Bonsai Apprenticeship

Andrew bello was selected as the 2019 first curator s apprentice.
Bonsai apprenticeship. He s been here since june 2016. There s a nomination process and the apprentices work is reviewed etc. It is sponsored by toyota north america and the hill foundation. Most of the shaping and pruning as well as wiring and rewiring are done when the bonsai tree is potted in the training pot.
In japan there is a process to become a certified bonsai master. Only a couple weeks out of graduate school andrew robson began his apprenticeship at crataegus bonsai in portland. The same websites mention that it will take between two and four years to complete an apprenticeship. Asia pacific bonsai friendship federation 2020 exhibition may 27 28 mokpo korea the asia pacific bonsai friendship federation abff was established in manila on february 28th 2003 and coincided with the aspac vii conducted by the philippine bonsai society inc.
It means that the apprentice has served his master for a minimum of 5 years. Therefore bonsai training pots need not to be beautiful works of art. There s no standards for apprenticeships in the us. Master apprentice enthusiast bonsai education.
If this seems daunting well it is. The purpose of the apprenticeship is to educate and train a new generation of american bonsai artists. It s rather a big deal. It is the care and training that makes bonsai.
Maintenance pruning to maintain and refine the existing shape of a bonsai and structural pruning which involves more rigorous pruning to give a tree its basic shape or style. Intermediate ready to take your skills to the next level. Learn more about him here. January 1 2017bonsaiplace it is generally accepted and published on various websites that an apprenticeship can take between 2 000 and 12 000 hours to complete.
The bonsai training pots are like a workhouse of the bonsai pot. Andrew s background is in music with a master s degree from the yale school of music. These plants have none. All they need to be is sturdy and light in weight.
It takes years to learn most bonsai skills well two years to learn the basics anyway. While in school there he performed at the new york philharmonic s new music biennial among other.