Ted Matson Workshop

[Vin]

Well, I'm off to a Ted Matson Workshop tonight. Let's see what he says about four of my little trees. Should be fun and informative.





EDIT: Oops!
Top Left: Boxwood
Top Right: Goji Berry
Bottom Left: Dwarf Japanese Barberry
Bottom Right: Chinese Elm

 

[Vin]

WOW, what a great guy to work with! Ted was very enthusiastic, informative, a pleasure to listen to
and gave honest and constructive critiques of our trees. As far as my trees go, he was most complementary
of my Boxwood and Goji Berry. He especially liked the Boxwood/pot combination and offered a few ideas
to improve it even more. His critique gave some solid direction on the Barberry which it definitely needed.
I’ll post some photos and go over his comments in the coming days. If you ever get the chance to work with
Ted, my advice would be not to miss the opportunity. It was the best Workshop I’ve attended to date. I left
there feeling really good about my progress in the art. Can't wait to do a little refining!

 

[choppychoppy]

WOW, what a great guy to work with! Ted was very enthusiastic, informative, a pleasure to listen to
and gave honest and constructive critiques of our trees. As far as my trees go, he was most complementary
of my Boxwood and Goji Berry. He especially liked the Boxwood/pot combination and offered a few ideas
to improve it even more. His critique gave some solid direction on the Barberry which it definitely needed.
I’ll post some photos and go over his comments in the coming days. If you ever get the chance to work with
Ted, my advice would be not to miss the opportunity. It was the best Workshop I’ve attended to date. I left
there feeling really good about my progress in the art. Can't wait to do a little refining!

So very interesting. I actually didn't really like him much when he was at our club recently.

 

[Vin]

So very interesting. I actually didn't really like him much when he was at our club recently.

That is interesting... If you don't mind me asking, what didn't you care for about him? You can PM me if you prefer.

 

[choppychoppy]

Not like he was a jerk or anything. Just seemed to kinda treat our group as if everyone was a beginner even our older club members who have been doing bonsai for 30+ years. Seemed a little arrogant to me. Also a little dismissive of others, even those he didn't know. I feel that when it comes to things that are artistic, athletic or intuitive anyone's opinion could have value regardless of experience. You never know where a new or good idea can come from. Just opinions. As a personal kinda irritation he must have started a dozen sentences with 'Well since I have done bonsai for 40yrs... so and so' and 'When I did an exibition with John Naka or this other guy or this other guy'. I mean I got it you have experience. That was just kind of a personal thing for me. The work he did on a few of the members trees that were brought was pretty good however I just was a little underwhelmed. Again just my opinions. Not trying to be rude.

 

[JoeR]

I have never even heard of him until now tbh.

 

[Vin]

I have never even heard of him until now tbh.

Biography
Ted began studying bonsai in 1979 in San Francisco, where he learned the basics under John Boyce. He moved to Los Angeles in 1980, where he became involved in a number of clubs and began a serious pursuit of the art, taking classes from leading masters in Southern California, including Ben Suzuki, Shig and Roy Nagatoshi, Melba Tucker, Warren Hill and John Naka.

Ted was urged to get into teaching by Melba Tucker and he started offering classes at his home in Pasadena in 1988. Today, in addition to his own classes, he maintains a busy teaching schedule, traveling to nurseries, clubs and study groups throughout the state of California and across the U.S. for workshops and critiques. Also an in-demand demonstrator, Ted has conducted numerous programs (as well as workshops) at several bonsai conventions and conferences, and has been appearing more as a headliner/featured artist for major bonsai events. Along with Jim Barrett, he was the co-chair of the GSBF Convention XVIII in 1995 and, in February of 2000, chaired the California Shohin Society Seminar 2000. In addition, he has served as committee chairs for several GSBF and CBS conventions.

Current memberships include Descanso Bonsai Society (a past president), Shohin Bonsai Society (a past president), the California Bonsai Society and Nampu Kai, a group comprised of John Naka’s students. He also is a co-founder of the California Shohin Society (a statewide organization devoted to the study of the smallest category of bonsai). He has served as an elected trustee of the Golden State Bonsai Federation, a statewide organization of clubs, for several years and was the Editor of Golden Statements for three years. (His articles have appeared in various bonsai publications and newspapers.) From 1998 to 2004, Ted served as the Chair of the GSBF Collection at the Huntington Committee, serving the needs of the permanent masterpiece bonsai collection at the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California. He currently serves as 1st Vice President of the Golden State Bonsai Federation, and will assume the 2-year presidency of that organization beginning in January, 2008.

