The 'Trophy' bonsai exhibition this year, was a special 3 day event, to celebrate the '20 years of the Trophies continued success. 
It was an extremely impressive event and an honour to be a part of. 

In addition to the EBPC trade stand, my selfless and extremely generous friends (to whom I am indebted) and I organised a 100 foot display of Bonsai Ceramics, with 101 fascinating examples from across China, Japan and Europe - some estimated at over 300 years old!

It was also an incredible experience to deliver a 'Bonsai Empire 'mini-lecture' with leading potter Tom Benda, on the topic of 'Pot Selection'.  Thank you to Bonsai Empire for the opportunity and all those that came along and interacted with the talk. 

The EBPC had a fantastic weekend trading - at an incredible site within the trading hall. Many superb containers were taken home by our fantastic friends and customers - and we thank you all for your continued support. It is your support that enables the EBPC to keep expanding, support the potters, and offering you more free information and some of the best bonsai ceramics from around Europe.  ​

With the help and contribution of some of Europe's leading pot collectors, the EBPC also organised a display of 101 fine bonsai pots from China, Japan and Europe, ranging over a 300 year period. 
Rather than purely an aesthetically beautifully display, the arrangement contained a large number of rare and high class pieces, and was aimed more towards inspiring appreciation and interest. From a personal note, it was for me a sheer pleasure to have the opportunity to take my share of these pots out of their boxed homes and be able to share with friends and enthusiasts from across the world. 

I would like extend a warm thank you to all of the collectors that contributed incredible pieces, and helped with the arrangement, especially to; Guido Pozzoli, Harald Lehner, Dario Mader, Enzo Ferrari, and to all of the potters that made pieces especially for this show, or entered some of their finest (often award winning) pots, including amongst others; Martin Englert, Andrew Pearson, Igor Carino, Maria Jose Gonzales, Marc Berenbrinker, Thor Holvila, Tom Benda, Sami Amdouni, and Giang Nguyen (Lotus).

As with many other shows recently, bonsai ceramics comprised a more substantial part of the show; with this pot display, a larger proportion of ceramics traders, and even a visit and demonstrations by leading Tokoname's bonsai potters; Shuho, Reiho, and Koho. It was an honour to meet and speak with them, and fascinating to seem them in action!
​ It is evident that in the West, greater weight is being given to the importance bonsai ceramics within the bonsai scene, as is the case in Japan. This is an inevitable process, as the level and quality of bonsai exhibited continues to escalate in Europe, as does the appreciation of its ceramics. ​

It was an enormous honour for me to discuss the pots with Masayuki Fujikawa san of the famous Fujikawa Kouka-en garden, Japan. Fujikawa san also chose his 'winning pot' and kindly presented this award to me for the 'winning' pot at the Trophy Gala dinner. 

Tom Benda and I also gave a brief talk on 'Pot Selection' at the event. 
We discussed how much a pot and their features influence the overall image of a 'bonsai', how to identify the image you are striving for, and how to select the appropriate pot to harmonise with your tree and create that desired image. It was fascinating for me to hear it from a leading potter's perspective and Tom's insight was fascinating.
Further to this, I will be soon adding a free EBPC article on this topic. 

We would again like to thank our customers, incredible support team, and everyone involved in the exhibition, especially the Bonsai Association Belgium team, led by Luc and Christian. The event was superbly well organised and was thoroughly enjoyable and inspirational! 

... and this article has not even touched on the trees, traders, esteemed international visitors, or fantastic demonstrations including Ryan Neil of the U.S.A. and the Korean dream team! ... back to Bonsai Empire?! 

The EBPC has supported this show since we formed in 2016, and with over 200 pots and 28ft of trading space, we were sure to arrive early as setting up takes quite some time. Heathrow show has a large main room for the exhibition and tree sales, and another room for traders of pots and dry goods. 

As always the EBPC pots proved extremely popular and some superb pieces were snapped up by customers old and new. Some great new pots were also collected from some of the potters, which will be available in the EBPC shop soon. 

I was also display trees with Maidstone Bonsai Society. Below are a few of my trees in our display, including my Olive which took joint 1st place in the exhibitor's vote. (The other joint 1st went to another Maidstone club member, Dean, with his beautiful Kokonoe Pine that can be seen behind.)

We are thrilled and honoured to be supporting the Bonsai San 2018 exhibition in France this October. In addition to trading some of Europe's best pots, we are also contributing to the Tombola raffle, and presenting the trophy for 'Best European Pot / Tree Combo'.
The trophy is now finished and these great pictures from designer Nino in Croatia show the trophy off in all its glory. Nino does a lot of design work for Harry at Bonsai4Me.com and for the EBPC and as always, has risen to the challenge and smashed all expectations! 

Sunday 8th April saw the much anticipated first Expo Bonsai U.K. exhibition, located just outside West London. This show is set to be the largest show in the South of England, and in time may well grow into one of Europe's great shows. 

The European Bonsai Potter Collective is proud to support this great new event, and in addition to trading and displaying a tree, the EBPC are also proud sponsors for the trophy for 'best pot and tree combination'.  I would like to express a warm thank you to all of the EBPC / B4Me team for your hard work and great company on the day! I can confidently say we all had a very enjoyable day. From left to right: Maarten, Mark, Tom, Alex, Harry, Sean & John. 

The tree I entered, is an Arakawa maple in a pot by Peter Krebs. The table is by Doug Mudd, and the pyracantha accent is in an Ino Shukuho pot.

A few trees I was very impressed by ... 

Huge congratulations to all of the winners who are listed below ..  including Simon Temblett who won the EBPC sponsored trophy for best tree and pot combination with this stunning Hawthorne in a nanban style pot by Dan Barton. The rustic design of the nanban with the 'kink' to the rim, compliments the ragged deadwood of the trunk wonderfully! 

Here are the final results of the show. 

BEST IN SHOW, SUPPORTED BY SARUYAMA BONSAI: JOHN PITT, BLACKTHORN.
BEST LARGE DECIDUOUS DISPLAY SUPPORTED BY GREENWOOD BONSAI STUDIO: MARK & RITTA COOPER, TRIDENT MAPLE.
Runner up: Steve McKee.
BEST LARGE CONIFER DISPLAY SUPPORTED BY KAIZEN BONSAI: MO FAGAN, CHAMAECYPARIS.
Runner up: Dean Morgan.
BEST MAME/SHOHIN DISPLAY SUPPORTED BY WINDYBANK BONSAI: JOHN ARMITAGE.
Runner up: Mark & Ritta Cooper.
BEST ACCENT PLANTING SUPPORTED BY LEE VERHOREVOORT BONSAI: JOHN PITT.
Runner up: Andy Jordan.
BEST TREE/POT COMBINATION SUPPORTED BY THE EUROPEAN BONSAI POTTERS COLLECTIVE: SIMON TEMBLETT.
Runner up: Ian Cuppleditch.

We would like to thank the organisers, Steve, Mark, Brian, Ming and Tony as well as all of those who helped out in the organisation and running of the event. A superb job was done by all in putting on an extremely enjoyable and great quality bonsai exhibition. We will be back for future events! 

This style of pot has been for sale by the EBPC, and have proven very popular. The pots are expertly thrown on a wheel, with a twisting detail gently added, together with interesting details such as the feet and basal bands. The almost metallic grey glaze finish is beautifully complimented by a subtle but contrasting glimpse of gold beneath the rim. 

Roman has recently made a series of stunning ovals which are currently available in the EBPC / B4Me shop. Once again, congratulations Roman!