In late May of this year I spent three days working on trees at Peter Tea's studio and workshop. On one of those days, I got to sit down and chat with Peter's full time apprentice Travis Hendrix. We covered a wide range of topics including what his apprenticship has been like so far, why Travis picked Peter Tea, his future goals, CA natives, Japanese gardening, collecting, growing trunks and a lot more. I always enjoy getting to hang out with Travis and am excited to see big things from him in the future.
You can follow along with Travis's Bonsai Journey here-
Instagram:
californiabonsaiapprentice
Chapters
- (00:00:00) - Nakamalex Exhibit
- (00:01:07) - What was your first bonsai book?
- (00:02:30) - How did you get into bonsai?
- (00:05:01) - Apprentices Become Bonsai Pros
- (00:06:10) - What are your future goals in bonsai?
- (00:07:42) - Peter T and Jeff Stern
- (00:10:06) - What's a day to day look like as an apprentice under Peter
- (00:12:07) - Bonsai and Gardening: California natives
- (00:14:00) - California Native Gardening
- (00:18:25) - Bill Castellan's Japanese Garden
- (00:19:23) - Boulders placed in odd numbers
- (00:19:55) - How to Build a Bonsai Japanese Garden
- (00:23:56) - What Tools Do You Use To Move Big Stones?
- (00:27:20) - Repotting a Giant Juniper Tree
- (00:30:28) - Coming Along and Pedal: Trees and shrubs
- (00:31:32) - Oak and Valley Oaks
- (00:32:06) - Oak Collecting
- (00:32:44) - How to dig a live oak
- (00:35:41) - Bonsai in the Garden: An Oak Tree
- (00:37:47) - Bonsai 101: Water Your Oaks
- (00:40:27) - Peter's Bonsai Teacher Interview
- (00:42:03) - Bonsai Artist Peter Smith on Training in the US
- (00:44:34) - Peter Yamadori's technique
- (00:48:01) - Do you like grafting native junipers?
- (00:49:07) - What types of trees would you grow?
- (00:52:36) - What do you think of oak bark?
- (00:54:42) - Air Layering Oaks
- (00:56:47) - Building Your Own Bonsai Garden
- (00:58:42) - Bonsley on Talking About Oaks
- (00:59:14) - Bonsai Apprentice: Goals
