Museum Hosts “Irreverent Bonsai Monk” Michael Hagedorn for World Bonsai Day

Michael Hagedorn, a potter turned bonsai artist, will hold demonstrations at the Museum on World Bonsai Day, May 11th, 2019.

Hagedorn hails from Oregon, where he works on bonsai, teaches about his craft and keeps a bonsai blog. He said his interest in bonsai remained on the back burner for many years while he explored other disciplines, like drawing, ceramics and sculpture, that prepared him for a future in bonsai.

When he graduated from The New York State College of Ceramics, Alfred University with a Master of Fine Arts, Hagedorn wanted to craft something – so he made bonsai containers for ten years. Hagedorn had taken care of bonsai since he was 15, but only late in his potter years did the trees start to become more compelling than the vessels they lived in.

“A full day could go by in the ceramics studio, and I was thinking about trees the whole time. I wasn’t concentrating on the pots,” he said. “There are only so many years that you can do that and know you need a change.”

A Background In Bonsai

Hagedorn said he jump-started his bonsai career under the tutelage of Boon Manakitivipart, an internationally recognized bonsai master.

“He was strict and I was a challenging student, willful and opinionated, but he survived me and also prepared me well for study in Japan,” Hagedorn said.

Another one of Hagedorn’s mentors was Japanese bonsai master Shinji Suzuki, the owner of the Taikan Bonsai Museum in Japan and an artist who Hagedorn said created “bonsai of haunting beauty.”

Hagedorn said his three-year apprenticeship at Suzuki’s large nursery was filled with challenging work from the beginning: he wired trees, watered half of Suzuki’s bonsai collection, welcomed clients, prepared the nursery for typhoons in the summer and shoveled snow in the winter.

His book, “Post-Dated: The Schooling of an Irreverent Bonsai Monk,” details his journey through the bonsai world, which was filled with obstacles, learning moments and failures that all led to eventual triumph.

“It’s all in there,” he said. “But what was intended as ironic is the ‘monk’ part. My sempai and I were the opposite of monks – we were survivalists.”

Bonsai As Emblems Of Peace

Suzuki used to tell Hagedorn he should embrace that one of the central themes of bonsai is “peace.” Hagedorn said he watched people connect with bonsai as therapy or use the tree to forge friendships across national boundaries, and understands now why Japan has sought to equate peace and bonsai after two catastrophic world wars.

“In many ways, bonsai both offers peace and is created by it, and perishes in its absence,” he said.

These sentiments are the roots of World Bonsai Day, an internationally celebrated day of appreciation for the ancient art of bonsai as a path to peace.

Hagedorn said he used to sell pots at the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum as a potter long ago, and he is looking forward to visiting the Museum again for his demonstration for World Bonsai Day next month.

Hagedorn added that he has enjoyed studying the Museum’s vast array of bonsai, as its collection is one of the most significant in the United States.

“The entire idea of a museum for small trees is a truly important thing for Westerners,” he said. “There’s an otherworldly quality about bonsai that can be riveting to people.”

Advice To Bonsai Hobbyists

Hagedorn said those looking to delve into the world of bonsai can use books for inspiration, clarification and memorization. But they should also branch out – no pun intended – and take advantage of the hundreds of easily-accessible blogs and videos that comment on recent and specific bonsai techniques.

A hobbyist’s next step is to find a trustworthy teacher who can guide them through their bonsai journey with examples, contrasts and comparisons, as the art is complex and transcends any rulebook one might try to follow.  

“Being a student is a brave act, for one will fail if you’re being at all serious about it,” he said. “Being a physical art, one needs the full quiver of experience, which is only offered in person.”

Hagedorn suggests the budding enthusiast be wary of the amount of plants they own when developing their hobby. For example, caring for five plants tends to draw too much attention to each one, but keeping too many trees will ensure that they will each remain “mediocre.” The ideal number for most hobbyists falls in the range of 20 to 30 trained bonsai, he said.

He added that hobbyists shouldn’t let maintaining bonsai become a burden – keep it fun.

“Bonsai should be a release from the pressures of life, not another cog in that wheel,” Hagedorn said. “Find people to share bonsai with that you enjoy and respect, and that will bring the same energy to the bonsai you work on.”

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Learn more from Michael when he speaks at the Museum on World Bonsai Day! Learn more about the day of events here.

HISTORICAL TREE SPOTLIGHT: The Ponderosa Pine

Dan Robinson carves the dead wood on the ponderosa pine.

While visiting the North American collection, you might notice one bonsai that stands out from the rest – but hardly like a sore thumb. Museum curator Michael James sat down with us to talk about the pine’s history and defining features.

Towering sometimes two whole feet taller than its neighboring bonsai, the ponderosa pine stands at about 56 inches tall and almost as wide. The pine tends to hold its own as a large bonsai because of its large needle size, but careful fertilization and pruning efforts may be employed to reduce its leaves, James said.

This particular pine has been in training since 1966, when U.S. Forest Service employee Dan Robinson collected the tree from a rocky region of Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington. The pine is believed to have been about 150 years old when Robinson first brought the pine home and began to train its bristly branches, James said.

