Mark Fields working on one of his bonsai
The National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) is lucky to work in tandem with many other organizations dedicated to promoting the art of bonsai. In fact, each year the presidents of the American Bonsai Society (ABS) and Potomac Bonsai Society (PBS) are recognized as ex-officio members of the NBF Board of Directors. We are excited to introduce you to current ABS President Mark Fields!
ABS was founded in 1967 to be a North American source of information, advice, supplies and material about the horticultural form and hobby of bonsai. The organization presents a merit award to an American species at the regional shows they attend.
Fields has been studying bonsai since he was 9 years old, learning from more than 60 bonsai artists around the world. He first learned through books and experimenting with discarded shrubs from his father’s landscaping business, but Fields soon discovered Mendel Gardens, a nearby bonsai nursery.
His first bonsai teacher was the owner, Max Mendel, who critiqued his trees, gave him growing and training advice and introduced him to the Indianapolis Bonsai Club. Fields eventually served as the Indianapolis Bonsai Club president for two terms.
He later looked for bonsai education abroad – Fields spent three separate years dedicating himself to the horticultural side of bonsai in Laarne, Belgium under the tutelage of Danny Use at Ginkgo Bonsai Nursery.
At the suggestion of bonsai professional Bjorn Bjorholm, Fields’ self-proclaimed “sensei,” he visited multiple nurseries in Japan, including in Omiya Village, the site of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum’s Sister Museum: Omiya Bonsai Art Museum. Fields soon returned for a five-week program at Kouka-en, where Bjorn had apprenticed and was the resident artist.
Fields owns a nursery in Indiana called Bonsai by Fields, LLC, where he annually hosts professionals like Bjorholm for bonsai workshops. You may have seen Fields at the yearly Brussel’s Bonsai Rendezvous, an event he seldom misses. He also teaches, sells and judges bonsai around the Midwestern United States and built a new bonsai studio in 2018 after retiring as a landscape contractor.
Fields first visited the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum in the early 1990s and has since returned several times. He has assisted in multiple fundraising appeals to support the Museum. He said he is looking forward to driving donations for the Museum’s upcoming renovations.
Fields’ visit to the Museum with his son. Pictured, left to right: Dr. Richard Olsen, Lincoln Fields, Mark Fields, Robert Hoffman, Scott Aker, Michael James and Jim Hughes
Fields recently traveled to the Museum again for a tour with multiple Foundation and Arboretum staff members. He brought with him his 12-year-old son, Lincoln, who has been a budding bonsai artist since he was 4 years old.
Before becoming president, Fields had previously served on the ABS Board of Directors. His years of involvement in the bonsai community positioned him perfectly to take on the leading role. First elected to the presidency in 2019 for a two-year term, he has been shaking up the ABS routine to make the organization the best it can be.
“It’s not something I ever thought I could do or be,” Fields said.
The goal of ABS is to share the breadth of bonsai best practices and information held by their members and board throughout the bonsai community, especially in North America, he said. One method of communication is their quarterly publication, BONSAI: The Journal of the American Bonsai Society.
“I’m trying to get our base of board members and talent to write articles and share their immense knowledge,” Fields said. “I’ve written a few and have been getting a lot of positive feedback, so I will continue to do that.”
He often pulls content from his bonsai textbook, which he wrote for the school he ran for three years, teaching students everything from beginner bonsai tips and basic botany to more advanced techniques like grafting, propagation, fertilizing and dealing with diseases.
Fields is looking to incorporate more photos of members’ trees in a gallery-type layout in the ABS Journal to share the beautiful bonsai they produce and entice readers to become members. Fields said he would also like to increase circulation about events happening at the Museum as well as about news and the history of the Museum and its trees.
“Everyone is amazed at the national collection,” he said. “ABS should be bringing those trees and the Museum to the attention of the public. We really like the partnership we have with NBF, and I’m proud to be part of it.”
While the ABS annual convention was canceled in 2020 and 2021, next year’s event will be held in conjunction with Brussel’s Bonsai over Memorial Day weekend in Mississippi. Keep an eye on their events calendar for more information!