Insight Improves Eyesight

CCCALIFORNIAALIFORNIAALIFORNIA A A AISEKIISEKIISEKI K K KAIAIAI Volume 30, Issue 3 March 2012

Ralph Johnson has a favorite saying - “Insight improves eyesight”. In the simplest of interpretations, it translates as “The more you know the more you see.” However, I believe his use of this phrase on several occasions during a recent visit to his home was not just in passing. Ralph’s mission in life is to make one think, so I did. Thanks Ralph. The phrase is key to understanding the world of suiseki and bonsai and is a perfect adage to help people understand our passion for these art forms. So what is insight? The dictionary says, “the capacity to discern the true nature of a thing” or “the act or outcome of grasping the inward or hidden nature of things or of perceiving in an intuitive manner”. Intuitive means seeing or sensing something not evident. It is an impression. Sharon Marquart, an inspirational speaker-author on the subject, writes, “When you develop your insight, the world you see through your eyesight changes. Many of us were taught to see the world around us in an objective way rather than reflective. We were taught to evaluate and react to it rather than observe it. Your insight is the sight you have from within, your intuition. Each one of us is intuitive.” Note that when she writes “when you develop your insight” she means that while it may be intuitive to some, it more likely needs to be learned in some manner. Our members gain insight by attending Aiseki Kai’s monthly meetings and by reading this newsletter and other related publications. We learn from each other. Understanding suiseki is intuitive for some people, once the basic concepts are explained, but there is, more often, disagreement as to what one is seeing. I am thus reminded of my favorite quote, “What you see is not what I see” by Richard Ota. Uhaku Sudo, Master of the Keido School, teaches us to look beyond the primary object, suiseki or bonsai. Your intuition- your imagination- fills in the rest of an endless natural scene. How do we expand our insight? – Ms. Marquart has some suggestions we can explore.

Next month- Enter the “Cavern of Insight”, the Hidden World of Green.

~Larry Ragle

Stone of the Month

March Program As many of you may know, Larry and Nina spent 3 weeks in Japan last November. On March 28th Larry will show some scenes and stones from our trip.

Prior to that, Joseph Gaytan will tell us about his plan for a trip next October 6-7 to take a bus to the 21st Annual Jade Festival near Big Sur, 60 miles south of Monterey and 40 miles north of Cambria on Highway 1, across from Sand Dollar Beach, in the Los Padres National Forest. Its website says that “it is one of the largest lapidary shows of its type in the world. The festival also features selected vendor art, fine food and 3 days of live entertainment. Admission is free !!!” Come and hear what Joseph has planned for us.

Bring your newest finds from our March 10-11 Yuha Desert adventure (or one from your last trip).

Here is one of mine. I like the feel of this stone and the fact that it holds water is a bonus. 7.5” w x 2”h x 5”d

There wasn’t time before going to press so we will cover the Yuha trip and Chiara Padrini’s lecture next month.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: It was new member Phil Hogan’s first meeting. We welcomed a guest, Fred Morris, who learned about us at our Huntington exhibit. He has since joined Aiseki Kai. Welcome Fred! We discussed the Yuha trip, our participation in the CBS 55th Convention, the CBS show on March 24-25 and the reception on the 24th. We talked about a possible trip to the Jade Festival next October, Chiara Padrini’s talk at the Huntington on March 7th and the exhibit of Ralph Johnson’s donated Chinese stones at the Bonsai-a-thon fundraiser on February 25-26.

STONE OF THE MONTH (Scenic Landscape Stones): Stones suggesting a grand view of nature. This stone was well represented by 17 members sharing more than 24 stones some of which are shown here.

Richard Turner had a very different take on the stone of the month. For his thoughts on this always engaging subject, see Man and Mountain ~ Another View on page 10.

Sizes are in inches, length x height x depth

The 1 inch wide inner m

argins are designed for use with a 3 hole punch.

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

PAGE 2

February Meeting Notes

Barry Josephson from Yuha Desert ‘Starry Mountain”: 9 x 3 x 4

Toy Sato from Trinity River: 5.5 x 2.25 x 2

Sharon Somerfeld 3.75 x 1.75 x 1.25

Phil Chang by way of Cliff Johnson, from Taiwan: 21 x 9.5 x 7

Bruce McGinnis from Eel River: 10 x 7 x 7

Marty Hagbery from Eel River 15 x 5 x 6

continued on page 11

Larry Ragle presented a slide show of pictures supplied by Wanda Matjas and Buzz Barry and Larry of photos of our stones from the exhibit at the Huntington. We talked about the displays. We always learn something from this annual review of our show. It was an excellent program that was very well attended.

