Collect Rocks Day~ My Suiseki

As I mentioned last month, although I didn't have a tree ready for the Nashville Bonsai show I did have my kusamono (accent plants) and my suiseki (viewing stones).

"Viewing stones" originated in China (gongshi) and then came to Japan.  To put it most basically, it is 'rock hounding'  turned into a fine art!  The stones are even sorted into categories.

Classification by shape~

Landscape Suiseki (Sansui keijo-seki): in the form of a mountain, island, waterfall, shore- or coastline, cave, canyon or a plateau.

Object stones (Keisho-seki): representing a person, animal, boat, house or bridge.

Classification by surface~

Celestial (Gensho-seki): with patterns resembling the moon, sun or stars.

Plant (Kigata-ishi): with patterns picturing flowers, fruits, grasses, forests or even Bonsai.

Weather (Tenko-seki): resembling rain, intense sunlight, lightning or snow.

Abstract (Chusho-seki): with surfaces similar to animal prints, tangled nets, etc.

While suiseki are most often seen accompanying bonsai in displays, they are also displayed and shown in their own right.  There are many ways to display the stones.  Below are some photos from suiseki shows.

Formal with complete emphasis on the stone.

Traditional display of just the stones (my favorite).

And a complete display showing all elements.

Suiseki shown with a bonsai display (from the Nashville show).

Here is a display as you'd see in a home.

I'm been a 'rock hound' almost as long as I've been alive.  As I learned about suiseki I realized I was already half way there with the stone and mineral collection I own.

These are my first batch of stones I pulled from my collection.

There was a lot of scrubbing and polishing that had to happen before I could exhibit any of them!

Some of the finished results:

Third row, second from the left.

(From granite from North Dakota)

Third row, far right.

(From Alaska)

Second row, first on left

(Iron ore crystals from Missouri)

(Basalt from Scotland)

There are many different types of stands to display suiseki on (none of these stones are mine)...

The most formal are the individually carved 'dais'.  They can also be made from clay (pottery).

Some are set on a table type stand.

A piece of drift wood could be a stand (here sitting on a tray).

A shallow pot/bowl filled with sand makes a nice display.

Or you could fill it with water to bring to mind an island.

Another method of using sand.

Here a decorated plate displays a stone as an island.

Stands can be simple object like this cutting board.

A clever stack of plates.

A bonsai pot filled with sand.

Or a simple coil of rope to hold the stone upright.

Since trees grow slowly, I'm putting some energy into my viewing stone collection and display stands.

Instant gratification!