SAM ADINA
Sam Adina came to the U.S. from the Philippines in 1982. He currently lives in Stockton, California. Sam began working with bonsai about 15 years ago, originally in search of nothing more than a hobby.
He started that search by raising orchids. “After watering, I saw there’s nothing to do,” he said. Bored, he got rid of his orchids and tried raising koi, but a technical power glitch caused his koi to die. So a friend suggested bonsai.
“I was looking for something to do that is not going out, just staying home,” Sam said. So about the year 2000 he joined the Modesto Club, which had been formed in 1977. When their sensei George Fujita retired about 11 years ago, having observed Sam’s gift for seeing unique qualities in each tree, he passed on the “scissors” to Sam as sensei of the Modesto Club. George had recommended that Sam also study under Boon Manakitivipart, an award-winning bonsai master from the Bay Area, and under Johnny Uchida. (George Fujita passed away at the age of 86 in January 2014.)
Sam also belongs to the Yamato Bonsai Kai (of which Johnny Uchida is the sensei), San Jose Betsuin Bonsai Club, Sacramento Bonsai Club, and the American Bonsai Associationn of Sacramento, among several other groups. Sam is highly respected for his remarkable abilities and design talent, and does demonstrations at many of the area clubs.
During the 2008 Golden State Federation Convention in Modesto, Sam and three other teachers helped Harry Hirao style a monster California juniper for the entrance of GSBF Collection South. In Sacramento at the 2014 GSBF Convention, highly-respected artist Sam conducted a workshop on his own. He also won the Best Broad-leaved Evergreen award that year for his impressive olive. Meanwhile, another of his trees stood in the foyer of the Convention location: a five-foot tall 800-900-year-old informal upright Utah juniper that Sam says he stands on a hydraulic cart to work on.
Sam also does all the bonsai training and design for Blue Oak Nursery in Modesto. As Central and Northern California's largest Bonsai Nursery it proudly displays a collection of over 300 bonsai from world-class artists on the West Coast including Johnny Uchida, Katsumi Kinoshita, Mas Ishii, Boon Manakitivipart, and Roy Nagatashi, to name just a few.
Compiled by Robert J. Baran, September, 2015
(“March Meeting Tuesday, March 27th at 7pm,” The Bent Twig, March 2012, pg. 1, http://www.abasbonsai.org/newsletters/mar2012.pdf; “Trees of the 2014 GSBF Convention,“ California Bonsai Art, https://bonsaial.wordpress.com/tag/sam-adina/; “Bonsai, art of the tree world, on display this weekend at Modesto show,” The Modesto Bee, April 25, 2014, http://www.modbee.com/living/article3163844.htm; “Showtime!,” Valley Bonsai Society, Newsletter, Vol. 3 March 1, 2009, pg. 1, http://www.valleybonsaisociety.com/NewsLetters/Newsletter%20Vol%203%20-%20March%201%202009.pdf; “Harry Hirao, aka, The Goat, Mr California Juniper,” California Bonsai Art, http://fastproxynetwork.appspot.com/bonsaial.wordpress.com/2015/07/24/r-i-p-harry-hirao/; “Does anyone have photos of the winning trees from the 2014 GSBF Convention?,” Ask Bonsai Tonight, Nov. 10, 2014, http://ask.bonsaitonight.com/t/does-anyone-have-photos-of-the-winning-trees-from-the-2014-gsbf-convention/30; http://blueoaknursery.com/ )