November 25, 2019 - General Meeting - Todd Schlafer demo, 7-10 pm at CUH

We are pleased to announce Todd Schlafer as our guest artist for the Monday November 25th general meeting! Todd is a rising star in the American bonsai community and an expert on native yamadori (mountain-gathered wild trees). He specializes in Colorado blue spruce, Rocky Mountain juniper, Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, limber pine, one-seed juniper, pinyon pine and bristlecone pine, among others. Todd collects, sells and styles these trees through his business, First Branch Bonsai, based in Denver, Colorado. 

Todd’s interest in bonsai was sparked during a trip to Spain in 2002, when he purchased a so-called bonsai seed kit. After it inevitably failed to produce a beautiful bonsai within a few months, he began to explore local nurseries for useable, older material. This led him to Harold “Hal” Sasaki of Colorado Bonsai. Harold has been practicing bonsai since 1955, teaching it since 1977, and operating his bonsai nursery professionally since 1985. Todd began volunteering at Sasaki’s nursery, doing everything from pulling weeds to styling trees. 

His passion for collecting wild trees began after a trip into the Rockies with Jerry Morris in 2007. Todd quickly learned that basic, conventional techniques and design principles did not necessarily apply to collected material with sparse foliage and unconventional branching. In 2012, he decided to further his studies with Ryan Neil of Bonsai Mirai. Todd’s study with Ryan focused on advanced techniques for setting tree structure, which he considers the most difficult skill set in bonsai. After becoming highly proficient in such techniques and rounding himself out as an artist, others began to seek out Todd’s expertise and he was inspired to pursue bonsai full time.

In the ensuing years, he has traveled around the country doing demos, private work and teaching workshops. Todd has been a demonstrator at the Generation Bonsai event in Germany and a featured artist on livestreams by Bonsai Empire and Bonsai Mirai. He was the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society’s Artist of the Year in 2012 and would go on to become president of the organization. He also won the Best North American Species award at the 5th U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition in 2016. To see some of Todd’s material and work, visit www.firstbranchbonsai.com

Here's a link to our FaceBook events page.

We look forward to seeing you at 7pm on Monday November 25th at the Center for Urban Horticulture! 

[photo credit: Mike Andrews]