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

visitors can study the individual stones closely, with several being shown in the round. Most are situated to present optimum photographic opportunities.

Hours: Mondays and Wednesdays through Fridays, 1:00-4:00. Saturdays, 10:30-4:00. Closed Tuesdays and Sundays and Sat., April 7. Open Sunday, March 25, 10:30-4:00.

PAGE 3

February Program Notes

An overview of our exhibit appears at right.

CHINESE SCHOLARS’ ROCKS at the HUNTINGTONCHINESE SCHOLARS’ ROCKS at the HUNTINGTON An exhibit of ten scholars’ rock donated to the Huntington Library by Ralph Johnson opened at the Bonsai-a-thon. The exhibit will be on view in the Flora Legium Gallery within the Botanical Center on weekend days until the beginning of May. These relatively large stones were selected by the Huntington staff for eventual display within the developing pavilions of the Chinese Garden. Jim Greaves designed the display so that

Ying Stone Yingde County, Guangdong Province Limestone, 23” W x 23 ½” H x 16” D

Taihu Stone Jiangsu Province Limestone, 15” W x 31” H x 10” D

Taihu-style Stone Source unknown Marble?, 24” W x14” H x 6 ½” D

Chrysanthemum Stone Hubei Province Limestone with calcite ‘flowers’, 27 ½”W x 31 ½”H x 5”D

continued on page 9

Dear Hoisted, Perhaps other readers caught the inconsistency, but to date only one attentive reader has brought the flub to my attention. Upon seeing the article in print, I was

chagrined to find that the embedded-image stone of the Ghost (at left) was presented on a pillow that has too much pattern and color – both problems I went to great lengths to excoriate in the discussion of pillow use! The stripes and blue-black color in combination are too

busy to cleanly set-off the active pattern of the stone. Replacing the pillow with a neutral brown pillow is much better (at right). Last month’s discussion of pillow use brought several interested responses, so at the risk of putting many readers to sleep it might be instructive to discuss the display of this particular stone in more depth. Understandably, you may not feel that this stone warrants so much time, but it is well suited for illustrating the flexibility of pillow usage.

While a mountain stone, especially a low toyama or range, may be best viewed from a given frontal angle, most mountain stones will be understood from various points of view. This is not as often the case with figure and embedded-image stones. Many figure and pattern stones can only be ‘seen’ through a restrictive window; the stone must be presented in a precise position vis-à-vis the viewer to be appreciated. It is for this reason that many fine stones may not display

PAGE 4 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3

Ask GuyJim Dear GuyJim, I caught an inconsistency in last month’s discussion of the use of pillows. Did anyone else point out problems with the display of the Ghost image?

successfully in a tokonoma set near the floor in one of our public exhibitions (see page 8*). I argue that the use of a pillow may provide unique advantages for presenting the optimum viewing orientation. Secondly, the use of a pillow may provide incredible flexibility when mounting more complex displays.

Before continuing, let us take a moment to carefully understand that the display space occupied by a stone presented on a daiza is largely fixed with regard to its feeling of volume and its sense of mass or visual weight; the frontal view of the stone is usually rigidly established by the longitudinal axis of the daiza; the height of the stone-daiza unit is absolutely fixed. This ‘fixedness’ is irrelevant if the stone is presented in an isolated setting. However, if such a stone is displayed with other items, whether in a tokonoma, with bonsai, or as part of a multi-stone presentation, the fixed nature of the stone-daiza combination may lead to problems in creating visual balance when dealing with finite display spaces. It is here that the flexibility provided by the use of pillows really proves its worth.

Within any given presentation, the use of a pillow support allows one to subtly increase or decrease the sense of volume occupied and/or mass of the stone-support combination to achieve better compositional balance. The effective height of a stone on a pillow can be adjusted through eliminating or changing the height of the supporting base, stand or table. This enables one to balance the overall stability of an installation or the dynamic flow between elements of a grouping. The ability to subtly adjust height is especially useful when creating a shohin or multi-shelved display because a stone’s height can be adjusted so that the top of the stone does not align with an adjacent shelf or another object. Further, you can avoid an unattractive, over-sized gap above a stone or, contrarily, having the stone appear too cramped against an overlying shelf within a box stand.

