Can this stone be made into a viewing stone?

This granite stone stands about 12 inches high, weighs around 20-25 lbs, I've always liked it, and I would like to do something with it.  It looks like a cliff face that rock climbers would drool over.  If I had a base made, I am thinking one that is darker than the stone, angles outward to the base, and is a rough surface that gives the impression of rock falling off over time and building up around the base.  Does this sound plausible?

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Strong work Lance! Is that a recent project? What kind of stone is that?

My buddy found a bunch of these from a job site he was on. Buttressing up an old "tower" adjacent to a stone bridge in a ritzy Massachusetts town. I believe they were brought over from somewhere in Europe in the 1800's, I believe. Pretty interesting, texturally.

RAD lance !
i gotta make sure, mike n, tedd, brian and steve see this... brian especially as he has been really getting good at diaza work !!!

david - of course yours can be a viewing stone !!!
i just viewed it

seriously though, your idea of simulating small rock slides at the base could be really good !

Well, now that I know it can be viewed , how does one go about finding a professional dais maker? Lance, is that something you do?

Ha.....You would be waiting a looonnggg time!!

This was created by AAC brother Nomad Johnny. I only get to assist.
I'm not much of a stone guy, you know, the image has to really club me over the head.
Rough first attempt, chisels and other handtools....

well then pass on the kudos to the nomadical one...

i'm like you lance - not much of a stoner... got a buncha cool rocks but when the really good ones clobber me over the head, i cant remember where i viewed them...

david... there are some pros carvers out there... our guy steve has sent away to one guy but i dont know his name...
shoot an email to brian, steve, tedd & mike n. for referrals or advice... after all, that is part of what we, the AAC, is for

Ha....homeboy got run over by a reind...ahhh....huge tractor last day before T'anksgivin'.....broke his leg pretty good!!
Wonderful hue of plumb. And yellow, and crimson and blue and.....ya' get the picture...

Did another large stone with a bottom of some kind of plastic sumthun' ruther...I'll try to get a shot later.
It's in a big ol' pot, kinda like a landscape deal.....the rock has got some character, I will admit....

Time for another beer, hold on.....


Gonna' be fireing up the woodstove, maybe pluck some pine needles.....

Beer...and.....butts...and bonsai...

da chpper is on his way over to work on stuff too...
50 degrees & sunny today here in SE wisconsin !

Man that's a nice stone Lance! Thanks for the advice, guys.

I'm a bit surprised that Chris or others haven't chimed in here by now.

I'm certainly not a stone aficionado, but none of these would fit any definition of suiseki or viewing stones held by devotees of these "arts."   The "art" of stone appreciation is, perhaps, the least flexible of any the Oriental nature arts.  Trees, being alive and malleable, can take on many forms, but stones MUST fit certain criteria.  Neither of these do -- though LanceMac's nearly incoherent offering comes closest.

You can, of course, put any rock of any kind on a diaza or in a suiban and call it whatever you like among yourselves.  Just be prepared to be hooted off the stage at any serious stone appreciation event.

If you are really interested, there a a few good books; Amazon carries them.  There also is http://suiseki.com/about/index.html which is very informative.  Just remember though, with stones there are RULES.  Break them at your own risk.

jim... i am sure that you are aware of a surging stone appreciation movement underway here in north america that does not adhere to the oriental rules and aesthetics...

i too am not some connoisseur (but rather some kinda whoore)
still i am aware of it through osmosis being around rock heads

http://www.amazon.com/Viewing-Stones-North-America-Contemporary/dp/1891640720

I am familiar with that book, and all the others relating to stones; though I'm not a "stoner" and only have 4-5 what anyone would consider "nice" stones, I do enjoy Oriental arts and read voraciously -- especially these days when I can do little else. 

However, those American stones in that book do clearly adhere to the rules of suiseki, viewing stones and Scholar's Rocks (each of which are slightly different from the others only in the particulars -- can they be altered, polished, etc.?). 

They all are aesthetically pleasing to the eye.  Most have acquired a patina -- or can gain one, with age. and the shapes are quite evocative.  LanceMac's pictured stone approaches the latter, but just.  The other one, alas, is just a rock.

As I said anyone can plop a stone on a diaza and call it art, but devotees of these arts are pretty fussy and subject to change about as quickly as their rocks are.  Anarchy is frowned upon.

I'm sure Chris is laughing his head off at me defending the "art" of stone appreciation.

JimLewis wrote:Anarchy is frowned upon.

isn't that always the case ?

(which is kind of why it is necessary)

Thanks for the reading tips, Jim and Kevin.  I've resisted delving into this subject, but have now become curious. I haven't thought too much about rules, but if I look at something and start imagining, or am provoked to thought or feeling, then it's meaningful to me.

and that, my friend, is all that matters.