90 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM Due to Kusamura’s expertise, the club has been entrusted with the care of Filoli Garden’s vast bonsai collection. With a smile, Michael recalls the time he lent a hand with one of Filoli’s problem trees. “No one seemed brave enough to deal with it, so they called me in,” he recounts. “I said, ‘Okay, I need you to all agree that once I take these branches off, you’re not going to complain.’ Because you’ve gotta think twice and cut once!” Speaking of which… Michael holds up a splitter tool, used to crack and tear branches in a way that mimics Mother Nature’s weathering process. “It looks like a medieval torture device,” he quips. tranquili-tree kusamurabonsai.org {home & design} PHOTOGRAPHY: ROBB MOST / JOHANNA HARLOW way—such as the motion of the tree, the flowers on the scroll and the flowers on the accent plant,” Michael explains. What’s more, “the stand harmonizes with the design and the shape and the character of the tree,” and the elements should be asymmetric. Not only is each display arranged to tell a cohesive story, it also allows guests to flow organically through the exhibition. At the end of his backyard tour, Michael comes to stand by a potted oak. “I acquired this tree from Tosh Saburomaru,” he shares. “He gave me this as a two-year-old seedling he had grown from an acorn and he said, ‘Put it in the ground, grow it big and then grow old with it.’” It seems a fitting tribute to the spirit of Kusamura Bonsai Club, as its members patiently and purposefully continue to nurture this centuries-old artform. As a club member, Michael also shares his knowledge through demonstrations. Kusamura’s growth mindset means workshops for both beginners and more advanced members. “It’s really focused on lifting everybody up to enjoy that art form,” affirms Michael, who learned from a book during his first decade of bonsai. After joining, “I quickly recognized the advantage of being in a club where there were people who could say to me, ‘Don’t do this— because in ten years, you’ll realize that it was a bad idea.’” Another perk is participating in the Annual Club Show, where 150 or so bonsai pose regally on their wood and stone stands. A formal display consists of three elements: a tree on a stand, a complementary accent plant and an artistic scroll (with calligraphy poems or illustrations). “Those three elements connect in some
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