This past weekend I had the pleasure of serving as the featured guest at the 47th Annual Mid-America Bonsai Exhibit hosted by the Midwest Bonsai Society. It was a fantastic weekend thanks to the hard work of the organizers and volunteers that made the event possible. The show takes place at the Chicago Botanical Gardens, […]
Exhibits
Exhibits are where we can see bonsai at their best. Explore posts from Bonsai Exhibits in the U.S. including the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition and Japanese events including the world-famous Kokufu and Taikan-ten exhibits.
Highlights from the 2025 Atlanta Bonsai Society Annual Show
Earlier this month I made a trip to Georgia to participate in the Atlanta Bonsai Society’s annual show. Held at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, the two-day event featured vendors, critiques, a workshop, (fantastic food), and an exhibit in which every member is encouraged to participate. I’m a big supporter of the idea that everyone can […]
Highlights from BABA and California Shohin Seminar
Two recent Northern California bonsai events – the Bay Area Bonsai Associates annual show and the California Shohin Seminar – featured some great trees. Here are some of the highlights along with comments about the trees’ designs. Black pine (The apex, the trunk, and the key branch all flow to the right) California juniper(This tree […]
Appreciating shohin displays at Gafu-ten
After reviewing the basics of how to assemble a shohin display last week (see “Award-winning display” for details), we can begin to spot differences in otherwise similar-looking displays and better understand what makes these displays “work.” At a glance, we can see all of the elements we looked at last week in the display below: […]
Award-winning shohin display at the 50th Gafu-ten
At this year’s Gafu-ten, the top shohin exhibit in Japan, there were many examples of what we might call “conventional contemporary shohin displays.” The effect, when scanning the hall, was that a lot of the displays looked similar. In order to be competitive for awards, entrants can opt to follow, or contradict, a number of […]