The Artist Behind This Year's World Bonsai Day T-Shirt Design: Aaron Stratten

Aaron working on his bonsai.

The artwork featured on this year’s commemorative World Bonsai Day t-shirt was designed by Aaron Stratten. Aaron is a bonsai lover, multi-medium artist, art educator, and self-proclaimed “gardenbody.” He currently serves as Potomac Bonsai Association’s President and has taught art at Faifax County Public Schools for over a quarter century. We were lucky to sit down with him to learn more about his inspiration for this year’s shirt, what he loves most about bonsai, and why he thinks you should join a bonsai club. Read all about Aaron below…And, order your t-shirt for this year’s World Bonsai Day (WBD) on May 13th.

1.) Tell us a bit about your art form, your process, and your history.

To understand me as an artist, you have to first understand that I am an art educator.

I have served Fairfax County Public Schools for nearly 25 years as a high school and middle school art teacher, and as the K-12 art educational specialist in the fine arts office. I have also taught at the preschool and college levels. Art teachers in public schools teach a full range of media and skills. This educator lens reinforces a  widely-varied personal art practice which includes drawing, painting, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics, digital art, and of course, bonsai. I believe deeply in teaching and practicing a variety of ideation and planning processes as the foundation for creating artwork, and for solving any other sort of problem, so my process involves many drafts, sketches, and iterations.

For my personal education in art, I went to Indiana University where I earned a BS in art education and a BA in fine arts with a focus on painting. I later got a Masters from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) where I had a dual focus on painting and printmaking. The irony is not lost on me that I spent so many years training in two-dimensional media and now spend most of my creative energies in three dimensions, shaping living trees and pots to keep them in.

2.) Tell us about the design you created for WBD. What was your inspiration, your process, technique, etc.

Aaron’s design for the 2023 World Bonsai Day commemorative t-shirt.

The 2023 World Bonsai Day t-shirt design was intended from the start as a single color, graphic image that would capture the essence of bonsai and bonsai practice rather than the image of a particular bonsai tree. It is a combination of traditional ink drawing, cut paper, and digital manipulation. Progressively larger circles contain, first, a simplified ink drawing of a tree in a pot illustrating the most basic translation of the Japanese kanji, “bon” (a pot or tray) and “sai” (a tree or plant). The second ring shows ramified branches extending outward from the center of the design just as branches extend from the trunk of a tree, and the third ring represents the life-giving foliage of the tree represented with a simplified pattern of ink brush blots. The circles are not concentric, but are very intentionally arranged with asymmetry, an essential aspect of bonsai design, and imperfectly to give a nod to the wabi-sabi aesthetic which is deeply embedded in bonsai practice and is reinforced by the imperfection of the torn-edge of the outer shape. Order yours today!

3.) How did you get involved with bonsai? What do you love about the practice and the art form?

I have practiced bonsai for over 25 years. It combines my love of art and a love of nature gained from spending so much time outside in my rural Indiana upbringing. Bonsai also aligns nicely with some of my artmaking habits. As a painter, I have often struggled with knowing when to stop. I would continue refining and adjusting a painting forever if I didn’t have a deadline. This tendency toward continuous refinement and iteration lent itself well to working with a medium that continues to grow and change over time. It also inspired the title of my bonsai blog, Bonsai Iterate.

I practiced solo for way too long and didn’t join a bonsai club until 2016 when I found the Northern Virginia Bonsai Society. My learning accelerated and before I knew it, I was president of the club, a role I held from 2018 through 2022. The best advice I can give anyone who loves bonsai is – join a bonsai club! The connections to other practitioners is invaluable, and your learning will take off leading to better, healthier trees.

4.) Do you have a favorite tree at the Museum? If so, which and why?

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) donated by Fred H. Mies in 2003, in training since 1979

There are so many amazing trees at the bonsai museum but I am regularly drawn back to the American Beech (Fagus grandifolia) in the North American Collection. My time in the woods in the Midwest and in Virginia has fostered a love of the big, native deciduous trees of our temperate forests. While these species, like the American Beech, may not offer naturally small leaves ideal for miniature trees, they still speak to me as representations of the environments I know so well. Visiting the Beech at the museum is also inspiration for continuing to work on a few beech in my own collection.