“It was an extraordinary feat to get this out of the ground,” he said.

Robinson trained and cared for the pine for about 15 years and affectionately nicknamed it “Jackie Gleason Dancing” for its weaving and curving trunkline, James said. Jackie Gleason was a famous TV comedian in the 1950s and 60s who was known for a swivel-hip motion!

“It has a very strong jin that goes up into the middle of the tree, and then the trunkline drops down and curves back up over the top of that jin,” James said. “It’s kind of like a swinging look to it.”

In October 1980 the U.S. Forest Service held a special donation ceremony for the pine at the Museum in commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the service, he said.

James added that when the pine first arrived, Robinson had situated the tree in a non-traditional container created from rigid styrofoam insulation Robinson had carved into the form of a stone slab and then covered with fiberglass. Robinson’s container was so buoyant that he once placed it in the water and floated the tree around the pond surrounding the National Arboretum’s Visitor Center.

Jim Barrett, a popular potter based in California, made the ceramic container that it currently resides in.

James said Museum curators need to be mindful not to overwater the tree, which is an arid and slow-growing pine. He added that the pine is well adapted to cold weather, so it can remain outside during winter in Washington, D.C. without suffering damaged cells from ice and freezing.

“A lot of care has to be given to this tree, and when a tree is this large it takes more than one person to repot it,” James said. “It would be an honor to re-pot this with Dan Robinson someday.”

FIRST CURATOR'S BLOG: Get Your Bonsai Ready, Spring is Here!

The buzzing of bees and the sweet scent of flowers fill the air at the Museum as the spring weather continues to bring us warm sunny days and refreshing rains. The buds on the trees are beginning to break and fresh tender leaves fill out what was a beautiful winter silhouette. Spring is an exciting time of year for everyone who enjoys the outdoors, although hardly anyone looks  forward to this season more than a bonsai enthusiast.

After a long, cold winter of contemplating our many bonsai endeavors – like re-styling, keeping trees healthy and implementing new horticultural techniques – the bonsai enthusiast is eager for the last frost and the abundance of work ahead. Now that repotting season has started to wind down there are many tasks ahead.

Here at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum we have been bringing trees out of their winter protection and filling up our pavilions for the enjoyment of our visitors. This task is strenuous, but very rewarding, as the various areas of the Museum are revitalized.

With the wonderful spring weather and new growth rapidly expanding, bonsai caretakers must carefully execute the task of watering. Fertilizing is also very important; one must start out with a humic acid and fish emulsion when the trees show signs of awakening from dormancy, then inorganic fertilizers can be used alternating with organic fertilizer.

These actions are both crucial to maintain the bonsais’ health and ensure exponential growth during the spring and the rest of the growing season.

Another very important spring task is managing the growth distribution of deciduous trees. As the new shoots expand outside of the silhouette of the intended design, they must be cut back to maintain the shape of the tree. However, one should avoid cutting back too much of the new growth, as that will drastically slow the tree’s future maturation. Instead, cutting the outer shoots and leaving interior branches to grow stronger will increase the strength within the foliage pad. This step is crucial when attempting to maintain the health of the interior branches and creating the smallest tree possible.

As we move further into the spring season, make sure to keep up with work on your bonsai and your trees will continue to develop in the right direction. Although bonsai tasks might seem daunting and time-consuming this time of year, don’t forget to get outside enjoy the rest of the beauty that spring brings with your friends and families!

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Andy Bello has been selected as the Museum’s 2019 First Curator’s Apprentice.  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum's First Curator's Apprenticeship  for 2019 is funded by generous grants to the National Bonsai Foundation from Toyota North America and The Hill Foundation. More on Andy here.

INSIDE THE MUSEUM: A Look Into The Design of the Upper and Lower Courtyards

Stepping into The National Bonsai Museum is an experience unlike any other. If you get the sense you’re entering into a new and whimsical world where the calming influence of nature overtakes your soul, you are not alone. In fact, it was designed to feel that way...

We sat down with Jack Sustic, a former Museum curator who served for 13 years, to learn the history behind the decades-old courtyards.

The U.S. National Arboretum staff, the National Bonsai Foundation and architecture firm Rhodeside & Harwell, Inc. first designed the courtyards in 1999 to ameliorate calls for compliance with the American with Disabilities Act and to create a more fluid path for Museum visitors to follow, Sustic said. Visitors previously entered the Museum through the cryptomeria walk into a wide open space covered with gravel, but would not know where to continue from there, he said.

The Maria Vanzant Upper Courtyard, named for a bonsai hobbyist whose husband contributed financially to the courtyard to honor her memory, was completed in 2003.

Sustic said the upper courtyard’s towering wall and water feature were constructed to direct visitors to stop first at the Exhibits Gallery.

A large trellis system runs the length of the gallery, but a solid peaked roof covers the first opening into the gallery to help visitors identify the main entrance. The courtyard itself is flanked by the Japanese Pavilion wall and the Exhibits Gallery, creating a boxy and formal feel consistent with the design of the wall and water feature.

