Thomas John, bonsaiTALK Artist Profile

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Thomas John, bonsaiTALK Artist Profile
by Matt Chroust <i>bonsaiTALK correspondent</i>

Thomas J. Headshot Thomas John
bonsaiTALK Member Profile

compiled for bonsaiTALK
by Matt Chroust

"I live in north central Texas where the summers are long and hot and the spring rains are usually violent with large hail and even tornadoes. It’s sometimes a lot of hard work to keep my bonsai alive and looking good while fighting the heat of summer and the possibility of losing everything during a freak rain storm."
- Thomas J.

Editor's Note: Thomas J. has graciously agreed to be the subject of the first bonsaiTALK Member Profile. This profile was compiled by Matt Chroust for bonsaiTALK.

bonsaiTALK: Thomas, please tell us about your first bonsai. What kind of tree was it?

Thomas J.: I got started in bonsai I guess like most people; I was captivated by the appearance of these little guys in their beautiful pots. My first bonsai was a Japanese Maple, which I bought for $8.95 at a tree nursery as a two-year-old seedling back in 1991.

bT: How do you usually acquire your material? Are any of your early trees are still around?

TJ: I have no place to collect trees so I have to get my material from nurseries, usually bonsai nurseries. I look for something that has good potential for refinement and restyling. I still have that first Japanese Maple, and a few others that I purchased that year - a Ginkgo, a Zelkova serrata, and a four-trunk Japanese Nire Elm group.

Chinese Elm
Ulmus parvifolia
Semi-cascade Style

"This Chinese Elm was purchased around 1996 from a local bonsai nursery. Priced at just twenty-five dollars, it was most likely a reject because it was not even displayed with the rest of the trees on benches for sale. Rather, it was on the ground with a few others that didn't have much going for them.

This tree was not originally a semi-cascade when I bought it. I began training it this way the following year when I saw it seemed to be wanting to go this way."

bT. What have been the main influences in your bonsai work?

TJ: I am completely self taught. I have never attended a workshop of any kind, and I must say this is not because of arrogance. When I work on a tree I more or less know which direction I want to go with it and try not to exceed the limits of the tree too much. Since I usually go after a Japanese style, I get most of my inspiration from pictures, and the work of Masahiko Kimura, which I'm sure many people do, and Mississippi bonsai artist Shane Carey.

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