It’s been a long time coming, but my inevitable journey to the art of bonsai has been, to me, well worth the wait. As a young boy I remember spending time in my father’s “plant room.” The large, enclosed front porch on our two story home in Westfield, New York was filled with handmade shelves reaching from floor to ceiling. Each shelf was then packed to the brim with an extensive variety of houseplants, succulents and the occasional fish tank. Since that time I’ve always had plants in my life, from my bedroom when I was young; to my dorm room at college; to my own “plant room” at my current home.

Aside from a love of plants, I’m also an artist. I began drawing cartoon characters at a young age and moved on to comic book characters in high school. Since then I have attended Hartwick College where I received a bachelor’s degree in the fine arts with concentrations in painting, sculpture and glassblowing. I also picked up photography and am now an avid outdoor photographer, focusing on: you guessed it, plants and trees.

So, you may be asking yourself, with an extensive background in both the raising of plants and the world of art, why didn’t I combine these two skills sooner?

Well, I remember a trip to Florida with my family when I was in middle school. We stopped, by accident, at a shop that carried bonsai exclusively and I was really impressed. I didn’t have enough cash to buy one, but my younger brother, Trevor, did. He and I were very excited about it. Trouble was, once we got it home, it died very quickly. So he and I were rather discouraged and that was the end of our adventures into the world of bonsai for quite a while.

Since that time I’ve see bonsai here and there, always enjoying them visually, while still remembering the failed attempt to raise the one with my brother. It wasn’t until I had a home of my own that my passion for the art of bonsai was reignited during a trip with my wife, Fergie, to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens.

I walked into a section of the Gardens that contained very old, very impressive bonsai trees maintained by the Buffalo Bonsai Society. I was very moved by them and when I got home I began researching how to create, care for and cultivate bonsai. The internet really is a wonderful tool; and with plenty of websites, videos and photos available I created my first bonsai from a Procumbens Juniper that I purchased from Home Depot.

Of course, at the time, I was still unsure of my ability to keep my newly created bonsai alive. So, instead of investing in costly bonsai tools, I simply used what I had on hand: a pair of wire cutters, scissors, a chopstick, a bent fork and, of course, some flexible copper wire that I had purchased to help shape the tree. My first tree was a success and the state of meditation and peace that I experienced while creating it spurred me on to create many more. I had fairly good luck with my newly created trees; keeping them alive through their first winter, with only a few losses. Unfortunately, the following winter, with sustained negative twenty degree days, I lost most of my outdoor trees, including my first. I didn’t let it get me down though and I continued to push on, learning from my mistakes.

Which leads me to the one thing I would tell anyone interested in bonsai and that is: not to get discouraged. Sure, you may lose trees along the way, but with each loss you should be learning from the mistakes you’ve made. I’ve personally lost more trees than I have in my current collection of fifteen, but again, with error and loss comes learning and adjustment.

Four years later, I decided to share my love of this wonderful living art form with others. Through the encouragement of my wife I began teaching “The Art of Bonsai for Beginners” classes that instruct the novice enthusiast in simple techniques and styles involved in bonsai. During the two hour class I go back to the simple tools I began with; the wire cutters, scissors, chopstick and fork, to help my students create their very own bonsai.

I have been teaching my bonsai class now for almost two years and have held a total of eight classes around Chautauqua County and have instructed over ninety students. I really enjoy seeing the final products that my students create as well as the enjoyment they get from creating.

The best part is when a student comes in, looks at a shrub in a pot and says, ‘How am I ever going to do this?’ Then, by the end of the class, they have created something amazing and are so proud of themselves that it makes me proud to have been able to help them achieve it. It’s a great feeling.

I will be teaching my next “The Art of Bonsai for Beginners” class at the Audubon Nature Center located at 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown, NY on Sunday, September 25 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. The cost is $56 per person, or $52 for Friends of the Nature Center. If you would like to attend, please contact Audubon to register for the class. The registration deadline for the class is Monday, September 19 and class size is limited, so reserve your spot soon.

Trenton Lutes is a resident of Westfield, N.Y., and enjoys the meditative and restorative benefits of creating bonsai.