Bonsai Club’s Viewing Stones Demo
Date/Time
Date(s) - 11/02/2019
9:00 am - 12:00 pm
Categories
Bonsai viewing stones are focus of local bonsai club
Jerry Braswell, a noted Sacramento area viewing stone enthusiast and dealer, will be the featured demonstrator at the Mother Lode Bonsai Club’s Saturday, November 2 meeting. The public is invited to attend the free presentation, held immediately after the club’s 9:00 a.m. meeting at the San Andreas Central Library, 1299 Gold Hunter Road (Off Mt. Ranch Road) in San Andreas.
Braswell has been a woodworker and cabinetmaker since 1983. His keen interest in suiseki, or viewing stones has since turned him in a new direction of creating form-fitting bases (daizas) for these highly polished stones, tree display stands, shoji screens and other bonsai related products. He also collects, prepares and sells stone findings. As such, his informational website is located at www.artofthedaiza.wordpress.com. His artistic creations can be purchased at bonsai shows throughout Central California and are also sold through Facebook at Jerry’s suiseki and viewing stones.
According to Braswell, the terms “viewing stones” and “suiseki” are often used interchangeably in the western world. However, they are not the same. To the Japanese, suiseki is defined by its own specific set of rules, which are commonly misinterpreted. It is much more refined in the study, collection and appreciation of stones as a form of art.
Viewing stones can be displayed alone or in combination with bonsai trees.
“True suiseki should suggest something to the viewer, yet not be a precise miniature representation of the object,” he said. “This suggestibility may come from a memory, feeling, or recall of a unique place. It could be a mountain, waterfall, house, animal, or person. Sometimes, the stone can evoke special feelings, emotions, or recognitions.”
Anyone with an interest in bonsai regardless of levels of experience is invited to attend the demonstration. For more information, contact Richard McKinstry, club president at (209) 288-2330 or go online to www.motherlodebonsai.org.
