2023 LSBF Seminar
Pictures from the Event
See the full album here.
TINY TREES ON THE TRINITY
A Lone Star Bonsai Federation Exhibition & Seminar
On Shohin & Mame Bonsai Trees in Fort Worth, Texas
Guest Artist: Suthin Sukosolvisit
‘Best in Show’ winner at the 2021 US National Bonsai Exhibition
Welcome
The Lone Star Bonsai Federation (LSBF) invites you to attend the 2023 Seminar &
Exhibition on Shohin and Mame Bonsai, held in Fort Worth, Texas, on Saturday and Sunday, June 10-11, 2023 at the beautiful Fort Worth Botanic Garden.
The Seminar will feature a judged Exhibition of Shohin and Mame Bonsai open to the public. Vendors, a variety of workshops, self-sale table, tool sharpening, and an Awards Dinner on Saturday evening are most of the activities. Our guest Master Bonsai Artist Suthin Sukosolvisit will give a lecture/demo for all registrants and conduct a workshop. Always a favorite of experienced bonsai enthusiasts, he will critique the Exhibit Trees on Sunday morning. To top this off, your registration will include a ticket to the Botanic Garden grounds good thru the end of the year. We will conduct 4 guided tours of the Japanese Garden and give you a sneak preview of “The Bonsai Collection at the Japanese Garden”, a permanent Bonsai Exhibit to be completed in 2025.
Hope we have you interested! Read on for many more details and how to register.
Seminar Location- “Tiny Trees on the Trinity”
The Seminar will be held at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden in the Botanical Research Institute of Texas (BRIT) building, 1700 University Drive, Fort Worth, Texas, 76107. The building is at the north side of the main parking lot on the Botanic Garden grounds. There is a circular drive available for dropping off people and materials before parking. Parking is free and close in. The Welcome table is just inside the front door.
“Tiny Trees on the Trinity” is named for the Trinity River where Fort Worth was first settled. Trinity Park and the Trinity River are just across University Drive and is an easy walk or short drive from the Seminar parking lot.
The Fort Worth Botanic Garden is an ideal location for a Bonsai Seminar and is a first for LSBF.
Take a self-guided stroll along the well designed and beautiful walks and gardens of the historic Botanic Garden. The Rose Garden and the overlook Pavilion were built by the WPA during the Depression in the early 1930’s. Several other themed gardens are available to the visitor including the Japanese Garden, a top 10 garden in the country. For more information and pictures, use this link:
https://fwbg.org/ then click ‘Explore The Campus’. Don’t buy a ticket! A Pass is included with every Seminar registration! The pass is good in Fort Worth for the rest of the year. Come anytime.
We hope you will take advantage of your visit to the Botanic Garden, before, during, or after the Seminar. It is really quite nice!
Hotel Accommodations
The Official Hotel of the Seminar will be:
Radisson Hotel Fort Worth North-Fossil Creek
2540 Meacham Boulevard, Fort Worth, TX 76106
Local Attractions
Fort Worth offers a wealth of attractions, from art and history museums to one of the best zoos in the nation. www.fortworth.com/things-to-do/attractions/
Don’t miss these stand outs during your stay:
Fort Worth Stockyards National Historic District, 3 miles from the hotel
Take a historical walking tour through the Texas Trail of Fame, try your gun-slinging skills at the Stockyards’ Gunfighter virtual shooting range, or watch the
cowboys drive their herd of longhorns down Exchange Avenue.
Western food restaurants including Risky’s BBQ. Visit the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame and have a beer at one of the many historic bars, including Billy Bob’s Texas, the largest honky-tonk in the world! More information at www.fortworthstockyards.org
Sundance Square, 5 miles from the hotel. Balancing historic architecture and modern convenience, this 37-square-block district in downtown Fort Worth is a mecca for shopping, dining, and entertainment.
Fort Worth Zoo, 7 miles from the hotel and 1 mile from the Botanic Garden
Six Flags Over Texas, the original! 15 miles from the hotel
Kimball Art Museum, a world class art museum
Amon Carter Museum of American Art, known for its collection of original western bronze sculptures and paintings by Russel and Remington.
Our Featured Artist
Suthin Sukosolvisit has been a bonsai artist since 1970. Born in Thailand, Suthin has extensive experience with tropical bonsai. His expertise also includes Japanese Maple, Juniper, Azalea, Black Pine, and many other species.
