Suiseki in California

CC ALIFORNIAALIFORNIA A A ISEKIISEKI K K AIAI Volume 38, Issue 2 February 2020

The following was published in Aiseki Magazine in December 2013.]

Did you find something wonderful on our November tanseki to the Yuha? Or on another trip to the Yuha? Or any favorite Yuha stone? All of us have at least one of those! This is Yuha show and tell. Larry found this one on our trip last March just a dozen feet from where he was sitting in the shade of Butch’s truck and Al Nelson made the daiza. It is 11 x 8 x 3.5.

On the 26th we will review our Huntington exhibition. We are going to show the photos that were taken of our stones on set up day. Come and enjoy the view… We will discuss our March trip to the Yuha. First timers, please come so you are prepared. Please tell Kyra if you are going! See page 10.

Stone of the Month

Dues are Now Past Due This is a request to you kind folks who get the hard copy of the newsletter who have a computer and could easily be e~subscribers to please rethink your membership needs. The more of you who are e~subscribers, the better for all. We hope you will decide to go green. Save a tree and our precious resources. (If you are saving the newsletter, you can always print it out yourself.) No matter what, we really appreciate your continued support. Thank you so much! Please send $10 payable to California Aiseki Kai c/o Nina Ragle P.O. Box 4975 Laguna Beach, CA 92652-4975

February Program

continued on page 10

Hideko Metaxas has been a powerful influence on our suiseki life. On our last trip to Japan in 2011 we were fortunate to have Hideko and Tony Metaxas as travel companions. Hideko knows her way around. Tony and Nina and I don’t. In fact, Hideko is a master in all things Japanese, well, almost all. She was born in Yamagata. After the war she met and married Tony. They moved to San Francisco in 1953. She attended the City College of San Francisco and received a degree in ornamental horticulture. As they were raising their family, Hideko maintained her interest in many traditional Japanese practices. She began her study of bonsai in 1970 with Bob Kato and in 1974 she began ikebana studies with Mrs. Kinko Saiki. Today, as a member of the Ikenobo Ikebana Society of America, she holds the high honor of Senior Professor, 4th grade. In 1979 she was introduced to suiseki sensei Keiseki Hirotsu and began to study and collect suiseki, searching the many rivers of Northern California. In 1983, using the knowledge she gained from Hirotsu-san and other old time collectors, she published Introducing Suiseki (with co-author Nancy Eaton) in Golden Statements, the Journal of the Golden State Bonsai Federation (October 1983). That 7 page article provides everything a beginner needs to know to gain a solid understanding of the art and practice of suiseki. Because of her deep understanding of the Japanese culture and her ability to communicate her thoughts, Hideko has been indispensable to those of us who are students of suiseki. In 2005 Hideko received the Green and White Award from Japan's Agricultural Society in recognition of 3 decades of contributing to an understanding of the culture of Japan in California. In 2007, Hideko arranged for David De Groot, Curator of the Weyerhaeuser Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection near Seattle and Nina and I to study Keido lead by the head master Uhaku Sudo - a 60 hour

Hideko Metaxas

The 1 inch wide inner m

argins are designed for use with a 3 hole punch.

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

PAGE 2

Our Holiday Party There were fewer of us, just 35, I assume because we did not have a silent auction; but those who came were rewarded with a bigger than usual raffle thanks to Jack Levy. The raffle netted $850. The potluck was amazing! Thank you gourmet chefs. Aiseki Kai is lucky to have so many wonderful supporters. Yes, it was good stones, good food, good friends, good life! Special thanks to Janet Shimizu for set up, Jack Levy for the refreshments, Al Nelson and his helpers for selling raffle tickets, and Richard Aguirre for taking the photos on this page.

CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2 PAGE 3 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

So many treasures!!

So much anticipation!

So many decisions!

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Richard Turner found a stone that suits him…..

Aaron Finkbiner might be planning something sinister Howie Kawahara admires his doppelganger.

Buzz Barry did, too!

Once the food and raffle prizes were gone, it was time to put the party to rest. We wrapped up our treasures and called it a successful night.

CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI PAGE 5 VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2

Over the holidays, in addition to the annual CAK and AVSRC exhibits, The Huntington approved the addition of separate display and activities areas intended to engage younger visitors. The mini exhibit was entitled The Magic of Mimetoliths – Animal Imagery in Stones. (Mimetoliths is a term that was coined by R.V. Dietrich in Stones: Their Collection, Identifications and Uses to refer to stones or landscape forms that evoke other images, whether in shape or with patterns.) Our exhibit consisted of a selection of 34 viewing stones representing mammals, amphibians, birds, fish, insects, etc.