Adjustments may be made in the horizontal-vertical plane, around the vertical axis, or from front to back. As noted last month, the pillow allows for the adjustment of the stones angle to obtain optimum lighting within a given display situation (often a problem with multi-shelved stands where lower shelves are left in partial shadow). The ability to make subtle

Hoisted On His Own Petard, Santa Monica

Fig 1, Obake: Original presentation from last month

Fig 2, Original presentation, but with a brown pillow

adjustments enables you to position the stone to create more perfect lines of flow between it and other elements. Tilting forward or back on the vertical axis helps provide the optimal view at any given shelf height. Figure 3 shows the stone on the same pillow simply placed on the table. Figure 4 views the stone

positioned in the same orientation on the pillow as in Figure 3, but placed on an upper shelf of a box stand. You can observe that most of the image of the ‘head’ has been lost. Figure 5 shows the stone after

readjusting by tilting forward to better expose the head and eyes. Finally, through the selection of the type of secondary (auxiliary) support underlying the actual pillow, one can create a more unified feel to the total display. This may be manifested in varying degrees of formality (casual to severely refined) or complexity (minimalist pillow to elaborately carved Chinese stand).

To this point, we have been primarily concerned with ways a pillow provides potential advantages when using a stone with other elements. Returning to our Obake, let’s consider the stone for presentation as a single stone standing alone. Over the past three weeks I have experimented with several variations and shown them to nine ‘captive’ viewers with various levels of stone viewing experience. For this particular stone the unanimous favorite was a minimal pillow placed upon a small oval board (below).

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

The placement of the same pillow and stone directly upon an exhibition table was deemed acceptable, but lacking in the same sense of ‘presence’ (see fig 3). However, as we saw above, this simple pillow-only approach was deemed superior within the tight spacing of the multi-shelved stand (see fig 5). The presentation on a rather large rectangular base was also found to be attractive because the broad base visually balanced the weight of the stone without repeating its rounded form (at right). An elaborate Chinese stand with approximately the same mass as the

stone was deemed a particularly poor choice (at left).

One may still reasonably argue that a traditional daiza would be preferable; however, the ability to adjust the precise height and angle of the stone to achieve an optimum balanced, best viewing position under different viewing situations remains a definite plus for the pillow concept. In

closing, my belief is that employing pillows or pillow-stand combinations offer the viewing stone enthusiast several benefits. It should be apparent that their major application is with non-landscape stones and more complex multi-element display compositions. Again let me CAUTION THAT PILLOW USE SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED AND LIMITED WITHIN PUBLIC EXHIBITIONS.

(*Remember to check the follow-up comment about the tokonoma display mentioned on page 4, col 2, top. It appears on page 8.)

PAGE 5

The views expressed in this column are personal, perhaps irreverent, irrelevant or just plain wrong and do not reflect the consensual view of California Aiseki Kai. Send your viewing stone questions (or comments) for GuyJim to jimgreaves@roadrunner.com or 1018 Pacific Street, Unit D, Santa Monica, CA 90405 (310) 452-3680

GuyJim

Figure 6, stone on pillow on an oval jiita

Fig 3, pillow on low table

Fig 4, same position on high shelf Fig 5, tilted forward on high shelf

Fig 7, pillow on large rectangular stand

Fig 8, pillow on elaborate stand

PAGE 6 VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

Our winter weather in the Pacific Northwest creates challenges for the outdoor display of suiseki and other lovely stones. Since classic wooden daiza are easily damaged by moisture, one technique has been to craft waterproof daiza-like substitutes using resin products borrowed from the automotive repair industry. These non-wooden daiza may be waterproof, but they have an industrial surface quality some might not like.

A second choice has been to place stones in suiban filled with sand, just as one would for an indoor display. Ceramic and sand are waterproof to a degree, but this method has problems too. In our climate, rain tends to spatter the sand about. Some of it ends up on the stone. Some of it ends up on the ceramic. Some of it ends up on the display platform. Sweeping it back into position time and again can be impractical.

