Page 14 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q1

Bonsai Artistry and a Passion for

Stones in the Garden State

Above; Japanese
white pine, Pinus
parviflora, ‘Ibo Kan’.

An Interview with Martin Schmalenberg

By Joe Grande, Canada he Township of Stillwater, Sussex County, New Jersey, a rural farming
Photos by John White, USA community with a long history of dairy farming, was first settled in
the eighteenth century by German immigrants. Evidence of their
settlement remains in the architecture of the grist mills, lime kilns,
and stone houses located throughout the valley. Here, in America’s
Garden State, is where you’ll find Stillwater Studio and the home of
T Martin Schmalenberg, bonsai artist and teacher.
Martin developed the curriculum and taught Japanese and Chinese history, culture and religion at Blair Academy in
Blairstown, NJ, for over twenty years and has been growing bonsai and collecting stones for over forty years. He has
authored numerous articles on bonsai and Chinese Scholar stones in various horticultural journals and has been a
frequent teacher of bonsai classes and workshops throughout the United States. He has a personal collection or over
150 bonsai and is a passionate collector of viewing stones from around the world. In 1986, Martin paid homage to his
bonsai pursuits by designing and building a Japanese-style house using traditional and native materials. His friend and
colleague Pauline Muth, a teacher herself and a supervisor of teachers, describes Martin as “the true artistic type, his
talent second to none and his teaching style is top level.” He recently authored a book, North American Bonsai, 2007,
published by the American Bonsai Society (ABS) and has won numerous awards for bonsai design. Another labor of
love has been his Japanese-inspired garden complete with beautiful indigenous landscape stones Martin has sourced
and placed himself. Here then is an interview with Martin discussing his life in bonsai and stones.

12 | BCI | January/February/March 2014