Bonsai Mirai: Asymmetry

The longstanding question of how to get more people involved in bonsai has been asked and pontificated about since the beginning of bonsai clubs in North America. This obscure art form has so many barriers to entry and at times seems impossible to expand due to its intricacies and nuances. However, Tim Arsenault and his team at Bonsai BAR found a common past time to pull beginners into the art and have started building a broader and better community, not by breaking new ground, but by applying the proven method of social engagement, mixed with a little liquid bravery, and an encouraging guide to a newbie’s first encounter with the tiny trees. Tim took the sip and paint method that swept the country by storm in the beer and wine boom of the past decade and applied it to the art of bonsai. Since its inception, Bonsai BAR has been a happening across North America. Riding on the shoulders of passionate instructors who want to share their love of bonsai, combined with some brilliant ingenuity of formalizing beginner education, Bonsai BAR is forging relationships that allow Tim and his team to address the growing demand for their offerings. Bonsai BAR might be the biggest thing to hit bonsai since its inception in modern western culture, and the sky is the limit for how this evolved touch point of beginning bonsai education could be applied to involve more people in the bonsai endeavor. 

Ryan and Tim sit down to discuss Tim’s beginnings, how Bonsai BAR got off the ground and came to be, and to discuss the seemingly limitless future of Tim’s concept and how it truly can create a bigger and better bonsai community that fosters the expansion of the art for years to come. 

Take a look at Bonsai BAR’s offerings here.

To become a Bonsai BAR teacher or ambassador check this out to start your journey.

Repotting season is always a journey filled with highs and lows. Each year, when all is said and done there is much to reflect on. At Mirai, repotting is the technique Ryan and his team practice the most. With that, a single season of repotting feels like a lifetime. These recaps are more of a documentation of progress than anything else. Join Ryan, Brock, and Brandon as they relax for a moment between repots to recap the highs and lows of repotting 2026 and all it had to offer.

Kindness. Humility. Generosity. These are words anyone discussing Harold Sasaki would use to describe this gentle giant of a man. But those of us who have been personally impacted by Harold know there is a tenacity to our teacher, a hunger for knowledge, a curiosity for what’s possible, and a glean of motivation in his eye that propelled him to be one of the greatest trailblazers and pioneers of bonsai culture in North American bonsai over the past fifty years. 

Through his facility, Colorado Bonsai Limited, Harold Sasaki, or Hal as friends call him, has been teaching bonsai to curious and passionate practitioners and inspiring the next generation of bonsai artists and professionals for over four decades. Harold was one of a handful of instructors in the Rocky Mountain region who introduced yamadori into American bonsai culture and was the leading authority on ethical yamadori collection. When the rest of our budding bonsai culture was looking for material in nurseries, Harold was embracing the wild forms of rugged trees from the Rockies and taking people on safari to share the passion and technique of sustainable collecting practices. 

Harold’s contributions go beyond pioneering the yamadori movement. He also sparked the flame of bonsai passion in known personalities including Mirai’s own Ryan Neil, Golden Arrow’s Andy Smith, First Branch Bonsai’s Todd Schlafer, Will Kerns, Adam Johnson, Tim Arsenault, and so many others who have gone on to do big things and contribute to the art of bonsai and culture in our country. In fact, when you look at the landscape of bonsai in North America today, it’s impossible to imagine our bonsai culture without appreciating the fingerprint of Harold’s impact, including the heartfelt generosity and spirit of sharing Harold imbued to his students that continues to expand and make our community so rich and robust. 

It was a pleasure and an honor for Ryan to sit down with his mentor and go back to the beginning of where Harold’s journey started, and to walk through the journey of one of American bonsai’s GOATs. Thank you Harold, it was a pleasure my friend. Enjoy!

Speaking with creative people about their medium and process is one of the greatest aspects of Asymmetry. To know how other artists view the world and express themselves through their work inspires and informs the tools we all summon to bring beauty through art into the world. Stephen Voss is a D.C. based photographer whose work we have admired at Mirai for over a decade. We initially were exposed to Stephen’s work through his book In Training, an intimate portrayal of the breaths between the words, and the spaces between the trees of the National Bonsai Collection. It was such a thoughtful publication of art and beauty that showed the depth Stephen interpreted the art form of bonsai with and the perspective he felt was valuable to share. Upon deeper dive we realized we were far more aware of Stephen’s photography than we realized. His images have graced the cover of magazines, captured some of the most influential people in the country in their element, and documented some of the most monumental moments in modern history.

 

Ryan and Stephen dive deep into their respective creative processes. From early beginnings and the growth of their creative selves to the actualization of projects based on their compiled experience in their fields, the conversation weaves in and out of personal and professional tidbits and insights. It was truly an honor to get to sit down with such a talented and influential photographer and we are excited to share the conversation. Enjoy!

From youth education in bonsai to elite alpine instruction where people’s lives are on the line, Joshua Stewart is an educational psychologist who is applying his expertise to a multitude of projects and disciplines. Even though we’ve been working with Josh for several years now it took sitting down with him on the podcast to fully understand what exactly he does. Ryan and Josh discuss the process of applying psychology, how he processes information, and how Josh takes his knowledge and observations to create strategies that dramatically impact the individuals and organizations he works with. The tangible outcome of Mirai’s collaboration with Josh is undeniable, and has created a template for youth education which continues to guide the way The One Tree Project approaches youth programs and participants. 

Beyond the immediate and obvious, this conversation helped us also recognize the breadth of educational psychology and its limitless application across less considered arenas of thought. Could this field potentially contribute to the “subjective” nature of bonsai appreciation? Could educational psychology assist in improving objective judging? Even without a concrete answer, it’s pretty clear applying educational psychology to the great conundrums of bonsai couldn’t hurt, and might just be able to help explain some of the greater questions we wrestle with. Who knows, maybe we would even gain a better understanding of ourselves in the process.

If you enjoyed the episode, be sure to check out Josh’s podcast Evidence in the Wild here to hear from other experts and colleagues in his world of educational psychology.