PITTSBURGH BONSAI SOCIETY ...to disseminate knowledge, encourage others, and create interest in the art of bonsai ============================================================================= JULY 2002 NEWSLETTER Donna Ramsey, Editor ============================================================================= Our Meeting this Month Wednesday July 17th 7 p.m. Phipps Garden Center 1059 Shady Avenue (near Fifth & Shady) Going, going, gone!... Take part in our Bonsai Auction. We will auction off bonsai trees, plant material, pots, stands, tools, books, lanterns, display accessories...virtually anything relating to bonsai. We will auction both donated or consigned items. (PBS will keep 15% of the consigned items) Now is the time to gather up those items (you no longer want or use) and cash them in. Then use that money to bid on something you really want. What a great idea! Has your collection of trees left you frazzled? Why not thin out your collection now and in so doing, you will have more time to spend on your remaining trees. For each item or lot you wish to have auctioned, please have a 3 X 5 index card (we will provide cards if you don't have some) with the following information: Your name, address & phone number (optional for donated items) Item description or lot name Indicate if item is consigned or donated If consigned, list reserve price, if any Give comments or info that might help it sell We will need volunteers to help with the following: accept lots-- one person to get the cards filled out and one to record the lot numbers on the cards or tag on the item with the lot number on it; for the bidder numbers we need someone to hand out numbered cards and record the bidder's name and phone number on a sheet next to their bidder number. This sounds like fun, we hope you can join us! To join or re-new, send your dues to: Pittsburgh BONSAI Society c/o D.G. Ramsey 103 Dogwood Lane Pittsburgh, PA 15238. __________________________________________________________________ ANNOUNCEMENTS Next Month-- Picnic & Bonsai Flea Market-- Refer to the enclosed flyer, better yet tape it to the refridgerator. Welcome New Members! Chris Atkeson, Dave Barowich, Gloria Hickton, Joseph Liska, Don & Nancy Pepe, and Harold Morgan. Overheard at our Spring Show & Sale: "These people play with their trees every day and don't have time for anything else." The raffle tree winners from the show were Joe Knouse (PBS member) and K. Ott (non-member) Our library resources are dwindling...please return books and videos at the meeting! ___________________________________________________________________________________ Do You Know Me? Our philosophical interview with member Jorge Reyes... Who or what got you interested in bonsai? "Bob Grealish; through him I became acquainted with trees. Then I met Keith Scott and the other members of the society." Has bonsai become an obsession for you? "The word is passion; obsession seems to carry with it a destructive nature, though we all have killed many trees with our art, it is more 'passionately creative'." What aspect of bonsai do you most enjoy? Least enjoy? "Collecting-- the expectation is sometimes more than I can handle." "I hate taking out wire." If failure teaches better than success-- what have your bonsai failures taught you? "To be more aggressive, perhaps with a bit of fearlessness (but never without thought)." Do you have a favorite tree, what makes it special? "The Midnight Elm--the tree is spectacular, yet classic, trained by Keith Scott, with a story behind it that is a bit like folklore." When you have purchased a specimen tree, does it ever truly become yours? Or is it forever someone else's work that you are now tending? "Definitely yes, or perhaps you become part of it." Someone interested in art might regard bonsai primarily as an art form; while a horticulturist might view it as horticulture first and foremost. Their "take" on bonsai is largely determined by their own background. What is your "take" on bonsai and how does it relate to your background? "Art in every form is man's immitation of nature; so too is it with bonsai. Nature to art, through man it will express its own uniqueness and pain." What advice would you offer to someone who is new to bonsai? "Never regret getting 'another tree'." See you at the meeting!....... "We may affirm absolutely that nothing great in the world has been accomplished without passion." Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831)