My "other" viewing stone, 'Island in the Stream'

This was the surprise that was just waiting to be found along the bank of my much evaporated Perch pond.
I believe this is flint on Limestone on a shale/sandstone base.
The Limestone is deposited/calcined on the shale so it forms a Bass relief. The Island and banks of the cascading river are raised off the surface of the stone as I hope you can see. The water spray really brought out the stone. Things you find around ponds!

Its a very cooling flow from that mountain lake, down past the precipice Island, and away.....
-Jay

Hi Jay,

I really find your stone interesting! The inclusions are flint and the lake/waterfall appear to be chert which make very good viewing stones. I'd really like to see other views of the stone: perhaps top and back. The topic of sand for a suiban is debatable, but most agree that a tan color is most uniform however texture varies by what is available in your area. I use desert sand but Chiara Padrini prefers a bit larger grain like that found in Japan.

My daughter who travels a lot was recently in London and found several stones in the Thames which were pattern stones made up of black and brown chert with similar inclusions plus one stone, a definite flint. My bonsai club is preparing for our annual judged show this week end and for the first time Suiseki/Viewing Stones will be a category. Hopefully, I'll have some photos to show soon...!

Thanks for sharing this fine stone!
Norma

Hi again Jay

I like your stone....
But as the stone is weat, does it now look diffrent from what it will do, when it has dried up. If you gave the " river " oil, will the flintstone never become white again, witch is a pitty.....many years ago, I gave a flintsone oil, and it compleetely changed the collour....I keep it hitten in a closset, to remind me, never to oil a stone again.... I could be safe for me, to let it go back in the nature now.

Could it be an option, to barry the stone so deep in the sand, that the river will not flow under the stone, this way also the fattest part of the stone, will become, where the stone comes out of the ground, witch is desired, in both suiseki, and japanese gardens.

Norma...I look forward to see your photos.

Kind regards Yvonne

Thank you both for the comments and suggestions,

Yvonne-the stone looks just as good dry, I was looking at it this morning-dry, and as I consider its final display tray I will indeed sink it down in the sand so that the river doesn't run underneath. I'm just going to water the stones, I don't like the idea of oil on them, It seems unnatural. What do you think would be a nice complimentary sand color for the stone, the overall tones in the rock are off white-greyish black-and smooth dark grey.

Norma, please Ignore the way its currently displayed, I was just playing around to find the best viewing angle, I will be shopping for a Suiban and sand for this stone and my other one soon. I don't know very much about proper display practices for Suiseki so I'm grateful for all the help. And Chert? I'll have to look that up and see If thats generally something we have out here in Upstate NY. There are a few more limestone/flint/chert combo stones up at my pond that I came across on my walk last night, one in particular reminds or suggests to me a glacial mountain top. But I left them there no need to be greedy.
-Jay

Just looked it up

CHERT! Yes your absolutely right! cool now I know how to describe it.

Hi Jay, This is the stone my daughter found in the Thames River. It's been 2 years since I used the image hosting so thought I see what I remembered. Thanks for your patience! (Just checked the preview and the photo is on it's side...??? Maybe some one can figure out how to flip it.)
Norma

flip-a-rooo

Thats a beautiful stone Norma, The darkness and patina are both wonderful as is the exotic nature of its collection site!

Thanks Jay,

The stone is a bit whimsical to me, I see the image of a bird head, of course I've been following a live stream of an eagle's nest in Decorah Iowa since Feb. Of the nine stones she brought back for me, this was the most interesting and all the stones are chert/flint of different colors.

Kind regards,
Norma

And when you mentioned it came from the UK I remembered back to my trip there and the stone reminded me of dark draft Guinness with the creamy swirl of the frothy head twisted and floating on top....I think this is why I'm beginning to find stones so interesting, look at the two interpretations we both had and how different they were! A birds nest and a Pint of beer.

Hi Jay... Perhaps, the plasticity of the flow on your stone recalls movement of lava more than liquid water or solid glacial ice. It is arguably more striking for that unexpected appearance. I'm not sure it would work so well in viewing the changing scene as the stone dries. Advice shared on depth of placement in a tray (Norma), on avoiding oil (Yvonne) & on sand were each helpful to create a more natural scene.

Thanks for sharing.

Hi Chris

Thank you so much for your thoughts and I agree this isn't water, its a more viscous liquid and Lava is a good fit. I quickly thought to myself when I first saw the stone it was more like a volcano caldera with lava flowing over the side, but settled on a more traditional river and island Idea, but now that you just mentioned Lava I'm going to re-think it. I have since lowered it in its sand and will need to look for a Suiban a bit on the deeper side to accommodate the buried portion of the stone. I have also decided this stone looks better dry.
thank you so much for your thoughts
-Jay