Over the past year, Andrew Robson and I spent a lot of time talking about small trees. The result is Shohin School, an effort to promote the understanding and appreciation of shohin bonsai.
Andrew setting up an all-deciduous display
Our first offering is Winter Shohin School, a two-day seminar held in Portland, Oregon, on January 28-29, 2023.
Our featured guest for the event is Daisaku Nomoto from Miyazaki, Japan. Daisaku is a former chair of the Japanese shohin association and winner of the best shohin award at the Sakufu-ten bonsai exhibit.
Winter Shohin School will focus on shohin creation and display in equal measure.
The event will kick off with lectures covering the basics of shohin display with ample time allotted for participants to practice setting up sample displays. We’re encouraging participants to bring their shohin bonsai to the event so there will be lots of trees to work with.
We’ll do similar exercises with shohin containers so participants can learn how to mix and match elements to create displays that feature a diversity of container colors, shapes, and styles.
On Sunday we’ll cover the ways in which shohin bonsai differ from larger trees. The afternoon will be devoted to a bring-your-own tree workshop in which Daisaku, Andrew, and I will help participants set their trees on the right path.
Inspecting a shohin Japanese maple
During the breaks, attendees will be able to shop for shohin trees and supplies from vendors including Rakuyo Bonsai, Bonsai Tonight, Left Coast Bonsai, Tokutake Ceramics, Vicki Chamberlain, and Sansokuu Arts.
Registration for Winter Shohin School is open now. Participants are expected to bring tools and up to eight shohin bonsai. You can bring your own stands or use stands that we’ll be providing for class use. For those coming in from out of town, pre-bonsai and limited shohin bonsai will be available for purchase.
Learn more or register for Winter Shohin School at the Shohin School website.
Subscribe to Bonsai Tonight
New Posts Delivered Every Tuesday and Friday
Dawn says
Love the logo!
Casper says
Nice idea but with 100 students it does not sound like there will be any one on one time. Will there be remote access if I’m not in Portland area?
Jonas Dupuich says
It’s not looking like we’ll be able to offer a digital version of the class, but we have something like that planned for the future.
As for enrollment, we’re expecting approximately 50 participants and we’ll be bringing in additional teachers for the workshop. Feel free to reach out if additional questions come up.