Ikune Sawada donates bonsai collection

WALLA WALLA-If life is an art, Ikune Sawada is a master. Sawada is a painter and collector of fine ceramics. For many years he has also practiced bonsai tree gardening.

Through the gate and down a path flanked by lamprocapnos spectabilis, also known as bleeding hearts for their flower petals' shape, the garden unfolds. Sawada and his partner, Neil Meitzler, before his passing in 2009, created the garden from scratch.

Meitzler was a landscape painter of the Northwest School and curator at the Seattle Art Museum for 20 years as an exhibition designer. The garden was a collaboration that showcased both of their artistic visions come to life.

"That area was previously a vegetable patch," explains Sawada, "but since the house was a rental property for many years, the weeds were high and [there was] nothing else. That's why we chose the place, so we could build this from nothing. I drew a line with the shovel and told Neil, let's build the pond here." It's in the shape of Chinese character that means heart and also the double gourd shape that means good luck.

The space is entirely natural, yet bears the knowing hand of a landscape architect. From the entry, the path widens to offer views of a pond with fish that jump for bread crumbs. A large, flat stone makes a perfect platform where Sawada can feed the fish and take in yet another outstanding view of an apricot tree.

Beyond that are tables at varying heights, where plants that can handle full sun sit in ornate ceramic pots. Bonsai is an artform that uses cultivation techniques in combination with curation to produce small trees in containers.

"In bonsai the tree and the pot have to live for long years together to become one," he said.

Further still is the pergola with a thin slatted roof that protects the more sensitive plants from a great deal of sun. Past that, sits a large greenhouse where all the plants live in winter.

As a visitor, it seems like each vignette is being stumbled upon for the first time, but that sense of wonderment is entirely intentional.

Nestled among the greenery is a remarkable number of huge boulders. Sawada explains the painstaking effort involved.

"There was no plan, but each rock has a face; a front and back. For instance, one rock sticks out like a peninsula, which hides the other side and it sort of gives you more scale. The whole thing looks bigger, but this also gives dynamic movement."

Placement of stones in Japanese gardens is associated with water and is very specific to the idea of movement.

"You can't just put rocks there," Sawada insists, "they have to be growing from the ground. They have to be buried."

Before they could be buried, they had to be brought to Sawada's Walla Walla home from Preston, Washington on a truck with a trailer that could only carry up to 35 tons at a time. On his first pass, Sawada selected 45 tons.

"So, I eliminated the medium sized and brought only the big and small ones. When the shipment came, we placed them around the pond and realized this is not enough. I ended up buying 60 tons of granite from this quarry in Issaquah because there is no granite east of the mountains," he said.

And that still wasn't enough. Sawada's team ended up bringing another dump truck full of stones from the Blue Mountains.

"I had a fifty-foot crane that came from Tri Cities to arrange rocks and they tried to set them down and they would tip this way and that way. So, every time I have to put one or two rocks below to protect the position."

The composition created is well worth the effort. Sawada says the best compliment he ever received was from the roofer who, looking down on the garden said, "Hey, you have a natural stream going through your yard."

In preparation for retirement, Sawada is donating thirty bonsai trees to a professor of geology at Whitman.

"It's a personal donation. Most of my antique collections will end up in the Sheehan Gallery at Whitman," he said.

The Sheehan Gallery is a visual arts resource created in 1973 to support Whitman College curriculum and to serve as an intellectual and cultural resource for the Pacific Northwest community and beyond, through the collection, preservation, exhibition, and interpretation of historical and contemporary art.

In 1987, with the acquisition of the Davis Collection, this mission was expanded to include an emphasis on Asian art. In 1999 a Japanese tea room was added to the Gallery to further this emphasis.

Sawada has arranged to posthumously donate his collection of rare ceramics to be housed alongside the Davis Collection of Asian Art in the Asian Studies Center. Its contents have been well catalogued in The Collected Life of Ikune Sawada, compiled by Daniel M. Forbes and will be available to students and faculty for research purposes.

Ikune Sawada studied art in Kyoto, Japan, graduating in 1960. This year he plans to attend the 59th reunion in late October.

"We get together every other year and we have a group show of our work. We keep saying we're getting too old. Last time we thought it would be the last time, but there are more people who want to do it one more time. I think the 60th would be nice. Maybe we should do one more," he said.

Sawada's journey is still unfolding. He's a great example of what asset planning can do to ensure one's life's work is preserved. Now that his bonsai are off giving joy to others he says he's free to travel.

For many years Sawada has battled a very rare disease with the help of a supportive medical team.

"I came to Walla Walla because my partner told me that he would take care of me until I died. I agreed to come and then he died of pancreatic cancer. He was 78, very young," Sawada said.

"When you go through that kind of experience, every minute, every moment is a very special gift. If I die tomorrow, I'll be happy. I'll be dying with a big smile because what I've achieved so far is unbelievable," he added.

It doesn't seem likely. Sawada appears to get healthier with age. The secret, besides the medical team, eating well and resting well is staying active.

"I am 83 this year and I still take power walks through Pioneer Park for 45 minutes a day. Once one of my friends said, 'I thought I saw you, but then I thought that couldn't be Ikune, he's walking too fast.'"

Every plant in his garden has a name, has a story, has a life and they are busy. If you want to catch up with Sawada, you'll just have to walk faster.