5.) How will you be celebrating World Bonsai Day?

I am currently the president of the Potomac Bonsai Association (PBA) so I just might be spending World Bonsai Day – the weekend immediately following the annual PBA Bonsai Festival – recovering from all that we put into running that event. I’m a bit of a homebody… or maybe a garden-body (Can we make that a thing, please?) so I can’t think of anything better than spending time with my bonsai and in my garden at my home in Woodbridge, Virginia. The roses and Siberian irises will be blooming, as they always do just in time for Mother’s Day, and all the trees will be lush and green. What could be better?

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Purchase your commemorative
World Bonsai Day 2023 t-shirt today!

Welcome Angelica Ramirez, 2023 National Bonsai Apprentice!

Angelica Ramirez, 2023 National Bonsai Apprentice

The National Bonsai Foundation (NBF) is pleased to introduce this year’s National Bonsai Apprentice, Angelica Ramirez – a multi-talented artist. Ramirez steps in as we thank and wish Henry Basile, the 2022 Apprentice, much luck in his next step at the Denver Botanic Gardens as Assistant Curator of the Japanese Garden. Read his thank you note at this link.

The purpose of the National Bonsai Apprenticeship is to educate and train a new generation of American bonsai artists. You can learn more about the Apprenticeship at this link.

Originally from Florida, Angelica Ramirez came to bonsai after years of pursuing and excelling in many interests. She attended the University of Florida for Music Performance and has been a cellist for over fifteen years. She is an accomplished archer, having won multiple championships and breaking multiple state and international records. Angelica started painting as a form of expression, and has a Helicopter Private Pilot license.

These various pursuits in life have led her to the art of bonsai, as she began practicing the art form in 2019 as a way to relax from flight school. She has studied under several teachers including Feng Gu of Penjing Bonsai Garden, Peter Chan of Herons Bonsai, and David Cutchin of D&L Bonsai. She was the first bonsai intern at the Chicago Botanic Garden, where she worked under the Garden’s bonsai curator (and former National Bonsai & Penjing Museum national bonsai apprentice), Chris Baker.

Angelica is the creator of Discover Potters, the global online database of bonsai potters which includes direct links to over 400 active potters in over 45 countries; and includes resources for finding and learning about bonsai pottery. Several of her accomplishments include earning second place at the Bonsai Societies of Florida’s styling competition, which earned her a scholarship to continue her bonsai studies and awarded the opportunity to be a guest artist for the 2022 48th Annual Bonsai Societies of Florida Convention. During that year, Angelica showcased her bonsai at the 2022 Epcot International Flower & Garden Festival and later, at the Chicago Botanic Garden.

Welcome, Angelica! We are thrilled to have you on the team and look forward to all that you will do for the Museum, trees and community!

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​​NBF is pleased to provide complete financial support for this apprenticeship, thanks to the Foundation’s generous donors. Without your help, this one-of-a-kind apprenticeship that helps to usher in the next generation of horticulturists wouldn’t be possible. Make a tax-deductible gift today to support the future of bonsai artistry. 

In Memoriam: Marybel Balendonck

The National Bonsai Foundation and greater bonsai community celebrates the life of brilliant bonsai artist Marybel Balendonck, who passed away at age 97 in California in February 2023. 

Balendonck was born and raised in Texas, working an assortment of odd jobs (even obtaining a pilot’s license!) before moving to California in the 1960s. Asian arts captivated her, and she began to teach herself bonsai through books, starting her formal training in 1965. She was one of John Naka’s principal students and dear friends but also studied under prominent artists like Melba Tucker and Harry Hirao.

Since her introduction to bonsai, her passion for the art only grew, and she became thoroughly involved in the bonsai community, once saying that "bonsai combines many of the best aspects of art and nature.”

