Sansui-Kai Bonsai Club

05/21/2026

Thanks to Philippe Baron for an awesome demonstration about pad developement. Our June artist will be Michael Roberts continuing work on our Chinese Elm Forests.
Hope to see everyone there!!

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04/29/2026

Thanks to Daniel Deephouse for working with our members in refiningtheir trees at the April Meeting. Thanks to Rick Nabor and Daniel for moving trees and members to the building in order to avoid the scafolds. Our May meeting will be a demo by Philippe Baron.
Philippe Baron is a Los Angeles - based bonsai artist with over 20 years of dedicated practice and study. He has trained extensively with Mauro Stemberger for the past nine years, contributing to the care and development of trees in private collections across the region and traveling to Italy to work on Stemberger’s collection.
He currently helps maintain the exquisite bonsai collection of Hank Fawcett and works with Daniel Deephouse, Assistant Curator of Bonsai at the Huntington Library and Gardens. Philippe’s approach to bonsai is deeply aesthetic, devoted to cultivating beauty at every stage of a tree’s evolution, and guided by a continual pursuit of study and refinement.

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03/23/2026

We are sorry about the cancelation of the March meeting! We will be having an April meeting. WE will have a "Bring your own tree workshop" with Daniel Deephouse. Daniel will work with each member to give suggestions on how to improve your tree! Bring a tree, some wire and tools! It should be a fun and informative night.
THERE WILL STILL BE A SCAFOLDING WALKWAY TO NEGOTIATE! We are working on a way to load everyones trees, that cannot be carried on the walkway, into a truck and bring them in from inside the reclamation plant. I will email details when we get them.
Hope to see everyone there! It will be a fun night!

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03/10/2026

WE NEED TO CANCEL THE SANSUI KAI MEETING TOMORROW, MARCH 14TH.
PLEASE DO NOT GO TO THE JAPANESE GARDEN!

Due to the construction, there is scaffolding and there are temporary construction stairs to the Administration Building making it too hazardous for members to access. We are planning on meeting next month on April 15th. I will be sending out an email after the Board discusses the details.
PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO ANYONE YOU KNOW THAT MAY NOT SEE THIS POST!
I HAVE ALSO SENT OUT AN ELAIL TO THIS EFFECT!!!
Thank you for your attention!!
Steve Riley
Sansui Kai President

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01/21/2026

2026 is here and I hope everyone had a great Holiday Season!
I want to thank Mike Kelly for taking over the January meeting. I am sorry I missed it. Thanks to all that joined and/or paid their 2026 dues. Everything I have heard tells me that it was a great first meeting! Thanks to Marcos for his talk on Kintsugi (pot repair). I hope everyone learned that cracked and broken pots can be valued again! The silent auction went well and many members donated their items to the club. Congratulations Patricia, the winner of the Membership Drive tree!
February's meeting will have Michael Roberts working with us on our elm fotests. New members can just sit with any group working on their forest. Please bring tools and wire!
We will also be holding our election for the 2026 Board positions, President and Vice President Program Chair. We are looking for a Snack Coordinator so please volunteer. Hope to see everyone there!
Meetings are held at the Japanese Garden at 6100 Woodley Ave. Van Nuys. Meetings are held in the big Administration bldg. Please watch your step during construction! Meetings begin at 7pm.

12/27/2025

Happy New Year!!
Our January 14th meeting will be at 7pm and held at the Administration Building lobby of the Japanese Garden in Van Nuys! Please bring a small dessert if you wish!
1. We will have Marcus Gutierrez talking about the art of Kintsugi, the repair of broken Bonsai pots with gold.
2. We will also have a silent auction for members who would like to participate. It will be an 80/20 split with the club getting 20%. Checks to sellers will be mailed a few days after the meting.
3. We will also have a membership drive! Each person that pays their 2026 membership (still only $22.00 for single and $27.00 for family) before the end of the meeting will recieve one ticket for a drawing. Those will be the only tickets in the drawing! Please try and bring correct change if paying cash. Cash, check and Zelle payments will be accepted. No credit cards at this time! The drawing will be for this Bunjin Style Juniper shown below (sorry for the poor photography). Hope to see everyone there!!

11/17/2025

Thanks to Mike Kelly for procuring a few more Procumbens Junipers for new members. Thanks to the senior members that helped new and prospective members working on the new trees. Thanks to all the 20205 Board memberd for their service and to all that volunteered at the Second Sunday demos. There is no DECEMBER Meeting! We will see everyone in January, 2025! I will update January's meeting agenda when we have it finalized!!
Have a great Holiday!!!

10/13/2025

Thanks to Michael Roberts for mentoring everyone on our elm forests. We had some new faces and it was a great workshop for them to get hands on experience. Next months meeting will be November 12th at 7 pm. Please bring the junipere that ypou bought from the club earlier this year. We will be removing the airlayers and working on those junipers. Bring your tools and wire as well. Hope to see everyone there!!

09/24/2025

Thanks to Mike Kelly for a great night of BONSAI BINGO! Our next meeting will be held in the Japanese Garden, 6100 Woodly Ave, Van Nuys in the Administration building lobby. We will be meeting there during construction on the old meeting building! For our October 8th meeting, Michael Roberts will be working with us on the Elm Forets projects. We should be potting them in slabs in the Spring. Hope to see everyone there!!

08/26/2025

Thanks to Ryan Pitts for his styling demonstration on a Prostrata Juniper. Rick Naber was the lucky winner! Our September meeting will be the always fun Bonsai Bingo!! Please bring one or two Bonsai items for the prize table (items that you would like to win)! Mike Kelly will again be calling the Bingo so it will be a great time!!

07/25/2025

Thanks to Michael Roberts for his continuing guidence with the Chinese Elm Forests. Our August 13th Bonsai Artist is Ryan Pitts. Ryan is the President of the Chino Bonsai Club and owner of Apex Bonsai. Ryan will be styling a Juniper!