Page 25 - BSAM 2015 Q4

Finding places are mostly in the West, for example the desert in Southern California such as Mohave Desert, Death Valley and in Northern California, for exam- ple the Trinity Alps, Trinity River, Eel River, Cedar River, Clear Creek. Other places for nding stones are Sierra Nevada, Murphy, Colorado, Utah, Washington, Oregon, Alaska but also Pennsylvania or Maryland in the East. In the deserts of South California stones are shaped by wind and sand similar to the Fengli stones of Gobi desert. Tom showed a lot of photos of stone specimens, feature in his book, Viewing Stones of North America–A Contemporary Perspective, that illustrated his explanations.
Michal Šebo gave a talk about Viewing stones in Europe on Friday afternoon. He pointed out that stone appreciation is quite young in Europe and not so popular as bonsai. e European Suiseki Association (ESA) was established in May 1992 and has since then presented yearly exhibitions, mostly with the European Bonsai Association (EBA), each year in dif- ferent country where European, Japanese and Chinese stones are shown. e last EBA/ESA convention and exhibition was held in Vilnius, Lithuania. At present, ESA has about 80 members, individuals and clubs.
Other regional and national Suiseki associations were established after 1992: in 1993, the German Suiseki Society as first national Suiseki organiza- tion in Europe (about 100 members today); in 1997, Associazione Italiana Amatori Suiseki (AIAS) in Italy (www.aias-suiseki.it); in 1998, Spanish Suiseki Association (today about 50 members, www.bon- saimania.com); in 2000, an organization in the Netherlands and Slovakia (SAS; 15 members); in 2006, in Czech Republic (30 members); and in 2010, in Austria. e late Willi Benz was a pioneer of stone
Top left; Three BCI Awards were presented to outstanding viewing stones on occasion of the closing ceremony. Here is the winner of the rst prize.
Top right; Laibin stone with deep furrows and animated surface from Guangxi province on a modern rectangular wood stand.
Middle left; Second BCI Award winner.
Bottom left; A mushroom on a lavish wooden stand.
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