Feb. 22, 2016 - Bobby Curttright - Demonstration

We are pleased to announce Bobby Curttright as our guest artist for the February 22nd general meeting! 

Bobby's interest in bonsai is longstanding, but an exposure to the Nippon Bonsai Association's Classic Bonsai of Japan irreversibly sparked it into a full-fledged passion. After just one year of working seriously with bonsai, the Nebraska native was accepted as Michael Hagedorn's full-time apprentice. This speaks volumes about his personal attributes and just how quickly he has progressed.    

In the ensuing years, Bobby has made annual trips to Japan for Kokufu-ten, the world's largest and most prestigious bonsai exhibit. While in Japan, he's worked with Shinji Suzuki, one of the country's leading bonsai artists. Mr. Suzuki has won multiple awards at Japan's top shows (Kokufu-ten, Sakufu-ten, Taikan-ten, etc.) and is considered by many to be one of the top three or four bonsai artists in the world today. Bobby has wired and styled trees at Suzuki's nursery, alongside his senpais (senior apprentices/mentors), fellow Americans Matt Reel and Tyler Sherrod.   

Bobby's work with bonsai does not begin and end with the trees themselves. He has a zeal for bonsai display, encompassing the use of hanging scrolls, okimono (display ornaments), kusamono (accent plants) and fine, antique pottery. Shinji Suzuki's proficiency with tokonoma (alcove) displays has clearly left a lasting impression on Bobby. For him, this method of presentation is the best way to fully appreciate the beauty of a bonsai and most effectively convey a mood or tell a story.  

In his own words, Bobby enjoys "the process of training and growing bonsai from seed, or seedling, as well as the raw natural beauty one can find in a collected tree." A well-rounded technician and artist, he finds value in "all the different species of trees and the work that is involved with them." Some of his favorites, however, are natives such as mountain hemlock, shore pine, Rocky Mountain juniper, Ponderosa pine and Engelmann spruce. Among Eastern species, he prefers Japanese white pine, Tosho (needle juniper), dwarf Japanese flowering quince, and Ezo spruce.  

Come see Bobby in action on February 22nd from 7:00 to 9:30pm at the UW Center for Urban Horticulture! 

[Photograph by Anna Caitlin Harris]