The remaining four postage stamps and a souvenir sheet of the series "Bonsai" (first half released Dec. 9, 1990) were issued by the Maldive Islands to commemorate Expo '90, International Garden and Greenery Exposition in Osaka, Japan. SEE ALSO: Feb 3, Feb 16, Mar 1, Mar 27, Mar 31, Apr 3, Apr 6, Apr 18, May 6, May 29, Jun 16, Jul 20, Aug 20, Aug 22, Sep 22, Oct 1, Oct 4, Dec 9. |
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1935 -- F. Chase Rosade was born in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.
[He would graduate in 1958 from Delaware Valley College of Science and
Agriculture with a major in Ornamental Horticulture. Two years
later
he would wed Connie (Tokiwa) Ibara, a native of Japan who was raised
and
educated in the U.S. Three years later the pair would begin a
two-year
trip by land from London to Calcutta, and then fly to Japan.
There,
after discovering the world of bonsai via Yuji Yoshimura's book, Chase
for 8 months would become an apprentice to Kyuzo Yoshida of Nara, a
respected
bonsai artist and nurseryman who specialized in Japanese White
Pines.
Chase would further his studies with a comprehensive course in Bonsai
and
Saikei from Mr. Kawamoto, the innovator of container landscapes. Upon
the
Rosades' return to Doylestown, PA, Chase would begin and develop a
nursery,
begin teaching bonsai in 1968, and two years later would purchase 10
acres
of land in New Hope, PA to inaugurate the Rosade Bonsai Studio.
Since
the early 1970s Chase would travel throughout the U.S. and Canada,
South
America, Europe and Asia teaching and demonstrating before hundreds of
clubs and groups. His second wife, Solita D. Tafur of Cali,
Columbia,
would also be an international demonstrator and officer, and bring to
the
Rosade Bonsai Studio expertise with tropical material. In late
June 2005, Chase would be in a serious accident when his tractor tipped
on him during a turn. Twelve hours of surgery would be required
to reconstruct his hip and care for other internal injuries; a week in
the hospital would be followed by three in a transition facility before
he could return home, still unable to put any weight on either of his
legs for several more weeks.]
(bio,
International
Bonsai, 1986/No. 2, pg. 13;
Bonsai, BCI, March/April 1986, pg.
18; "Master Chase Rosade,"
http://www.mnbonsai.com/workshops/Chaserosade.html
;
"Lectures and Demonstrations Biographical Information -- Chase Rosade,"
http://www.rosadebonsai.com/Lectures.html
; several postings on the
Internet Bonsai Club
beginning June 30)
1965 -- The first Bonsai Clubs Association Convention was held at the Gallery of Flowers, Golden Gate Park, San Francisco. [In three years the BCA would be renamed Bonsai Clubs International.] ("Hindsight on BCI" by Tom Heitkamp, Bonsai, BCI, Jan/Feb 1978, pg. 4) SEE ALSO: Feb 28, Apr 16 |
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