“The sound of the water really helps to continue the feeling of calmness and coolness that the visitor experiences as they walk through the cryptomerias and into the bright, open upper courtyard,” he said. “It really helps to set the stage for the visitor to experience the Museum in a calm, reflective and reverent manner.”

Once the visitor leaves the Chinese Pavilion, a wide stairway between the upper and lower courtyard angles toward the Japanese Pavilion entrance to prompt their next stop.

Deborah Rose, another visitor impacted by the beauty of bonsai, donated money to construct the lower courtyard in memory of her aunt and uncle who introduced her to the captivating trees. The courtyard, christened The Rose Family Garden, was completed in 2005.

“Many people when asked what is penjing will tell you that it’s quite whimsical and brings a smile to your face with freedom of expression that often surprises the visitors and sparks their imagination,” Sustic said.

He added that the team intended to design the lower courtyard to reflect those sentiments.

The Chinese Pavilion’s undulating dragon wall, which lacks the straight lines of a traditional Western wall, and the irregular shape of the planting beds and blue stone pavers create a less formal atmosphere for visitors in the lower courtyard, he said.

“The dragon wall is unique and a fun surprise for the visitor,” Sustic said. “It has that sense of whimsy and informality that is followed through in the outline of the planting beds and shape of the blue stone.”

Plan your visit now to experience for yourself the calming environment and whimsy one encounters in the Museum’s courtyards here.

An Interview with Mindfulness Workshop Leader, IMCW's Linda Naini

Health and wellness expert emphasizes curiosity and “the power of pausing” in anticipation of upcoming meditation session

“How often do you get in the shower and you come out and you have no idea what happened in there?”

Let's face it: modern life is frantic. We were promised that the advent of technology would free us up to spend more time doing the things we love, but the opposite often seems to ring true.

Our inboxes are overflowing. We can't keep up with texts. Our social media accounts continuously beep and buzz. We're alerted to breaking news every few minutes, causing us to feel that we’re constantly sprinting to keep up.

Thankfully, health and wellness expert Linda Naini is here to help. Turns out the secret to feeling less crazy is pressing pause on the influx of notifications and paying more attention to our surroundings.

“We are in a place where there is a lot of suffering, and a lot of the suffering is created from our disconnection from our own heart, body and mind and one another in community,” Naini says.

She says people now tend to adopt an automatic “fight, flight or freeze” mode in these troubled times. The struggle is returning to a state in which the parasympathetic nervous system is able to respond when a reaction is needed.

“If there's a car accident I need to react, but then what will happen is we continue to be in that reaction mode,” she says. “When we pause, it allows our nervous system to settle down.”

While our inbox may not be quite as dramatic as a car crash, it can sometimes feel that way.

Naini has been practicing myriad meditation techniques since she was first introduced to the Insight Meditation Community of Washington D.C. when dealing with a family tragedy. World-renowned meditation leader Tara Brach and many other IMCW teachers have served as mentors for her since then in both her personal and professional life.

“They’ve opened me up to the teachings by just their presence and their way of being,” she said. “Their encouragement is what has gotten me to teach.”

Naini now serves as an affiliate teacher at ICMW and holds a health and wellness certification through the Maryland University of Integrated Health.

Some might spite meditation, deeming it too time consuming or boring, but Naini says life only becomes boring when one is not curious. She believes that infusing mundane tasks, like washing the dishes or taking a shower, with curiosity is a simple way to involve oneself in meditation.

“How often do you get in the shower and you come out and you have no idea what happened in there?” Naini says. “But the smell of the shampoo and the feeling of the water hitting my face – that can kind of be exciting.”

Mindfulness can still be a helpful practice to those whose schedules are packed to the minute. Naini personally believes there are two overarching forms of meditation practice: formal and informal.

Formal practice is when someone specifically blocks out a chunk of time for a certain type of mediation, like concentration meditation or awareness meditation.

Informal practice can be a saving grace for people who are busy indefinitely: one can bring mindful awareness to activities like brushing their teeth or waiting to pick up their child at school by taking a few moments to notice their breathing pattern or acknowledge the smells and sensations surrounding them.

“I find that when people start doing informal practice they start bringing in more and more time to do a little bit more of a formal practice,” Naini says.

Naini notes that everyone’s meditation experience differs, but most often meditators realize how powerful taking two minutes to notice their breathing pattern is on their level of awareness of their surroundings. She said often meditators will form a connection during the session, either with others in the class or with their own beating hearts

Naini says mindfulness meditation aims to fully engage meditators in what's happening despite their surroundings, but some locations can be more conducive to taking a pause than others.

She says hosting a session outdoors and among greenery at The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum can allow one to be more receptive to mindfulness teachings. Placing the class in nature facilitates a deeper alignment with other organisms, like bonsai trees, on a cellular level, Naini says.

“If we actually pause and take some time gazing at the bonsai, you might see, "Oh wow, I really am connected to this other living being," she says.

Technology creates a disconnect from others and keeps us in contact with only people who are like-minded, Naini adds.

“At the end of the day we are all humans, we all have the heart, mind and body,” she says. “These practices really help us to see that humanity in each other that can otherwise be very difficult to hone in on.”

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Learn more and register for Linda’s class April 14th and/or June 9th here.