Suthin has won multiple National Bonsai Awards in Thailand and the United States, recently taking ‘Best In Show’ honors at the 6 th US National Bonsai Exhibition. He lectures all around the world and at some of the most important bonsai conventions in the United States. Suthin shares new information and techniques whenever he teaches. His Bonsai are known for their proportion, refinement, and detail. He is mostly admired for his remarkable shohin bonsai designs. Suthin and his wife operate the Suthin Bonsai Studio in Stoughton, Massachusetts.
www.Suthinbonsaistudio.com
Suthin will give a lecture/demo Saturday morning, 9-noon, as our featured event. We can
seat 90 and will have a screen for all to see. The demo tree will be auctioned Saturday
night.
• A ‘Bring Your Own Tree’ workshop in the afternoon will be offered and silent observation is available for all that wish to see. It is a large room. Limit 12. 1:30-4:30pm, $40
• Sunday morning, a great learning experience is in store as Suthin critiques the displays and ‘Excellence In Bonsai’ award-winning trees from the Exhibit. We will set up a turntable and mic for the individual trees so that all can see and hear. 8:15-11am.
• After the critique, some time may be available to chat with Suthin.
Excellence In Bonsai Exhibition
See the winners for 2023 here.
The jewel of any bonsai convention or seminar is the Exhibition. This Exhibition will be for Shohin and Mame size bonsai trees only. We have space for 4 large shohin displays, several smaller displays, and spaces for 24-30 individual trees. Partner with someone else for multi-tree displays or enter a display as a club. The Exhibition will be advertised and open to the public.
We want to thank the Fort Worth Bonsai Society for the use of their backdrops and felt table
coverings.
Definitions: For the purposes of this Seminar, we are using Suthin’s definition of sizes:
• Shohin size is no more than 8” from the top of the pot.
• Mame size is no more than 6” from the top of the pot.
• Cascade trees shall be measured from highest growth to
lowest growth.
Excellence In Bonsai Award Categories: Cash awards will be presented by LSBF. Suthin will be the sole judge.
• Best Large Display- 5 or more trees
• Best Small Display- 4 or less trees
• Best Shohin Conifer
• Best Shohin Tropical
• Best Shohin Deciduous
• Best Shohin Broadleaf Evergreen
• Best Mame
• Honorable Mention Mame
• BEST IN SHOW- from above winners
To enter your trees, please use the entry form at the back of this packet. We will have monitors in place for the safety of the trees throughout the Exhibition hours. Doors locked at night. Further details and guidelines for the ‘Excellence In Bonsai’ program can be found at the LSBF website:
www.lonestarbonsai.org
Lectures & Workshops
In addition to Suthin’s events, we have 2 lectures and 2 workshops for your educational
opportunities:
• Saturday afternoon, Anthony Cutola, current President of the Houston Bonsai Society will give a presentation on bonsai irrigation techniques. He has been practicing the art of bonsai for 20 years and encourages practitioners to utilize automated irrigation to save water, streamline tree care, and allow more time flexibility. Free Lecture. 1:30-4:30pm.
• Also on Saturday afternoon, Soon Chuah from the Houston Bonsai Society will conduct a workshop on the art of kusamono. She will start out with a slide show and then all will create their own. Kusamono
trays, soil, and small plants will be provided in the workshop cost. $30 fee, Limit 12. Free silent observation. 1:30-4:30
• Sunday morning, David Kreutz, an azalea vendor & importer, will give a program on azaleas as shohin. $25 fee + cost of azalea. Limit 10. Free silent observation. 8:30-11:30
• Also Sunday morning, learn ways to forecast the look of your bonsai art creation or figure out a direction to go through computer technology. Better Bonsai with Technology. Free Lecture. 8:30-11:30am
Self-Sale Table
This is a first for a LSBF convention/seminar.
We will have a limited auction only at the Saturday Awards Dinner and no raffle; therefore, we are offering you the opportunity to sell your trees at a “Self-Sale Table” located close to the Exhibit area and Vendors areas. Sell your trees any way you wish: silent auction, vocal auction, negotiation, or a combination of all. Set your own hours and minimum prices. Supply your own signs and signup sheets. There are no fees to pay to LSBF. We will only supply the table and opportunity. Limit your trees to 18” ht. or less but remember that this is primarily a Shohin Seminar.
