Colorado Trip April 2013

     I just returned from a fantastic trip to Colorado. It is always good to get out to the Rocky Mountains but when you can mix them with good people and Bonsai it is truly amazing! My last trip to Denver was back in June for the ABS/BCI Convention to compete in the Joshua Roth New Talent Competition, where I took 1^st place. It was a really good show with some top knotch artists and vendors, as well as, a beautiful exhibit. I was struck by the incredible trees, not only the exhibit, but the quality of material being offered for the workshops. Rocky Mountain Juniper, Ponderosa Pine, Colorado Blue Spruce, Sage Brush, the list goes on. So I knew it was going to be a real treat to get out there as an artist and get my hands on some of those guys.

     I was able to spend some time with the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society offering a critique and BYOT workshop on the first day. Some of the trees were European Euonymus, Boxwood, Doug Fir, Limber Pine, Rocky Mountain Juniper, and even a few Ficus. It was a nice mix and a good day to start off the trip.

     The following day was a good long one spent with my good friend and fellow artist Todd Schlafer. Todd is known for collecting some of the highest quality material in Colorado. So we picked a couple of world class trees and got busy with a gorgeous Utah Juniper and a sweet Ponderosa Pine. 11hrs later we were satisfied with the days labors and called it a night.

      My third day was spent with yet another quality individual with exceptional material up in Boulder. It was a nice change of scenery to spend a day outside the city with an amazing view of the Front Range. We were able to work a Ponderosa, a Doug Fir, and a shohin Spruce. It was a pretty sweet day.

 My last day was spent with Larry Jackal viewing the Japanese Garden that houses over 100 collected Ponderosa Pine among other beautiful features.

 After we went and spent a good part of the afternoon with Jerry Morris studying his collection of collected specimens and propagated dwarf conifers and viewing the plethora of photos he has taken in his nearly 80 years of hiking and collecting in the Rocky Mountains.

That evening would conclude the journey with a demonstration for the Rocky Mountain Bonsai Society. We only had an hour so it was short but sweet with a good turnout. What better species to end a trip to Colorado on than a nice Colorado Blue Spruce?