Puget Sound Bonsai Association Names Michael Hagedorn March Guest Artist

Michael Hagedorn, the Bonsai Consultant for the Portland Japanese Garden and a founding member of the Portland Bonsai Village, delivered a presentation on repotting at the Puget Sound Bonsai Association's March general meeting, the latest stop in a career that has shaped Pacific Northwest bonsai for decades.

"We are excited and honored to welcome Michael Hagedorn as our guest artist for the March general meeting," PSBA wrote in its announcement. The appearance was part of a busy spring schedule that also included a rescheduled technical series listed on the club's updated events calendar.

Hagedorn's résumé reads like a who's who of American bonsai competition. His personal mountain hemlock earned "Best Evergreen" at the 2016 National show, and a client's Cryptomeria claimed "Best In Show" at the 2024 Pacific Bonsai Expo. He has secured major awards for clients at both the U.S. National Bonsai Exhibition and the Artisan's Cup, and he describes his approach as bridging "tradition and innovative design."

His influence extends well beyond the show bench. Since returning to the United States from his apprenticeship under master Shinji Suzuki in Japan, Hagedorn has trained five apprentices: Bobby Curttright (2013–2016), Andrew Robson (2016–2019), John Eads (2019–2020), Carmen Leskoviansky (2021–2024), and Patch Clark (2025–present). All five have gone on to become working bonsai professionals.

Before bonsai consumed his creative life entirely, Hagedorn built a separate reputation in craft. He made Crataegus Bonsai Ceramics pots from 1995 to 2003, work that many in the community consider among the finest American bonsai ceramics produced to date; those pots are now collectible, particularly among his students. His background as a painter and sculptor preceded the pottery years, and he holds an MFA from the New York State College of Ceramics. He has been drawn to bonsai since age fifteen.

His Pacific Northwest connections run deep. A PSBA-affiliated account places him alongside Ryan Neil and California's Boon Manakitivipart at a Pacific Northwest Bonsai Club Association convention hosted at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in Seattle. He also traveled with PSBA members to Japan to visit Suzuki and attend the 88th Kokufu-Ten Exhibition, where the group met Masahiko Kimura, Takahiro Katoh, and Kunio Kobayashi in their studios and toured Omiya Village alongside Bill Valavanis of Bonsai International Magazine.

Off the bench, Hagedorn lives in a tiny home he designed and built himself, and his leisure hours run toward birding, Argentine tango, and what he calls fussing with fountain pens. That range of sensibilities, from competition-level refinement to hands-in-the-soil craft, is precisely what PSBA members had waiting for them at the March meeting.