Monitors for security will be patrolling during Exhibition hours only. You are responsible for your tree’s security. Good Luck and Good Fortune!
Vendors
We will have 5 vendors at this seminar. Where the emphasis is on shohin, vendors will have have larger pre-bonsai as well. A potter is featured.
Special Guided Tour of the Japanese Garden
featuring the future site of “The Bonsai Collection at the Japanese Garden”
This specially arranged Guided Tour will begin at the Japanese Garden main front gate pictured here. Your guide is William Winston, a member of the Fort Worth Japanese Cultural Society and a member of the Fort Worth Bonsai Society. He has been a docent volunteer at the Japanese Garden for many years in the past and we have coaxed him out of retirement just for this Seminar. He has honed his presentation to a very interesting 1-hour walk through the Garden. So all can hear, only 15 participants per tour and only 4 tours available. A total of 60 people out of all the registrants will be fortunate enough to enjoy this tour. It will take about 30 minutes to walk to the front gate from the Seminar Building and 30 minutes back (As an alternative to walking, we plan to have a shuttle available from the front door of the Botanic Garden Center to the front gate of the Japanese Garden and back). Check the Seminar schedule carefully to allow enough time for your desired activities. Signup ahead of time on the Registration Form to insure a spot for the tour. A signup sheet, maps, and information will be available at the Welcome Table during the Seminar. Free Event for full registrants only. First Come, First Served.
Tool Sharpening
One of the 5 vendors will be a tool sharpener. Bring in your bonsai tools and have then sharpened, lightly cleaned, and oiled while you enjoy the Seminar. Pick them up on your way out. You negotiate the price with the vendor for the number of tools that you are having sharpened. A very easy way to have your bonsai tools sharpened by a professional. Perhaps have your initials engraved on your tools also. This is a new feature of the LSBF line up and we hope to have a tool sharpener at every convention.
Seminar Schedule
FRIDAY, 6/9/2023:
| TIME | ITEM | WHO | WHERE |
| Noon-8 pm | Setup Exhibit props; Vendors move-in | All | BRIT bldg |
| 8:30pm | LSBF Board Meeting at Seminar Hotel | Delegates | Lobby Area |
SATURDAY, 6/10/2023:
| TIME | ITEM | WHO | WHERE |
| 8am: | Doors Open | Main Atrium | |
| 9am-5pm: | Seminar Open Dealers Area Open | Main Atrium | |
| 9am-12noon: | Lecture and Demonstration | Suthin | Commons |
| 10am-5pm: | Exhibit Area Open to the Public Self-Sale Table Open | Main Atrium | |
| 10am-2pm: | Hospitality Area Open | Commons | |
| 1pm: | Guided Tour of Japanese Garden #1 | Japanese Garden | |
| 1:30-4:30pm: | Event #1: Workshop, BYOT Event #2: Workshop, Kusamono Event #3: Lecture, Irrigation for Bonsai | Suthin Soon Chuah Anthony Cutola | Commons |
| 3pm: | Guided Tour of Japanese Garden #2 | Japanese Garden | |
| 5pm: | Doors Closed to Public | ||
| 5-6pm: | Cocktail Hour | Cash Bar | Lecture Room |
| 6-8pm: | Awards Dinner | Full Registrants | Commons |
| 8:30pm | Doors Closed |
SUNDAY, 6/11/2023
| TIME | ITEM | WHO | WHERE |
| 8am: | Doors Open | Main Atrium | |
| 8-10am | Hospitality Area Open for donuts, coffee, and beverages | Commons | |
| 8-11:30am: | Exhibit Open Dealers Area Open Self-Sale Table Open | Main Atrium | |
| 8:15-9am: | Critique of Shohin Displays by Suthin | Exhibit Area | |
| 9:15-11:00: | Critique of Individual Shohin Trees and winners by Suthin | Welcome Area | |
| 8:30-11am | Event #4: Workshop Azaleas for Shohin David Kreutz Event #5: Workshop, Better Bonsai with Technology | Lecture Room | |
| 9am: | Guided Tour of Japanese Garden #3 | Japanese Garden | |
| 11:30am | Doors Closed to Public, Seminar Closed | ||
| 11:30am: | Guided Tour of Japanese Garden #4 | Japanese Garden | |
| 2pm: | Must be out of building , but feel free to enjoy the Garden and Fort Worth! |