My version of cave-like mountain...pls enjoy

Hello fellow members,
hope you like some of my mountain stone...something to share for all of you
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this front view
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the back view of the same stone above
regards,
alex

Alex,

I like what I see, but do you really need the figures ?

The power of suggestion is already pretty strong.

We have islets with trees and sometimes goats or birds on them, that look like your examples. Have you tried suggesting deep sea instead of river tributaries ? I tend to look at that type of sand, the colour,as the end stage of large rivers. Very Chinese.

The island I live on is a giant lump of clay, mostly, but you can find very small viewing stones.
Stay tuned for a miniature world.
Please keep showing.
Khaimraj

hello khaimraj,
thanks for your insight,oh by the way the boat was to much also for me,it was my daughter who was toying with it,so i just let her be,
alex

Alex,

Both stones are nice, good quality, color and of hard material. Try to find a large suiban or doban. Ample spacing will help your theme be a lot more believable.

I also like the 'molino' or grinder you are using as a stand.

Kind regards,

Jose

thanks jose.... still looking for the right suiban,hard to find in the phillippines,well the 'molino' are part of my gardens accent,love collecting them,thank you for your insight,
regards,
alex

Alex,

I also have several molinos. They are getting harder to come by every year.

Your stones are similar to what we have.

Regards,
Jose

Hi Alex... While you recognize the natural amayadori "shelter rock" form (an overhanging stone roof above a stone floor) and the domon "archway above water" form, IBC browsers might gain in understanding titles for these forms as subsets of landscape-view suiseki.

[quote="Chris Cochrane"]Hi Alex... While you recognize the natural amayadori "shelter rock" form (an overhanging stone roof above a stone floor) and the domon "archway above water" form, IBC browsers might gain in understanding titles for these forms as subsets of landscape-view suiseki.[/quot
Hi Chris,
thank you for the correction,it is always a learning process for me, is three a book you can recommend for suiseki?can't find one here for philippines, it's relative new and has small stone collector community in our part here.Thanks in advance.
regards,
Alex

Looking, reading and enjoying.
Thank you.
Khaimraj

Hi Alex... I ALWAYS recommend the book Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation by Vincent Covello and Yuji Yoshimura for English speakers seeking suiseki appreciation. In my opinion they did a marvelous job, years ago, of covering basic understanding without getting bogged down in the trivial aspects of appreciation which sometimes divide us. You can find fault if you look for it, but the faults are rare compared to insights. The book is inexpensive, here, and the older hardback edition I would strongly recommend. Secondhand hardback copies are available from Amazon.com (USA) & Bookfinder.com.

Let me know if I can help you obtain a copy, Alex. I've appreciated our conversations online.

Everyone should read the California Aiseki Kai newsletter which is posted on the web monthly (11 months a year). You can read it freely but the club asks a small donation ($10 annually) which makes you a full member of the club. The quality is superb. Back issues for years are posted & available-- recalling them will raise your appreciation. Larry & Nina Ragle (Larry 'club founder' & Nina 'present newsletter editor') as well as Jim Greaves put most of us to shame in their contribution to understanding. I fear missing others I greatly respect who contribute. Just recently I met two: Wil Lautenschlagar (who writes from Japan) & Toy Sato (who wrote a stunning early (1973?) summary of suiseki & recently taught me a few things). At the same event, I missed meeting the newsletter's Pacific NW contributors Rick & Mimi Stiles, who I hear of through friends. The former newsletter editor Jack Dennis has shared generously with many; Tom Elias has been extremely generous in lectures given Potomac Viewing Stone Group but also publishes in the California Aiseki Kai newsletter & now is a local member, there. Many individual contributors (including international contributors) simply stun enthusiasts with their insight. California Aiseki Kai promotes Japanese suiseki practice (mostly supported by personal collection of local stones), so it is a bit different from my club (Potomac Viewing Stone Group) or the IBC stone Forum, which encourage wider practice but also distinguish Japanese-suiseki practice as a limited, disciplined form distinguished from other forms of viewing stone appreciation. People with good intention can argue broad appreciation as suiseki practice. Seiji Morimae embraced a wide variety of stones for applying suiseki practice in a recent critique in Pennsylvania. (There is more to learn!)

An impressive new book An Introduction to Suiseki was recently released by Arishige Matsuura and translated by Wil Lautenschlager. It is more expensive than the Covello/Yoshimura text, but you get the benefit of Matsuura's attentiveness to international appreciation for suiseki & Wil's strong scholarship, experience & careful editing in translation. I think it will cost Y8000 from Nippon Bonsai Association for an individual copy, but negotiated to less if purchased in bundles of at least ten (10) copies (Y7000 each) or at least fifty (50) copies (Y6000 each). The book is not yet listed on the Nippon Suiseki Association publications' web page. It is a paperback book of less than 90 numbered pages with a slipcase, and I heard that its publication is limited to 500 copies (please, do not hold me to that as a fact-- publishers easily extend copy runs and the earliest books were unnumbered). The illustrations are smaller copies of photos from an extraordinary VERY LARGE format text published in 1988 by Arishige Matsuura and Kenichi Yoshimura (Yuji's brother).

I'll recommend one other brief summary for suiseki. Frank English's article "What is suiseki?" and especially his illustrations can be very useful to collectors unsure of suiseki forms. It is too brief but can turn confusion into reasonable focus in finding stones in suiseki-style-- see Frank English's "What is suiseki?"

Hi Chris....thank you for the information,agaib very helpfull,if there will be difficulty for me to find the book,i'll take up your help and thank you alwys,
i remain...alex

For book enthusiasts in countries not supported by International shipping by Amazon.com, American Book Exchange (ABE) booksellers often have new and used copies available with wider international shipping options. A book delivered to the Philippines might be only $6.00 more for delivery from the USA than if delivered to my house in the USA. Search for a book you desire on the ABE website www.AbeBooks.com or look for ABE booksellers on the website www.bookfinder.com. BookFinder processes credit card payments for many booksellers.

thnks a lot ....regards always and see you my friend