 Arthur Skolnik was born in 1953 and grew up
in Quebec City, Canada. He has lived in Toronto since 1989 and
previous to that, in Montreal for 12 years. His educational background
is biology and psychology. When he was between jobs in 1980,
he saw a (life altering) display of newly imported Bonsai from
Japan at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. He read everything he
could find on the subject, took a workshop, practiced a lot,
then opened a Bonsai business in Montreal. He imported trees
from Japan, Taiwan, China and the U.S. and passed on his passion
for Bonsai to many people. In 1984 he was invited to live and
work with a Bonsai grower in Shikoku, Japan. His video, “
The Growing Art of Bonsai”, is considered by many well known
and respected sources as being the best English language video
on the market. Currently he has several more projects in development.
He has lectured and demonstrated on Bonsai, Viewing Stones and
Japanese Gardens to local and international Bonsai and horticultural
societies, TV and radio stations, in English and French. He was
on the organizing committee of the American Bonsai Society convention
in Montreal in 1988 and was a Director of the Montreal Bonsai
Society. He was Vice President of the Toronto Bonsai Society
and served two consecutive terms on the Board of Directors of
Bonsai Clubs International. He was on the organizing committee
for B.C.I. ‘97 in Toronto, and on the Feature Garden Committee
for Canada Blooms, a flower and garden show produced by the Garden
Club of Toronto and Landscape Ontario. He is a member in good
standing of Landscape Ontario and his garden displays have twice
won first prize in the Feature Garden Competition of the Canadian
National Exhibition. At Canada Blooms, he was awarded “Best
Japanese Garden”, one year and the Sheridan Award another
year for the best garden under 1000 square feet. He has contributed
to many international publications including ‘International
Bonsai’, ‘Bonsai Magazine’ (BCI), ‘The North
American Viewing Stone Society’, ‘Bonsai’, (the
British Bonsai Magazine) and the Journals of the Swedish and
Belgian Bonsai Societies. Three of his favorite Viewing Stones
have been accepted into a permanent display at the US National
Arboretum. At the BCI convention in 1996 in Washington D.C. he
won the Rosade “Excellence in Design” award for his
Shohin Bonsai display. At the M.A.B.A. convention in Detroit
Michigan, June ‘00, Mr. Kimura of Japan awarded his Ficus
retusa 2nd prize in the masterpiece display. At the Millennum
Bonsai contest in Rochester New York, Sept.’00, his Shimpaku
Juniper won 3rd prize. Both times he submitted photos of his
trees to the JAL (World’s 100 Best) contest, they were accepted.
His wife Barbara, an experienced horticulturist, contributes
part time to the Bonsai business and to his award winning landscaping
company. Their 9 year old daughter Arielle, helps with some Bonsai
chores and specializes in nonspecific watering and moving pots.
Their dog Sheeba keeps squirrels away. |