Balendonck was one of the founding members of the NBF Board of Directors (serving until 2020) and an original member of Kofu Bonsai Kai, a Southern California-based bonsai club. She served in several bonsai club leadership positions, including the Santa Anita Bonsai Society, California Bonsai Society, Golden State Bonsai Federation and a founding member of California Aiseki Kai. She was also the first non-Japanese member of Nampu Kai Bonsai – John Naka’s exclusive bonsai club.

Naka (in overalls) and Nampu Kai members gather including Marybel (in yellow) around a tree during a 2003 meeting in California

“There was hardly any separation between John and Marybel, they were that close,” Former NBF President and Chair Emeritus Felix Laughlin said. “Her legacy will be the Museum’s John Y. Naka Pavilion and the iterations of it in future renovations. Marybel was the real deal and a great and tenacious fighter and promoter of NBF and the Museum.”

Left: John Naka and wife Alice Naka with Marybel

Right: Marybel (orange), John Naka, Nay Komai, Barbara Hall Marshall, Cheryl Manning and Alice Naka

Besides her support for the Naka Pavilion, which houses the North American collection, Balendonck was a key player in the fundraising efforts for several Museum structures and was known for her generous heart. The California Bonsai Society and other friends of Marybel helped to fund the Research Center of the Museum’s exhibits gallery, recognizing her contributions toward the Museum’s completion. 

“Legend has it that during a banquet at a bonsai convention in California she locked all the doors except one, where she put a table and chair in front of and no one could leave unless they gave to the North American Pavilion construction project,” former NBF Co-President Jack Sustic said. “Not sure if that's the exact truth, but knowing Marybel I wouldn't put it past her!”

Her trees were displayed in venues like the Huntington Library and Gardens, Los Angeles County Arboretum, the Japanese American Cultural Center Los Angeles and the Bowers Museum in Orange County, California. Her Chinese Elm, shown left and donated to the Museum in 1990, was once on display at the White House. She was awarded the 1994 Ben Oki Award by the American Bonsai Society.

Marybel also has several stones, including a dobutsu-seki, or animal-shaped stone, in collections all over the world. 

“I have so much respect and admiration for Marybel and consider myself fortunate to be able to call her friend,” Sustic said. “Never one to hide her opinions or waver in her views, one knew exactly where they stood in her eyes. We came to be close friends and her support of me, as a friend and as curator has meant the world to me and I'm eternally grateful for both.”  

Marybel, middle, at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Naka Pavilion in November 1988.

An October Morning at the Museum

By Stephen Voss

Stephen Voss is an accomplished professional photographer and member of the National Bonsai Foundation’s board of directors. His photographs are held in the permanent collections of the Library of Congress and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

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The fall bonsai is a tree in transition. In October and November, we see some trees that have held onto their vibrant green leaves and others that have dropped their foliage practically overnight. In between these two stages are the trees that I went looking for on a recent visit to the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum.

That’s why I love this time of burnt oranges and dusky reds, of late afternoon sunsets, of growing shadows and that rich, autumnal scent of decomposing leaves. When I leave the museum after a morning of photographing, I know when I return the scenes will be different, irretrievably changed. It doesn’t take a photographer’s eye to appreciate the daily, even hourly transitions as a cold fall rain moves in, or a hard freeze strips a tree of its foliage.

In the scenes here, I became interested in isolating fall color to make it stand out more. I looked for brightly colored leaves that I could compose against the dark trunk of a tree or the cool white of the museum walls. A line of red leaves became a river of color. An opening in one tree became a blurry frame through which to capture another tree in sharp detail. For these sorts of photographs, a macro lens (or even a telephoto lens) is helpful in composing, and I made most of these images in the 90mm-135mm range. It’s an old photographer’s trick, but sometimes squinting your eyes a bit can attune you more to the lights and darks in a scene; this helps you create an image that acknowledges color as part of a photo’s compositional form.

On my last walk through the gardens on the late October morning when I made these photos, I was composing a close-up image of a fallen leaf in one of the large ceramic water buckets. Just moments after I pushed the shutter button, the waterlogged leaf sunk under the surface and slowly drifted to the bottom of the bucket. I left that day with my photo of that fleeting moment, and a reminder of the wonders of this beautiful place that gives us continual gifts of surprise and amazement, if only we give it the time.

