PERSONAL STATEMENT

I've been growing bonsai as an artistic discipline for over thirty years, beginning in my native England and now in the USA. Having been trained in graphic design, which I practiced until my relocation in 2001, it is inevitable that I have some personal opinions about the creativity of bonsai design.

I want each bonsai I create to be different, as original as possible. I have no interest in slavishly following classic styles, although learning them is an essential step to realizing ones own original designs - as important as learning good techniques or horticultural practices. But once we have learned the stylistic traditions, we should observe what they achieve aesthetically and seek our own ways to achieve the same.

The Japanese and Chinese look to their landscapes for inspiration, and they draw on their cultural and artistic heritage for the visual language with which to turn their inspiration into bonsai. This is evident in their different bonsai aesthetics. Yet the thing that drives them to create bonsai art, the 'spirit of bonsai' is universal - entirely cross-cultural, east or west.

I believe we should draw upon our own western artistic and cultural heritage to discover new acceptabilities in bonsai aesthetics. If bonsai is an art, it must evolve and progress. Such evolution is not led by a hierarchy or elite group (not in any art) but by individual artists who understand the spirit of bonsai and have the courage and dedication to explore new paths.

If we are to create ever more imaginative and evocative bonsai, we should also look to our own western landscapes for inspiration. But there is one source of inspiration that is common to all bonsai enthusiasts, wherever they live: that fanciful landscape of the mind where anything is possible. Ceativity begins with imagination, and the determination that if you can imagine it, you can make it.

RESUMÉ
1954 - At eight years old I made my first attempt at bonsai, inspired by a chapter in a children's activity book. Failure was inevitable.
1974 - Then working as a book designer, I made my second attempt at bonsai on the window ledge of my London flat. Success!
1979 - Window ledge now too small ­ moved to a large garden with a small house in Surrey. Joined the Bonsai Kai of the Japan Society of London.
1985 - Exhibited on gold medal winning stand at the Chelsea Flower Show.
1989 - Launched Bonsai magazine and travelled to Japan to study bonsai in greater depth. Began teaching in UK.
1991 - Began teaching overseas.
1991-2000 - Consulting Editor for "Bonsai" magazine (UK).
1994-97 - Board Member of the European Bonsai Association
1996-2001 - Member of the Bonsai Judging Panel at the Chelsea Flower Show, London
2001 - Relocated to the United States to work full-time as a bonsai teacher, artist and consultant.

Current
Now residing in Salem, Massachussetts, USA, and working full-time as a bonsai teacher, artist and consultant. Hô Yoku-en, my working bonsai garden, is located at Bonsai West, Littleton, MA.
Founder and Principal of the Hô Yoku School of Bonsai
Teaching engagements throughout the USA and continued engagements in Europe.
Bonsai Consultant to Lars Anderson Collection, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Boston.
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PUBLICATIONS
1990 Practical Bonsai, Crowood Press
1993 Step-by-step guide to Bonsai, Colour Library Books et al
1996 The Bonsai Survival Manual, Quarto/Cassells
1997 Hamlyn Care Manual: Bonsai, Hamlyn
1997 Presenter on Royal Horticultural Society's video on bonsai
1999 Bonsai contributor to Readers' Digest Encyclopedia of Gardening
2001 The Art of Bonsai Design, Sterling (USA)
Contributor to The Bonsai Handbook, by David Prescott (various publishers)
Contributor to Bonsai Landscapes, by Suchin Ee, Storey (USA)
Contributor toBonsai Today's Master Series: Junipers, Stone Lantern (USA)

AWARDS
Certificates of Merit awarded by Saburo Kato, President of Nippon Bonsai Association
Certificates of Merit from Federation of British Bonsai Societies
Photographic exhibit accepted for 10th International Exhibition in Osaka, Japan.
Special commendation from I-Chi-Su, President, Taiwan Bonsai Association
Photographic exhibit accepted for JAL Worldwide Bonsai Competition 1999
2001: Second prize in JAL Worldwide Bonsai Contest