Korean Hornbeam workshop with bonsai master John Romano

This month, I am showing a video my wife, Sarah Whitaker, made during a workshop with John Romano. John is famous for his shohin, but is expert in all bonsai techniques and styles. He is also a wonderful person and teacher. The tree is a Korean Hornbeam that I got as a prebonsai 2 years ago. At the time of the workshop, I had roughed out the styling of the excellent raw material, root pruned and potted the tree.

The Hornbeam when I first got it in 2011

 It was time for the next step up in its bonsai life - a style refinement that could be built upon in the subsequent years. I also needed help in solving the tree's few peculiarities; all trees have them, if not all the same kind. The tree was at the bud development stage and very fragile. It was unpleasantly easy to knock buds off by merely touching them. So, the work had to be very careful and delicate. I still lost some important buds, however. The video is a bit over 20 minutes long, but it is compressed from hours of work and thought. I hope you get as many ideas from John as I did.