Sand has other difficulties. Inevitably, bits of leafy material blow down from nearby trees. You need to go around with tweezers and pick this stuff out every few days. Things can also start growing in there. In the Pacific Northwest, your lovely sand surface can quickly become a moldy mess.

Dave DeGroote runs the show at the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection (PRBC) just south of Seattle. He came up with an idea for an alternative method for outdoor stone display and he invited members of our Suiseki Interest Group to help him build and test the prototypes.

Dave thought we could use foam insulation board as an alternative to sand. He figured it would be more stable, lighter, easier to handle, easier to maintain, and less likely to support undesirable elements. With luck, we would end up with a weather-proof surface that looked great and worked well. We might even have something that could be cleaned up with a leaf blower.

We also had the perfect opportunity to prove the concept. Come winter, some of PRBC’s prize bonsai leave public view for a heated greenhouse in the back lot. A stone display could fill in the gaps, but it would need to meet the high display standards for which PRBC is known. Everyone was excited about the opportunity. If we could make this idea work, it would have an immediate impact at PRBC. People might be able to use it in other places too.

Foam insulation board comes in various thicknesses, so we could choose sizes that seemed to be good matches for the selected pots. We needed to

match the interior contour of each vessel as closely as possible. Every pot has irregularities so this was a little tricky. We turned our first pot upside-down on the board and traced its outline. Then we measured the size of the rim, and made a second line on the foam board inside of our peripheral line to approximate the interior contour. We made this line slightly generous so we would have room to shave down the edge for an exact fit. The foam board was easy to cut. We followed the marked line with a hacksaw blade.

Next, we placed the foam board on top of our pot and began to fit it into position. We drew an arrow on the board, and also on the pot so that we wouldn’t reverse the orientation by mistake. We marked the rim of the board with chalk in the places where it was tight. Then we used hand files to grind down the edges where the chalk marks were. Little by little, we got to the point where each piece dropped snugly into its pot. This process went very quickly because the foam board was so easy to file.

With boards now well seated in pots, we needed to make cavities to hold the stones. If the bottom of the stone was irregular, we chalked it and pressed it against the foam board where it would leave a mark. With flat bottom stones, we traced the outline of the base.

AN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR OUTDOOR STONE DISPLAYAN ALTERNATIVE METHOD FOR OUTDOOR STONE DISPLAY

by Rick and Mimi Stiles

The author cutting the blank

Shaving the edge to fit

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI PAGE 7

Then we used a hand-held die grinder to clear away material from the marked areas. We had to be careful here. The merest touch of the die grinder would blast a hole in the surface. With practice we were able to cut out fairly precise cavities for the stones. It was simply a matter of grinding a bit, refitting, and grinding a bit more. Although the foam board was soft and easy to work, it acted like a hard material when we placed the stones in position. It held them very securely.

Next we spread exterior-grade (waterproof) wood glue on the surface of the boards using a small roller. We tried to avoid getting any glue into the cavities where the stones would sit. As soon as the glue got a little tacky, we spread sand on the glued areas. We shook the sand this way and that. Then we turned the board upside down to shake off the excess. We put the completed boards aside to dry overnight.

The following day, we took our prototypes over to the PRBC main display area and placed them in position for a test run. With the stones in position, we

had a sand surface that looked much like a normal suiban display. The foam board couldn’t be detected. We expect water will drain away from this surface through the narrow space where the pot and the board meet. Small drain holes placed in the base of the cavities where the stones sit would help too. All of our vessels were designed for bonsai so they do have drainage holes.

Initially, our prototypes seem to perform well. But we encountered one problem. Most glue products have a solvent base. If you get too much glue on the foam board, the solvent can mar the surface and leave irregularities. To avoid this problem, we made the following modifications to the process. Before applying the glue, we painted the foam board surfaces with UGL Latex Dry Lock Masonry Waterproofing and allowed it to dry completely. Then we used a spray-on glue product, 3M Super 77 Multipurpose Spray Adhesive. We masked uncovered areas, sprayed this on, and applied our sand coat. The spray adhesive goes on thinly and with the waterproofing prep coat, it doesn’t seem to cause any solvent effect. In case the sand coat should wear thin over time, one can re-mask, re-spray, and shake on a little more.

