Page 22 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q3

had the opportunity to meet Ryan Neil in depth Ryan chose the path of a full-time apprenticeship
when he came to my home to work on a centuries- and all the challenges that came with it. During six
old spruce, (Picea excelsa), a tree similar to one years of study with Kimura, Ryan was able to learn
that Masahiko Kimura styled in 1992, and where I through a traditional Japanese apprenticeship with a
I erienced firsthand Ryan’s extraordinary talent. focus on a “way of doing” based on repetition.
exp
Ryan and I both chose to study with Masahiko During this time, Kimura had indicated to me the
Kimura because we are fascinated by his great tech- creative capacity and the bonsai spirit of this young
nique and his artistic vision, but in very different ways. talent, whose career many were following.
My study has taken place through cultural exchanges, I think Ryan embodies the dream of every western
seminars, many visits to Japan, hosting him in Italy bonsaist; to experience bonsai in Japan while learning
and many years of correspondence. I also adminis- from one of the greatest artists of all time.
ter an award that I established in his name; Premio Browsing his site, www.bonsaimirai.com, and read-
Kimura Masahiko per il Bonsai Contemporaneo, (the ing his impassioned stories, we understand his grand
Masahiko Kimura Award for Contemporary Bonsai). passion for bonsai and his professional ambitions. The
website also shows Ryan’s dedication to teaching oth-
I think Ryan ers the valuable lessons he knows so well.
If we were to refer to bonsai in an artistic way, we
embodies the could say that it is a live, potted and miniaturized tree,
dream of every and modelled according to the Zen aesthetic. But even

western bonsaist, if this definition is true to the historical record, in fact
there are actually three historical models to appreci-
to experience ate bonsai: we have Chinese Penjing with an ancient
bonsai in Japan history of eleven schools; classic Japanese bonsai that
is not an art but a way based on ideal Japanese beauty;
while learning and contemporary bonsai in the twentieth century,

from one of the which is a creative interpretation of the artist.
As an artist, Ryan brings to his work the experience
greatest artists of of his great master, a very modern and natural line,
all time. with a naturalness that has always been also sought in
American bonsai, where he wants to express his own
identity but with comparable quality to European and

Photos on page
20 and top two on
page 21 courtesy
Fuji Sato Company
where Ryan con-
ducted a seminar
on pines.

20 | BCI | July/August/September 2014