My first, but not my last, stone.

I have always collected stones and weathered wood and used them in rockeries... and lately also with bonsai.

I have picked up this stone:



I call the rock: The lost world.

According to my research the bottom part of the stone consist of water eroded shale and siltstone and it is overlain by intercalated quartzite.

Can you see the lost world?

If any one can give me guidance in how I should display the rock, I would appreciate it.

Lennard

Hey Lennord,
I was about to jump right in!,
and ask you for more pictures of your stone.
Top looking down, back, sides and bottom...
but noticed you've been around since 2009!
surely you've had the chance to read many posting,
and if not! nows your chance to rediscover possibilaties...
I see you show your favorite side, try standing it up!
turned around with square peaks up as tops...
stonener

stonener wrote:

and ask you for more pictures of your stone.

Top looking down, back, sides and bottom...

nows your chance to rediscover possibilaties

I see you show your favorite side

It took me quite a while to decide to pursue this. As mentioned I have always collected nice stones/rocks but I never asked myself why I like certain stones/rocks. With the beginners rush, when it comes to bonsai, going over, I want to know why I appreciate certain stones and others not. At this stage it is not mainly about a picture a stone may portray but the mystery a stone is giving up with millenniums shaping it to the current stage it is in.
One can venture into this unknown world alone but there are guides in the world out there that can help one understand the appreciation one have for something as raw as a stone.

Here are some more pics:









Any comments or advice welcome

Lennard

Hey Lennord! So glad you desided to follow through!...
Worth the wait, It would have been the "Lost World" alright!
Wow! what a beauty, can now really appreciate what you found.
Reminds me of the famous accent stones of Lake Taihu in China.
For me stones are a more spritual and not so much a mineral thing!
Hard and Dark are Suiseki qualitys, but IMHO shape trumps them both.
On an 5 hour drive to a competition in Northern California last week,
My friend Jonathan and I discussed the term "Gate Keepers", Guides as you say.
Teachers who will be judged to a higher degree. I'm not one of them,
Glady an expert on nothing, only know what I like, But in your stone IMHO I see,
so many wonderfull things, caves, grottos, bridges, arms, feet, a tail,



and a dragon head(picture 1 of 4)coming out of the clouds. It's Good luck I'm told...
stonener

WOW! Really like indents, bumps & overall personality of your find!!! (Perhaps there are geological terms for depressions & such but, I've yet to learn them! Excuse my ignorance!)
I'm a novice bonsai enthusiast. I've always liked to display found objects in my home prior to my bonsai infatuation!
Sculptural driftwood, rocks,shells & I even have a few fossils of plant- life!!
As I mentioned, I don't have any experience buying
agree turn it every which way- explore every possible angle. There are MANY interesting areas to work w/. It will surely engage the viewer no matter how you proceed!!
Have you decided on a "front"?

Hello Lennard.
Thank you for posting.
Indeed as you mentioned, contemplating on a stone can teach you the world.
It is hard to tell from pictures but this side draws my attention.
It could well be placed on a daiza or jitta.
Hope to see more stones from you.
Sunip

Lennard!
Today I see a fancy butterfly tailed Goldfish!



Display it in a glass bowl... stonener

Thanks for the encouragement.

Turning and tilting the stone slightly each time opens up a lot of possibilities - I am enjoying this very much. Can not decide on a front yet- but I will be shown a favorite side soon.

Lennard

OK Then Lennord
Today I see this guy! "Yeti"
pointy head, huge arms, big feet, broad sholders
standing there looking right at me,
as I pee my pants...




The Abominable Snowman

Hi Lennard... What an interesting stone you have posted.

Your first photo made me think of "cloud cover over a mountain ridge," which substantially hides peaks. Imagining a landscape view is not essential, but for horizontally-positioned stones, it offers replicating a scenic (and celestial) vista in a relatively small stone. Among Chinese scholars, manipulation of scenic-sized spirit breath/energy (Ch qi) in a small stone compresses earth energy & appeal.

Perforations through the stone immediately suggest a few thoughts. The early Chinese appreciation of cave-heaven entrances through which mortals can pass to a timeless sphere arose from Daoist thought. In the 5th century C.E., Tao Qian published the poem "Peach Blossom Spring," which also referenced entering an immortal realm through a cave entrance; "Peach Blossom Spring" is among the most revered poems in Chinese history, partially due to the integrity of its author in avoiding corruptions in civil service. The circular "moon gates" in Chinese garden walls symbolically represent the entrance to cave heavens where immortals dwell. Especially where the stone is abstract in shape & and balanced on a narrow foot below a broad head, scholars' rocks with perforations are thought to represent entrances into an immortal realm.

Of course, there are landscape & built forms with perforations that can also be considered-- archways, tunnels, bridges, windows et al.. Perhaps, they are best observed when viewed at a slight angle rather than directly.

It is a wonderfully playful stone for which several wood seats might be appreciated.

Thanks for sharing it!

Hey Lennard!
you posted four additional! so here we go!
will keep your first picture posted for last.
Ok then for today I offer the idea of a mask?
stonener


Phanthom of the Opera...

Oh ! the mystical insight of Mr . Peterbrod .
I also enjoyed the great imagination of Mr . Stonener ...
And also from his stone Lennard , I also learned a lot more experience in his article Chris ...
Thank you all us .
Sincerely ,
Hưng - Trần .

Lennard!
Your love at first sight! right!
I love dogs! so I see my BFF KingKona
friendly always one step behind me,
with his nose in everything! sometimes me....
stonener



man's best friend




He makes his own rocks, many!...


This has all been just in fun! and offered as an expert on nothing!
Just hoping to open your eye's to a new way of looking at stones!
Like someone once did for me! So paying it forward, there...
stonener
*seen clearly now*

Thanks for all the encouragement.

With autumn on us here and the work on my trees slowing down, this has happened at the right time. As mentioned before I have always gathered stones but I never saw them. It is great fun to rediscover them now.

My stone do have a lot of sides to it.....but strangely enough I can not not get rid of the mystical Lost World I saw when I first studied the stone. Does not matter how I turn it, the giant ape is somewhere there in the picture.

I do agree that it would be a mistake to chain the stone to one front- will let it be for now. I have placed it in a safe area where it is viewed every day- I am very lucky that the stone don't have any damage to it, it was used as doorstop for about 5 months!

Will post some of the new stones in another thread.

Lennard