NABF Newsletter #9
Feature #3
The Joshua Roth New Talent Bonsai
Competition
By Jack Douthitt
The idea for a New Talent Bonsai Competition had
its beginnings when I attended a European Bonsai Association
(EBA) convention in Europe in 1994. What I saw at that
convention was a new talent competition sponsored by the EBA.
They have sponsored such a talent competition for many years
and it is a very popular event. Many of the current
outstanding bonsai talents in Europe were first identified at
one of these EBA Talent Competitions.
When the 2002 ABS Symposium was being planned
for Milwaukee, the convention committee thought that it was
time for such a competition to be held in North America. I
volunteered to lead the effort. And so began the North
American New Talent Bonsai Competition.
The first competition was held in Milwaukee at
the 2002 ABS Symposium and was won by Rob Kempinski from
Melbourne Florida. In the three years since, Rob has gone from
relative obscurity to being well known in bonsai circles. The
runner up was Harold Johnson from Durham North Carolina. The
event was such a success that it was decided to make it into
an annual event.
To make the event into a long running entity, we
needed a sponsor. Using the publicity from the 2002 event, I
approached Ken Carlson, the owner of Joshua Roth Limited. The
company was founded in 1980, for the purpose of importing high
quality gardening tools. All of their bonsai tools are
imported from Japan, and carry the Joshua Roth brand name.
They are dedicated to providing the best quality tools
available while providing outstanding quality customer
service. After a brief discussion and some time to consider
the ramifications, Ken decided to become the sponsor of the
event. We now had an outstanding event with a prominent
sponsor. And so began the Joshua Roth New Talent Bonsai
Competition.
In 2003 the competition was held at the PNBCA
Convention in Bellevue, Washington. Contestants came from all
over North America to participate. This time the winner was
Peter Wilson, again a relative unknown bonsai artist, from
Port Alice B. C. in Canada. The runner-up was John Quinn from
Columbia South Carolina. Ken Carlson from Joshua Roth was
there to present the winner and the runner up with their
prizes.
This year, the 2004 competition was held at the
BCI/ ABS convention in St. Louis, Missouri. The winner was
Michael Pollock from Pound Ridge N.Y. and the runner up was
Todd Hansen from East Hartford, Connecticut. The eight
contestants in the second stage represented seven different US
states and Canada – South Dakota, Florida, Pennsylvania, Rhode
Island, New York, Illinois, Connecticut of the US, and Toronto
Canada. JoAnne Vetter, from Joshua Roth, presented the winner
and runner up with their awards.
The Joshua Roth New Talent Bonsai Competition is
open to any one living in North America who has less than ten
years experience in bonsai. The 2005 competition will be held
during the World Bonsai Convention in Washington D. C. With
the large number of attendees that will be there from all over
the world, it will be a wonderful opportunity to showcase new
bonsai talent from North America. By using collected Ponderosa
Pine, the competition will also showcase native American
material. Andy Smith, from Golden Arrow Bonsai in Deadwood
South Dakota, collected this material in the spring of
2004.
For you to participate in this exciting event,
you have to submit an application form. The application form
is located on the website of the World Bonsai Convention
at
http://www.bonsai-wbff.org/wbc5/application05.doc
So start the process of photographing some of
your trees and completing your application form. Applications
must be received before April 15, 2005. If you are selected
for phase two, then you will come to the World convention in
Washington, where you will have a good time, make some new
friends and have a chance to show off your bonsai talent. You
could be the "Best New Talent of 2005" and win a free trip to
Japan. | 