Although Ted is a lover of shohin bonsai, his collection includes trees of all sizes, styles and a range of species. They are known for their proportion, refinement and detail. Perhaps most notable of his bonsai is a 7-tree Foemina juniper grove on a granite slab that was selected for photographic display in the 1999 JAL World Bonsai Contest. In February 2000, the tree was featured in an article in the Bonsai Shunju, the official publication of the Nippon Bonsai Association.

Ted says one of his strengths is having a good eye for selecting material. A primary goal in his lectures and demonstrations is to help others improve their own abilities to recognize potential bonsai stock. And, he works to help people understand how to realize that potential through creative design and proper styling techniques.

Awards

1999 JAL 100 Best Bonsai

• Various Best in Show awards
• Various lifetime service awards from GSBF and local clubs
• 2 John Naka awards from Descanso Bonsai Society.

I started teaching before most of the current competitions were started and haven’t entered any.

 

[choppychoppy]

Vin - the respect was there for sure - again not trying to be rude. Just a candid (personal opinion only) review.

Did he work your trees?

 

[Vin]

Vin - the respect was there for sure - again not trying to be rude. Just a candid (personal opinion only) review.

Did he work your trees?

I never took it that way. No worries. On a different day I may have had a very different experience. All we can go with is what we know or have experienced for ourselves. He did not work my tree (other than pluck a few leaves on the Boxwood). Nothing really needed to be done as they were just moving forward as they grow he gave some direction. He also suggested some Shari work on the Boxwood that I could do later. He did however work on many other trees from our other members and they seemed very receptive to what was done. He always asked before cutting which is a good practice in my opinion.

 

[Smoke]

Not like he was a jerk or anything. Just seemed to kinda treat our group as if everyone was a beginner even our older club members who have been doing bonsai for 30+ years. Seemed a little arrogant to me. Also a little dismissive of others, even those he didn't know. I feel that when it comes to things that are artistic, athletic or intuitive anyone's opinion could have value regardless of experience. You never know where a new or good idea can come from. Just opinions. As a personal kinda irritation he must have started a dozen sentences with 'Well since I have done bonsai for 40yrs... so and so' and 'When I did an exibition with John Naka or this other guy or this other guy'. I mean I got it you have experience. That was just kind of a personal thing for me. The work he did on a few of the members trees that were brought was pretty good however I just was a little underwhelmed. Again just my opinions. Not trying to be rude.

A club gets what they pay for with a teacher or workshop leader. Ted is a very engaging person with no pretensions what so ever. He gives a good workshop, on any trees and treats each the same. Choppy Choppy, I have seen the recent trees you posted and working with a guy like Ted is not going to get you what you think you should receive in a workshop setting. Clubs bring in teachers that will keep workshop co-pays low or zero if possible. Even in Fresno with 30 members we still charge 10.00 co-pay for a Ted Matson workshop. Non club members pay 30.00. You should be working with someone like Peter Tea or Bojrn to take your trees to the next level. A workshop with Kenji Miyata here runs about 100.00 to 150.00 depending on how many show up. You get a premo workshop for that price and your trees will see the difference.

Another thing about the workshop circuit is loss. Loss (dead trees) is terrible for a traveling teacher. Being extremely cautious even with old timers is the best way to go. Ted does personal workshops. He does one here in Fresno or Visalia on a Friday. I never get to go to it because I don't lose the work day. I have seen what Ted has done in those more aggressive workshops for other trees and I can say that when people follow direction and really actually do the work Ted tells them to do, the work is dramatic. Ted's approach is much the same as mine, take it down to the trunk and start over. That is very hard to tell someone that has been doing bonsai for thirty years, especially if they been doing it bad for 30 years and are hard headed. That is why I am not doing the workshop circuit. I don't tolerate hard headedness very well. I would probably tell them, "why did you pay to come to this workshop and poo poo all my advice on how to improve your tree. Piss on you and I'll keep your money, Thank you". I would last about a month or as long as Marco Invernizzi did in America.

 

[carp]

Club workshops and demonstrations are primarily for entertainment.

You can't judge the work of the demonstrator from an open-ended workshop.
A BYOT workshop is not a setting where an artist can dive deep into anything.
If the audience applause the speaker, his job was done well.
If any given member leaves with new direction or positive reinforcement with their work, then the job was done well.

 

[choppychoppy]

Smoke & Carp,

Thank you for the information. I appreciate it very much.