Bay Island Bonsai Show 2016
- Paul Kellum
- Jan 26, 2016
- 3 min read
Bay Island Bonsai is a Northern California organization founded in 1998 by Boon Manakitivipart. The organization came into being out of Boon’s desire to improve standards in bonsai, to produce a bonsai exhibit, and to establish a group of dedicated bonsai artists who could work and learn together.
Since its founding, Bay Island Bonsai has been open to all bonsai enthusiasts in the greater Bay Area that are dedicated to learning bonsai. The purpose of Bay Island Bonsai is to teach its members to recognize, create, and maintain high quality bonsai.
Members of all abilities are encouraged to gain competence in the art as quickly as possible and achieve this through regular meetings, hands-on workshops, and the careful study of bonsai display. Each winter Bay Island Bonsai members demonstrate their knowledge by staging a memorable show, “An Exhibit of Fine Bonsai.”
Cited from “Bay Inland Bonsai Website”
Daisaku Nomoto Working on a Japanese Black Pine at the Show.
The BIB Show Vendor Area
The vendor area was filled with many things to look at. These trees from Jim Gremel grown and refined in northern California.
Jonas Dupuich of "Bonsai Tonight Blog" setting up and selling at the Show.
The show was well wort the cross country trip for me, and did not fall short of its reputation of being best club show in the country. I only took a few pictures of the trees as there is a photo book that the BIB Club sells yearly to commemorate the great works of art this club produces.
Starting on the right Lincoln Proud just finished a 30 day apprenticeship making history becoming Boon’s first short term apprentice. On the left Andrew Robson who will be starting his bonsai apprenticeship this year with Michael Hagedorn in portland. Leaving me in the middle Paul Kellum my bonsai apprenticeship starts this May at Boon’s becoming his first long term apprentice. None of us could be as tired as Lincoln his last 30 days where the ones leading up to the BIB show and lets just say thats a lot of work.
After Leaving the show we all go back to Boons Garden to unwind before dinner. Here are some shots of people making new friends, sharing war stories or just looking around in delight.
The GSBF Bonsai Garden at Lake Merritt is only a few 100 feet away from the BIB show. I look a few shots at the garden and lucked out to get a little sun. It has some old trees there with impressive history behind them. The garden and trees could be in better shape. I speak as a first time visitor it was a little lack luster. The grounds are a little messy with random items laying around the garden. It was all in all ok but wouldn't go out of my way to see it as a garden experience. The trees being a small collection I expected trees to be better kept. Here are a few shots of the trees that where positioned for photographing.
The GSBF Garden at Lake Merritt does have a small court yard behind the building that the BIB show was in. This was well worth going out of your way to enjoy if in the area.
BIB did a new style of demo we had 3 individual trees being worked on like a workshop. Boon would come around to each tree and talked about each of them and what was happening and why. These trees got basic shaping as the two main ones where collected material and development takes time. It was a great show and it was my first time attending the BIB show and it was well worth it.
The tree I worked on couldn't take a picture on me with the tree so here but it did get a new owner at the show who seemed pretty happy with the first styling.
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