Stephen

Scenes from the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, October 2022. All photos by Stephen Voss for the National Bonsai Foundation.

Bonsai is Best of D.C. 2022

You voted, and the results are in! Washington City Paper has published this year’s Best of D.C. with promising results. We sincerely appreciate all of our supporters who worked to recognize the National Bonsai Foundation, the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the U.S. National Arboretum in so many categories. 

The results show that the Museum, the Foundation, and the Arboretum were recognized in a total of four categories! Thank you for demonstrating the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the National Bonsai Foundation’s value in the D.C. community for yet another year.

The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum has now been recognized as one of the best places to take an out-of-towner for five years in a row! Take a look at the total awards and honorable mentions below.

Best Place to Take an Out-of-Towner

Winner:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum  (selected for fifth year in a row)

Finalist:  U.S. National Arboretum

Best Tour for Out-of-Towners

Finalist:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Best Place to Meditate

Winner:  The National Bonsai & Penjing Museum

Runner-Up:  U.S. National Arboretum

Best Place to Day Trip

Finalist:  U.S. National Arboretum

Bonsai Apprentice Henry Basile's Thank You Letter

As the morning weather in Washington, D.C. gains the slightest hint of a chill, I look out on the serene courtyard of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, where I’ve learned and experienced so much since my graduation from Kansas State University with a Horticulture degree just four months ago.

My understanding of plant physiology and general horticultural care – and of course bonsai maintenance, development, and refinement – has deeply expanded through the incredible opportunity to be this year’s Bonsai Apprentice (in honor of the Museum’s first curator, Robert Drechsler. The Apprenticeship provides me eight hours of daily practice at one of the highest levels of intensive horticulture. As anyone who practices bonsai, penjing, kusamono, shitakusa, or related arts will tell you: This hands-on experience is irreplaceable.

Along with the roles of artist and horticulturist, curatorial staff play the roles of educator and historian. While I’m out in the collection watering or weeding, visitors often ask questions from simple (“What are the tea bags on top of the soil?”) to complex (“What is the history of that tree?”), allowing me to deepen my insights each day. This accumulation of knowledge and proficiency, as well as daily interactions with patrons regarding the artistry and history of the trees, are among the most meaningful aspects of my Apprenticeship.

With your support, this program will continue to train people who increase the scope of bonsai within the United States. The National Bonsai Foundation’s ongoing investment in this Apprenticeship, promotion of various exhibits and artists, and dedication to introducing bonsai to a broader public are necessary steps to develop the next generation of bonsai artists and curators. 

Thank you to the National Bonsai Foundation for advancing bonsai artists, horticulturists, and curators through the Bonsai Apprenticeship. And special thanks to you and the many supporters who have made this incredibly formative experience possible for me, those before me, and those still to come.

Henry Basile

Bonsai Apprentice 2022

In Memoriam: Abe Shinzo, September 21, 1956–July 8, 2022

The National Bonsai Foundation extends its deepest condolences to the loved ones of Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and to the people of Japan at this sad and difficult time.  Mr. Abe was the longest-serving prime minister of Japan and a very faithful friend to both the United States and democracy throughout the world.  The news of his assassination on July 8, 2022 is a truly tragic and shocking loss. 

Mr. Abe had a special connection to the U.S. National Arboretum’s National Bonsai & Penjing Museum and the NBF, starting from when the Museum opened in 1976.  The Museum opened with a gift of fifty-three trees from the people of Japan to honor the United States’ bicentennial and celebrate peace between the two nations. These trees, the “original gift,” occupy a special place in the Museum’s history, and many remain on display today. One tree, a dwarf Japanese maple, was donated by the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, Shintaro Abe, Mr. Abe’s father. 

The Museum was also honored in 2019 to host Mrs. Akie Abe, Mr. Abe’s wife, during her visit to Washington, DC when she toured the Museum alongside the First Lady. It was a privilege then to share with her the tree that her father-in-law had donated, and the Museum continues to be proud to display it for the public at this time.