In the following example (on the next page), two important Pacific Northwest stones evoke the astonishing seascape of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam where a sunken karst mountain landscape protrudes from the water. This World Heritage Site in the Gulf of Tonkin encompasses 1600 islets. During our visit in 2010, we rowed through just such a coastal arch in just such a small boat. At first glance, this presentation may seem unadorned, but it really captures that moment when boat and arch were suspended in flat light. These two stones are also the bookends of Washington State tanseki history. The boat-shaped stone (funagata-ishi) is Dan Laxdall’s meiseki, collected by his father on

Edd Kuehn and Rick grinding cavities to hold the stones

Spreading the glue

The finished product

The other pictures (above and below, left and right) show additional stones displayed at the Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection.

VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

Mount Baker in the 1950s. The large coastal arch stone (suimon-ishi) was collected by us this past September at an obscure Stillaguamish site on a memorable outing with Larry and Nina Ragle.

PAGE 8

Memories of Ha Long Bay, Vietnam

During the set-up of our last show we had the choice of three very good daiza mounted dragon stones for the Year of the Dragon display in the tokonoma. However, the strong embedded image of one picture stone and the most salient dragon features of a figure stone could not be easily seen and understood when displayed in the low position within the tokonoma.

As it was, the image on Chung Kruger’s stone that we chose was angled on its daiza in such a

Ask GuyJim continued from page 4 way as to be clear (left). If it had not been so, either of the picture stones could have been easily tilted at a correct viewing angle using a pillow. [Note that later, when Phil Chang’s figural dragon (below) was placed on a raised table, the dragon form was obvious and popular with visitors especially the children who had an even lower viewing position.]

[ED NOTE: If carving the foam board placed within a suiban, use extra caution not to mar the suiban.]

CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI PAGE 9 VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3

Scholars’ Rocks continued from page 3

14”W x 32 ½”H x 7 ½” D 22” W x 36” H x 9 1/2” D 28” W x 40” H x 9” D

24” W x 26” H x 14 ½” D

21” W x 34 ½” H x 11” D

24” W x 18” H x 8” D

The following six stones are forms of limestone from Lingbi County, Anhui Province. These dramatic vertical stones will make a strong statement in their final garden-architectural setting.

Exhibit over views:

PAGE 10 VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

This Japanese painting of a man and a mountain seems to me to be emblematic of what we do here as members of Aiseki Kai: we gaze at mountains. Of course the mountains on which we rest our collective gaze are miniatures; they are the viewing stones that evoke, for us, the distant mountain, the plunging waterfall, the precipitous cliff face. Like the traveler in the painting, who has paused in his journey to view the mist shrouded peak across the valley, we too use the time spent with our stones as a “breather” from the hustle and bustle of daily life. And, like that idealized traveler wandering alone in the mountains, our time with our stones, our mountains, is essentially a solitary experience. While it is true that we meet regularly as a group to discuss the finer points of collecting and that we display our stones annually, inviting others to share our enthusiasm for this still- obscure pursuit, what we are encouraging is, ultimately, a one-on-one experience with a stone.

Something else that occurs to me with regard to this painting and our practice is that the center of the painting is a void. The logic of the composition tells us that the void represents the distance between the man and the mountain. How far away is the peak? Is it the traveler’s destination, or is it a refreshing view along a journey that will lead him elsewhere? We don’t know. In the context of Aiseki Kai, I think that we might think about the void in the painting as a space akin to

our own imaginations. It is, after all, through the use of our imaginations that we create distant peaks, islands, huts, animals and human figures from the raw materials that the stones provide us. When we mount a stone on a daiza at a particular angle or artfully situate it in a suiban we frame the stone, give form to our vision and invite others to see what we see, to join us on the mountain path. Are our imaginations as vast as the space suggested in the painting?

The fact that the traveler, who has removed his hat and laid down his walking stick, has reached a plateau in his journey that affords him a view of the distant peak could be understood as an achievement to which we, metaphorically, might all aspire. That is to say, our traveler has presumably climbed to a significant elevation to enjoy the view depicted in the painting. He is not down in a valley. He is certainly above the foothills. This view is his reward. Like him, we too are on a journey. We are climbing the slopes of scholarship and connoisseurship. We are building collections, engaging in research. The more we know, the farther we go on this journey, the higher we climb, the greater our reward – the better the view.

