MABA2017 Programs P1-Matt Reel Itoigawa Juniper Workshop. This is a special workshop with Matt Reel scheduled on Thursday July 6, the day prior to the convention, to allow 8 participants the opportunity to spend a full day with Matt styling their tree. The junipers are approximately 40 year old twisted trunk specimens growing in 8 containers. They are loaded with opportunities to create multiple Jin and Shari and end up with a potential award winning bonsai. These Junipers were retailing for $1250 each at a well- known bonsai nursery and we were able to purchase and provide them, including the entire day with Matt, at a cost of $795 per participant. This is a rare convention workshop that allows you to work on a mature tree with a Bonsai Master. C1 through C8 Exhibit Critiques. These are 1 hour critiques scheduled at 4 different times to allow participants to choose between 6 Bonsai Artist guides. Each of the 8 Critiques are limited to 10 participants which keeps the group small and allows for interaction between the guides and participants. Refer to the Event Schedule and choose your favorite artist(s). These critiques do not conflict with any workshops or seminars. W1-Andy Smith Ponderosa Pine Workshop. As we all know, it is impossible to go out in the wild and find and collect 8 trees which are identical in size, shape and specie. To overcome that issue Andy has opted to bring an assortment of various sized Ponderosa Pines for this workshop. Andy has posted the available pines on his website, www.goldenarrowbonsai.com where you can pre-select your tree. The tree cost is also noted and is in addition to the workshop cost of $65. The cost for the tree will be collected at the workshop. If your registration is not received within 10 days of the tree being selected the tree will be released to other participants.
W2-Scott Yelich Dwarf Jade Workshop. These Portulacaria afra specimens have trunk diameters of 1.5-2 and were personally selected by Scott for this workshop. Many say you cannot wire a jade but Scott successfully wires them all the time and will lead you thru this process. A pot is included so the trees can be potted in this workshop. Soil will be available. W3-Bill Valavanis Flowering Bonsai Design Seminar. We have all participated in or attended a bonsai exhibit where visitors vote on the most popular bonsai. Invariably the bonsai which is flowering or bearing fruit and/or berries wins. Bill will present propagation, growing, styling and presentation of flowering bonsai so you may sometime in the future win the most popular bonsai award in an exhibit. There is no cost to attend this seminar and may be of interest to those of you planning to attend Workshop W20-Crabapples. W4-Mark Fields Yew workshop. Mark has had these Taxus cuspida Yews for a while and has been carefully developing them with this workshop in mind. He has selected 8 of his top trees with 1-2 trunks and there is no question you will leave with a future show worthy bonsai. W5-Brian Ciskowski Boxwood Workshop. For this workshop you have an assortment of Boxwoods to choose from. There are Buxus harlandi, kingsville and morris midget species available in a wide range of sizes. Tree costs go from $20 up to $200 and are in addition to the basic workshop costs. W7-Matt Reel Bring Your Own Tree Workshop.
Here is the chance to work on whatever size or type tree you wish with our Headline bonsai artist. Bring your own tree or purchase one from one of our many vendors. W8-Jim Doyle Assorted Conifers. Jim s bonsai nursery is one of the largest sources of collected material east of the Mississippi. As such you will hardly ever find 8 trees of same size or specie so Jim is bringing an assortment of conifers for this workshop. The cost per tree will range from $95 to $125 and is in addition the basic workshop cost. W9-Brian Ciskowski Narrow Leaf Ficus Workshop. Wow these trees are magnificent and are 35-40 years old. How often can you find a workshop tree with Neribari in the range of 6 for under $500? These tropicals have been grown in 10 containers and are ready to be styled and repotted. If you complete the styling within the 3 hour time you may purchase a pot from one of our many vendors and pot the tree in the workshop. W10-Alan Magruder Bonsai Stand workshop. This is not one of your cookie cutter everything looks the same workshop. Alan is bringing an assortment of various style and size walnut components for assembling a mid-size bonsai display stand ranging in size from 11 x 15 to 14 X 18. This will handle a pot in the range of 10 to 12 of exterior length. To assist in your choice Alan will first discuss the proper relationship between bonsai and stand. With this in mind you may want to bring a photo (or the actual bonsai) to help select the proper pieces for your custom display stand. Sign up early as this workshop is limited to 6 participants. W11- Bill Valavanis Bonsai Design Seminar.
Who better to bring us up to date and refresh our goals than world traveler Bill Valavanis. Bill has probably seen more bonsai than all of us combined and will present design from the basics to the cutting edge examples seen today. There is no cost to attend this seminar. W13-Mary Madison Buttonwood Workshop. Who would be more appropriate to have a Buttonwood workshop with than Mary Madison, better known as the Buttonwood Queen. One of the characteristics of collected buttonwoods is their naturally occurring deadwood and the trees Mary has selected for this workshop are no exception. There will be larger buttonwoods available at an additional cost if you wish to upgrade. W14-Mark Fields White Pine Workshop. White Pines are notoriously slow growing and it is rare to find 8 35-40 year old specimens of similar size to have for a workshop. These trees have extremely nice twisting trunks and have been grown in 6 nursery pots for many years. W15-Matt Reel Spruce Workshop. We searched far and wide for material for Matt to use and found some extremely nice Spruce specimens. This workshop is offered to allow participants the opportunity to work on collected material with our Headline Artist at a reasonable cost. W16-Bill Valavanis Shohin Korean Hornbeam Workshop. Bill will do a short presentation on Forest Bonsai prior to beginning the workshop. This presentation is an excellent opportunity for you silent observers to partake. The workshop is all inclusive and includes 7 trees, wire, soil and pot. W17-Carl Wooldridge Herb Workshop.
For some unknown reason you rarely see Herbs used as bonsai. Why not? Who knows, but there are books available on using herbs as bonsai so we know it can be done, and rather successfully when looking at the examples in these books. Carl has searched far and wide and found some nice Rosemary and Lavender for this workshop. These herbs seem to be a logical choice to create an interesting bonsai which also provides a continuing fragrance throughout the year. For those of you who wish a larger tree upgrades will be available for an additional cost. W19- Mary Madison Bald Cypress Workshop. After Buttonwoods, Bald Cypress are Marys favorite tree for bonsai. These trees were collected by Mary and she has hand selected the best for this workshop. The trees vary in size and shape which predicates a range of costs from $100 to $150 each. This tree cost is in addition to the basic workshop fee. W20-Matt Reel Crabapple Workshop. Crabapples are beautiful trees, especially when blooming in the spring or bearing fruit in the fall. These workshop trees are old enough to profusely bear fruit and are not often offered for bonsai workshops. This is an excellent chance to have something slightly different and eye catching in your bonsai collection. W21-Ken Huth Scots Pine Workshop. Ken has been working with these pines for a number of years and they have been primed with the Literati style in mind. These are excellent trees and as noted will make fine bunjin or literati style bonsai. W22-Ryan Bell Bonsai Pot Seminar Ryan will give a presentation covering the history, classification, appreciation and discernment of Japanese and Chinese bonsai pottery, as well as identify the artists
and regions where the pottery originated. A question and answer session will be followed by the opportunity to have Ryan identify and appraise a pot, or discuss container choices on specific trees you bring along. At the close of the seminar Ryan is offering a pot of Tokoname grade or higher to be raffled off to registered convention participants.