Potomac Bonsai Festival
Biographical Information on Featured Artist Steven Tolley
Each year, the Potomac Bonsai Festival committee invites a bonsai artist to attend and enrich the festival’s activities. This year, the visiting guest artist is Steve Tolley, who has traveled from Great Britain to share his talent, techniques, and style with us in workshops, demonstrations, and other programs.
English bonsai artist Steve Tolley began his bonsai education under the guidance of Dan Barton, with an emphasis on aesthetics and philosophy. He later studied with some of Europe's finest bonsai artists and for a short while lived at the nursery of Japanese bonsai master Hotsumi Terakawa, who has had a major influence on Steve's career.
Steve's rapid rise to international recognition can be attributed to his attention to detail, excellent technique, and his skill for creating classical bonsai. He is particularly associated with conifers; pines, junipers and yews are among his favorite species.
Steve is a full-time bonsai professional and operates his own bonsai school and nursery. Students travel from the United Kingdom and Europe to learn the art of bonsai, and take with them their new-found skills and knowledge to pass on through their bonsai clubs and associations. The nursery holds high quality bonsai, pre-bonsai, and yamadori material for the enjoyment of clients, students and bonsai professionals.
Many of Steve's trees, his students’ trees, and clients’ trees have consistently won major awards awards both in the UK and at prestigious European events. These include the Ginkgo Award, the Noelanders Trophy, and the Newstead Awards.
In 2009, Steve was instrumental in staging the “Best of British Bonsai” event held in Birmingham. This event was of a standard not seen in the UK before and is now the new benchmark for national exhibitions.
Steve travels extensively to teach, give demonstrations, and maintain private collections. He is happiest when working on trees in his studio or practicing his martial arts.Quick Links:Bonsai Festival Programs, Bonsai Festival Guest Instructors, Juried Show, Daily Ongoing Events, Bonsai Tool List.
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Last Updated March 18, 2010 4:26 PM
URL = http://www.usna.usda.gov/Education/biopage.html