by John Callaway

Late January was cold this year. Hopefully you had plenty to do inside to keep yourself warm. I spent a lot of time catching up on my reading. Quite a bit of my time was spent reviewing display books from Kokufu and the Ginko awards, as well as reading through a stack of bonsai magazines. The latest issue of Bonsai Focus has come and what a page turner that has been. I can't wait for spring.

This year looks to be a great year for bonsai in America. Aside from the great programs we have scheduled in Louisville, there are also a number of national events that you may want to add to your calendar. In June, Indianapolis will be hosting the Mid-America Bonsai Alliance (MABA) bonsai convention. The first ever National Bonsai Exhibition will be held October 11-12 in Rochester New York. More information on these and other events will be included in the newsletter in the coming months.

The events this past month were really great. Earl Cormney selected a few videos from the club library for our viewing pleasure for the 2nd Tuesday meeting. It was great to see how some of the trees have progressed since the 20th anniversary show. We also got a chance to watch a video of the bonsai demonstration from Peter Adams when he visited a number of years ago. The Saturday meeting was a great time of soil mixing and chatting. Members were able to mix and fill soil for spring. We also had a pretty good discussion about fertilizing, watering, and lighting requirements once the soil mixing was complete.

As for February, we have a couple of great meetings scheduled:

2nd Tuesday meeting:
On Tuesday, February 12th from 7-9pm Linda Kossmann will be leading a design practice workshop. Here we will be working on future designs of our trees. There are a number of techniques that can be used to plan out your work. Some of the techniques that will be used during this meeting will be free sketching, shadow tracing, and more. Bring a tree that you need help with or just want to work with. Also, keep in mind that Matt Ouwinga will be in for a workshop on Saturday, February 16th, so this might be a good chance to get a number of styling ideas for a selected tree.

Following Saturday meeting:
Matt Ouwinga will be in from Chicago on Saturday, February 16th. Matt spent several months in Japan under the tutelage of Mr. Kunio Kobayashi and now spends his time lecturing and teaching around the country. We are thrilled to have him in Louisville once again. Matt will be presenting a lecture in the morning followed by a "bring your own tree" workshop in the afternoon. This meeting will start at 11am, one hour later than normal due to travel arrangements. Cost of the lecture/workshop will be $45.