Bonsai Mirai: Asymmetry

Wiring

Wiring is one of the most important techniques that bonsai practitioners learn. It is a meditative puzzle, a fully immersive practice of being present with your hands, the tree, and the design. In this podcast, Ryan, Troy, and Lime sit down to discuss the struggle and process of wiring - how it forces you to grow as an artist.

Todd Schlafer

Todd Schlafer is a musician, graphic designer and bonsai aficionado from the Rockies who recently quit his corporate job to pursue bonsai professionally. As is a long-time friend and student of Mirai - in this podcast, Todd, Ryan and Lime sit down for some real talk on what it truly looks like to pursue bonsai fulltime at a professional, sustainable level.

Randy Knight

Randy Knight is a world-renowned yamadori collector hailing from St. Helens, OR. In this podcast, the Mirai team talks with Randy about his origins in bonsai and the collecting process. He shares some wisdom and experiences from over 17 years in the mountains searching for the best wild bonsai material in North America, if not the world.

The Bonsai Vessel

Ryan, Troy, and Lime sit down to discuss the wide world of "the container". Touching on some of their favorite potters/ceramic artists, what it means to truly innovate in the medium as it relates to bonsai, ways they personally experiment when using ceramics, the history of the ceramic form and its relationship with bonsai.

John Naka

John Yoshio Naka was an American horticulturist, teacher, author, and master bonsai cultivator. He is known as the Father of American Bonsai, spreading the knowledge of this practice to a burgeoning community in the United States. In this podcast, Ryan, Troy, and Lime sit down to discuss John Naka's contribution to the world of bonsai, the path of a beginner practitioner, and continuing the raise the level of American Bonsai practice in Naka's wake.

Ricardo Nagaoka

Ricardo is a Japanese photographer born in Paraguay, schooled at RISD, and now the man behind the videographic magic of Mirai Live. In between wandering through ancient Italian olive orchards and driving along the Amalfi Coast, Ryan and Ricardo take some time to digest the broad concept of ‘art’ - it’s consideration, appreciation, and creation - and then bring it all back to bonsai as the ultimate creative endeavor.

Texas Barbecue & Field Collecting

Colton, Troy, Ryan & Lime take a trip down to one of the best bonsai growing operations in the country, Telperion Farms. We start off with Colton Vick, native Texan and the man behind Mirai operations. They dive into Colton's history, his passion for barbecue and the lone-star state. Troy and Lime then dig into the world of field-growing bonsai - how to select the top 10% of material and navigating the 'pyramid' of opportunity.

The Art of Kimura

Masahiko Kimura is one of the most famous bonsai professionals in the world, one who has truly pushed the technique and concept of bonsai as we know it today. In this podcast, Ryan, Troy & Lime sit down in the studio to discuss the history behind Kimura’s most famous works, the dynamics of bonsai in Japan, stories of the apprentices and Kimura’s overall evolution as an artist. Follow along in the book, The Magician, the bonsai art of Kimura, to reference the images and trees being discussed. Note: especially for 'bonsai hardcore' enthusiasts.

Michael Lime Allen

The sound engineer for Mirai Live & resident Timbers enthusiast, Lime is one of the most colorful personalities on the Mirai Team. In this podcast, Lime & Ryan talk big-wall climbing in Yosemite, the life of a nuclear engineer in the Navy & how bonsai has the power to change lives. Note: Especially for 'bonsai hardcore' enthusiasts.

A Trip to California

The Mirai team recaps from a recent trip down to California where they visited the most ancient trees on the planet, witnessed avant-garde ceramic artist, Jonathan Cross, wood-firing his kiln, and scrambled through the otherworldly landscape of Joshua Tree.