Finally, close examination of the painting reveals that the man and the mountain are depicted in the same grayed down ink wash, with the same delicate but confident, spontaneous but precise brushwork. The man and the mountain are one. Isn’t that what we

aspire to as well when we contemplate our stones and see ourselves hiking along imagined ridgelines or enjoying an inspiring view from a rocky promontory?

Man and Mountain ~ Another View by Richard Turner

I purchased this Japanese painting in Taipei, Taiwan in 1964. The seal is my own.

[Richard Turner was Chairman of the Art Dept. at Chapman Univ.]

Programs: Larry Ragle 949.497.5626 cfsmail@cox.net Treasury/Membership: Nina Ragle 949.497.5626 ragle@cox.net Annual Exhibit: Jim Greaves 310.452.3680 jimgreaves@roadrunner.com Exhibit Set Up: Marge Blasingame 626.579.0420 margeblasingame@att.net Refreshments: Lois Hutchinson 714.964.6973 wlhutch@verizon.net Historian: Ray Yeager 760.365.7897 ryeager890@aol.com Webmail: Bill Hutchinson 714.964.6973 hutch@aisekikai.com Newsletter: Larry and Nina Ragle 949.497.5626 ragle@cox.net

March Contributors: Rick & Mimi Stiles, Richard Turner, Jim Greaves and Larry Ragle. Mailing: Flash Partch Editor: Nina Ragle

Contact People

PAGE 11 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI VOLUME 30, ISSUE 3

Newsletter Committee

We hope you will participate. Please send any submissions to ragle@cox.net no more than 10 days following our monthly meeting. Thank you!

California Aiseki Kai meets on the 4th Wednesday of each month at 7:30 pm at the Nakaoka Community Center located at 1670 W. 162nd St, Gardena, CA. Second floor. We do not meet in Nov-Dec.

Steve Valentine by way of Mas Nakajima: 13 x 5 x 5

Kyra Haussler by way of Bruce McGinnis at Holiday raffle: 8 x 2.5 x 2.5

Hanne Povlsen from Death Valley:15 x 3.5 x 3

Bill & Lois Hutchinson 12 x 3.5 x 4

Bill & Lois Hutchinson by way of Nuncie Destro: 7.5 x 4 x 2.5

Stone of the Month continued from page 2

Larry & Nina Ragle from the Holiday raffle: 6.5 x 4.25 x 4

Ragle P.O. Box 4975 Laguna Beach CA 92652

Coming Events

Leaves no stone unturned

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

aisekikai.com

Refreshments Thank you Joe & Arlene James, Hanne Povlsen, Harry Hirao, Cary & Steve Valentine and the Ragles for the fabulous February feast. March munchies will be provided by Phil Hogan, Kathleen Fugle and Buzz Barry.

CALIFORNIA BONSAI SOCIETY 55th Bonsai Exhibition, March 24-25, Friends Hall, Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino. 10-4:30 both days. Demos both days. Appreciation Reception on the Garden Terrace, March 24th, 7-9 pm. All Aiseki Kai members are invited! CALIFORNIA BONSAI SOCIETY 55th Anniversary Convention, April 11-15, Crowne Plaza Hotel, Anaheim. We will participate in a viewing stone exhibition. To register, email: elizabethpartch@yahoo.com

ORANGE EMPIRE BONSAI SOCIETY 23rd Annual Spring Garden Show, April 26-29, South Coast Plaza, 333 Bear St., Costa Mesa. Thurs-Fri. 10-9, Sat.10-8 and Sun. 11-6:30. Al Nelson will conduct a saikei workshop on Sat., 6:30-8. Displays, vendors, seminars. For more information, contact Dave Nadzam at dnadzam@socal.rr.com or call 714.345.6966. Hey! It’s South Coast Plaza! See the show and go shopping...

INTERNATIONAL STONE APPRECIATION SYMPOSIUM 6th Biennial, October 4-7. Harrisburg-Hershey Holiday Inn, Grantville, PA. Seiji Morimae, Kemin Hu, Anna Rosenblum (Richard’s daughter). Exhibits, workshops, vendors, banquet, auction. For more information, email: stoneshow2012@aol.com or call Glenn Reusch, registrar, at 540-672-5699.

Stone Sales Ken McLeod 209-605-9386 or 209 586-2881

suisekiken@sbcglobal.net ~ californiasuiseki.com

Now selling on EBay: Freeman and Richard Wang under the user ID “thestoneking”