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T H E T R A D I T I O N A L D I S P L A Y
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T I N Y M A M E
Traditional Glazed WILLIAM C. SCHMIDT
BELOW THE ROOTS BONSAI California, USA 2025 0.75 x 1.5 x 1.25 inches White Porcelain Slip, Speedball and Laguna Glazes Slip-Cast, Cone 5 "Our 1.5-inch mame pot was made with a combination of slip-casting and hand-carving. Inspired by traditional mokko pots, but with a modern twist and miniature-sized, we designed this pot for a bunjin-style mame bonsai. Although tiny, many hours of work and many steps were involved in its creation.
We drew the design on the computer and printed a 3D model. We used the model to create a plaster mold and slip-cast the pot with white porcelain. After removing the rough pot from the mold, we sanded the top, drilled the drainage hole, and carved around the feet and other details to sharpen or smooth edges and imperfections. We bisque-fired it to cone 04, then hand-painted it in Blue Moss and glaze-fired it to cone 5. The color wasn’t quite right, so we painted over it with Monstera and fired it again. The unique glaze combo enhanced the pot’s details, allowing them to shine even better than we’d intended. Much like developing a bonsai tree, the creation of a pot can evolve in unexpected ways." - William C. Schmidt |
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A B O U T W I L L I A M C . S C H M I D T
Will and Mindy Schmidt started making tiny mame bonsai pots in 2024. They live in Los Angeles and are members of the Chino Bonsai Club. Will has studied bonsai under sensei David Nguy since 2019 and originally took pottery in college. Due to their ever-growing tree collection, his wife Mindy had no choice but to join in his bonsai and pottery hobbies.
Follow William C. Schmidt on these platforms: Instagram: www.instagram.com/belowtherootsbonsai/?hl=en Facebook: www.facebook.com/belowtherootsbonsai Website: belowtheroots.com/ |
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T H A N K Y O U T O O U R S P O N S O R S
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D I S C O V E R P O T T E R S I S P R O U D T O S P O N S O R T H E 2 0 2 5 N O R T H A M E R I C A N B O N S A I P O T T E R Y C O M P E T I T I O N
