Nature lovers often gawk at towering old-growth trees on Vancouver Island, but while they're looking up, George Heffelfinger is looking down.

He collects small trees to add to his growing bonsai collection, already 200 strong. But he's always looking for another local variety, and goes to great heights to find them.

"This one I collected years ago above Lake Cowichan, probably at 2,000 to 3,000 feet," he said."(This Mountain hemlock) was small to begin with."

It's more than 200 years old and the height of a toddler.

The best place to find bonsai like this are at high elevations in inhospitable climates which dwarf them, Heffelfinger said.

He's fascinated by shaping well-known trees into living works of art.

"I enjoy sitting and studying a tree and saying, 'alright, this is what it looked like when it was growing up on (the mountain). How do I idealize this tree so that it becomes an art form, so that it becomes artistically acceptable?'"

Bob Taylor is the president of the Vancouver Island Bonsai Club, and organizer of this weekend's Pacific Northwest Bonsai convention, where Heffelfinger will show off some of his best work.

"We are fortunate on Vancouver Island (because) we can still collect trees, so you can find 150-year-old mountain hemlocks up at the higher elevations, and they are dwarfed by nature," he said

Other examples are Gary oak and Sequoia bonsai, which are not small trees.

"If you take a tree and put it in a pot and trim the roots and trim the tree, and style it from an early age, you can make almost anything into a bonsai," said Taylor.

The art form grew out of China more than 1,000 years ago and later spread to Japan. It's now popular in Europe and all over North America, with artists shaping trees that fit in the palm of your hand. Others are more than 800 years old.

You can see a large variety of little trees at the Harbour Towers hotel this weekend, hosted by members of 20 bonsai clubs in B.C., Washington and Oregon.

There will be workshops by master artist, Qingquan Zhao from China, David Easterbrook, bonsai curator at the Montreal Botanic Garden and others. Tickets are $5 to visit the exhibition and $50 for a whole day of demonstrations and workshops.

Fore more information, visit www.victoriabonsai.bc.ca.

lweighton@vicnews.com