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Photo in poster:
DOUBLED-PEAKED MOUNTAIN STONE
Soho-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
SUISEKI FROM THE KEYSTONE STATE
The stones featured in this exhibit were all collected just to the north of the National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, in Pennsylvania—the Keystone State. Many of the stones are jaspers or serpentines in colors of black, red, brown and yellow.
They are fragments of sedimentary layers deposited on the bottom of the ocean hundreds of millions of years ago, before the pressures of continental drift pushed the ocean bed up into mountains. Found mainly in valleys, streams and old river beds, they have been sculpted by forces of glacial movement and water erosion over millions of years.
What makes these stones different from the other stones in Pennsylvania? They have been discovered, appreciated, and presented as works of art by noted collectors of suiseki, Jim Hayes and Sean Smith.
Suiseki refers to an old Japanese art form where small, naturally shaped stones are viewed as miniature landscape scenes or objects from nature. Like an iceberg, a potential suiseki is rarely entirely visible to the seeker. Collectors may turn over hundreds of stones before they find one suitable for display as a suiseki.
The stones of Pennsylvania tend to have a complex, tactile surface quality suggesting old weathered mountains. This is the most important aspect of a good suiseki—that it conveys a sense of great age, just like a good bonsai! |
Jim Hayes & Sean Smith
Pennsylvania Suiseki Collectors
Since 1987, Jim Hayes of Broomall, Pennsylvania, has been a collector of suiseki stones. Like most collectors, he was introduced to this captivating aesthetic through bonsai, the well-known Japanese tradition of shaping diminutive trees. He was a founding member of the North American Viewing Stone Society and edited their quarterly magazine Waiting to be Discovered, published from 1996 to 1999.
Sean Smith is a master woodworker from Marysville Pennsylvania, where he owns Custom Oriental Wood-craft. He combined his background in carpentry with his passion for bonsai and suiseki to start his own business in 1994. He is well-known by bonsai and suiseki enthusiasts all over the world for his display tables and carved daiza – the customized wood base for viewing stones. Sean makes frequent trips to Japan to perfect his skills, learning traditional methods from Japanese master artisans.
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SLOPE STONE
Doha-ishi
Collected from South Central Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
SCENIC LANDSCAPE STONE
Sansui Keijyo-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
ANIMAL-SHAPED STONE
Dobutsu-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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ISLAND STONE
Shimagata-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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BIRD-SHAPED STONE
Torigata-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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WATER POOL STONE
Mizutamari-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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NEAR MOUNTAIN STONE
Kinzan-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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ARCH STONE
Ko-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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NEAR MOUNTAIN STONE
Kinzan-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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HUMAN-SHAPED STONE
Sugata-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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 NEAR MOUNTAIN STONE
(detail left)
Kinzan-seki
Collected from Eastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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MOUNTAIN RANGE STONE
Renzan-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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COASTAL STONE
Iwagata-ishi
Collected from South Central Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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ANIMAL-SHAPED STONE
Dobutsu-seki
Collected from South Central Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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PLAINS STONE
Doha-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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BIRD-SHAPED STONE
Torigata-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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ISLAND STONE
Shimagata-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH |
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MOUNTAIN LAKE STONE
Tamari-ishi
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF JIM HAYES |
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Tokonoma display
NEAR MOUNTAIN STONE
Kinzan-seki
Collected from Southeastern Pennsylvania
COLLECTION OF SEAN SMITH
Poem by Seiji Morimae
It is late night, the moon is setting.
I hear the sounds of the mountains, rivers, wind.
I am walking alone in this landscape,
looking all around.
The path is long.
Even so, I walk slowly and surely,
one step at a time.
I want to see beyond,
I want to see into my heart.
This is my path that I walk alone. |
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