Warren Hill, one of our giants, passed away a few weeks ago.
Years ago, back when I was a potter, Warren was one of the first people to buy my bonsai containers. He was the curator of the National Bonsai Collection at the time, and his kind encouragement made a deep impression on me.
I asked Matt Berenberg, who apprenticed with Warren, to share his history and influence on our community:
Warren’s distinguished career started in 1960 when he visited a large Bonsai exhibition at the Museum of Science and Industry in Los Angeles. This singular life-altering moment started his life-long journey and love affair with the art of Bonsai.
After studying with such notables as John Naka and Saburo Kato, Warren stated teaching in 1974. He became the curator of the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum in 1998 and presided over that collection until he retired in 2001. He was a gifted artist and curious craftsman. He put these gifts to good use caring for the collection, in particular his depth of knowledge with display and expertise with variety specific techniques.
Equally as important to Warren, he developed life-long relationships with his volunteers and staff members. I have many stories with Warren, but one of my favorite ones is when I went to his garden for an apprenticeship trial. This was after months of writing back and forth. To my surprise Warren was there waiting for me at the airport in Tennessee. To that point I had never seen someone with his attention to detail to every step of the process. It really cannot be learned through reading alone. Until you do it with someone, and have that experience in your body, you won’t have clarity and understanding.
After retiring from the museum Warren moved to back to Tennessee where he lived the remainder of his life with his wife Sharon, teaching bonsai. Amongst other awards and accolades, The Golden State Bonsai Federation awarded Warren the Circle of Sensei Award in 2013. Other distinguished recipients of the award include John Naka, Ben Oki and Harry Hirao.
He was a man that lived the spirit and philosophy of bonsai every day—Bonsai No Kokoro.
Warren was able to share and teach his philosophy, artistry and love of the art to so many students who admired him and his work. He was not only a teacher and friend to many, but a father figure to those students who had the honor to become close to him. His work and value in the Bonsai community will live on through this next generation of students …as will his trees. He will be deeply missed.
Matt Berenberg apprenticing in 2008 at Tree-Haven, Warren’s school of bonsai. Thank you, Matt, for sharing this remembrance—