The exhibit was designed to remain open to the public without requiring docent or security staff and, in fact, it was not taken down until February 5. With the exception of two large stones specifically intended for children to touch, the stones were presented within secure cases that the Huntington’s Andrew Mitchell modified to accept new, extra large custom made Plexiglas vitrines purchased especially for this purpose – it took five men to set the largest in place once the stones were arranged!

The underlying intent of the exhibit was to spark wonder; to engage the children and stimulate an interest in and more careful observation of the natural world; it was also intended as an introductory foundation to anchor the kids’ hands-on activities in the courtyard. Those of you who took the time to periodically look in on the kids’ hands-on activities area won’t need to be told it was a successful debut. The tables were anchored each day by Buzz Barry with major supporting efforts from Mika Breyfogle and Janet Shimizu and three enthusiastic Huntington Garden Docents: Toshi Mosher, Sinton Stranger and Nino Wong (L to R below). It should be noted that these ladies were delighted with their experiences: the following week, when I thanked them at the beginning of a walking tour of the AVSRC and Kids’ exhibits for the Chinese Garden Docents, each enthusiastically related personal interactions with the children.

Because of its location, the activities area began drawing interest even while we were setting up. We quickly realized that for many adults as well as the

Review of Children’s Programs

Touching Elmer Uchida’s dinosaur stone

Mimetolith exhibit

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children that we had placed near floor level. Fifteen or twenty minutes later I spotted the family crossing the patio with him back in his stroller, with a stone in hand, beaming and quiet … I question whether or not his parents ever went into our exhibits, but rock as pacifier definitely worked. Over and over, one could observe variations of this mesmerizing connection – perhaps primordial – between a child and a rock… between mankind and rock. Predictably, Jack Levy’s stash of petrified wood from the Yuha Desert was a major hit with children and adults alike. Further, even when few children were around an adult would sheepishly ask if they could take a stone that had caught their fancy. We tried to be accommodating, but as the day’s stone bins were running low and consolidation began, we would begin drawing the line … only to be repeatedly met with “but I’m a kid at heart”. Besides Jack’s huge contribution, we also thank others who contributed stones to the event: Peter/Mary Bloomer (Sedona, AZ); Buzz Barry; Ann Horton; B.J. Ledyard; Robert McKenzie (Sacramento); Ken McLeod (Sonora); Hanne Povlsen. My apologies to anyone I missed … it was hectic!

intended children, the activities area was becoming their first stop, causing them to deviate from the primary exhibit rooms before attaining any context. The trays of ‘a stone to take home’ were a tad too compelling! Thus, we quickly used our first interaction to suggest that both adults and children first visit all the exhibits, including the kids’ section, to establish a context for both the appreciation of viewing stones and their formal display; then return to make the most of the activities of selecting stones and setting them in suiban.

The little girl on the right assiduously handed out stones to others:

Children of all ages with Buzz and Janet managing the suiban table

A related highlight that Nino Wong shared with the Docent group (and observed separately by Buzz) validated this approach: A boy (about 11-12) grabbed a stone, slammed it down in a suiban and aggressively began grinding away with a brush, sending the sand this way and that and all over the table. Taking it in stride, Nino politely encouraged him and his parents to go look through the exhibits first. When they eventually returned she was amazed to see the same ‘terror’ take considerable time looking through the stone bins; when he finally selected a stone he then carefully placed it in a suiban and meticulously brushed around it to get his sand perfect! (Note: In lieu of real suiban, we supplied a series of the black plastic oval trays that are used beneath bonsai to catch draining water and an assortment of the bottom halves of the ubiquitous throwaway plastic food containers. The latter, being deeper, were very useful for the generally irregular stones … And we made a point of showing the adults how they could easily supply these ‘suiban’ to their children at home.) Another Anecdote: As we were opening the second day a very obstinate child was heard screaming in the entryway. When his stroller came into site I caught his attention by rather gruffly asking him if he wanted a rock; he abruptly went quiet as I directed the parents toward the bins of stones for the smaller

You are never too young to be fascinated by stones. This tot had trouble deciding. Decisions, decisions! Eventually he picked just one.

Also, allow me to note that since a desire to engage children has always been an underlying concept for the AVSRC, early on Alice and I began retaining boxes of interesting ‘leaverite' and seconds (thirds and fourths) for such elementary usage as well as more advanced workshop concepts. For this reason through the years we also accumulated similar raw materials from other CAK members, including Bill & Lois Hutchinson, Gail & Dorothy Middleton, Joe & Arlene James, and Elmer Uchida; we used many of those for this event. No one kept an accurate count of how many stones were taken home, but every day I had to dig deeper into those boxes of stones to replenish the bins. Counting in Jack’s petrified wood I would guess that we gave out well over five hundred stones! So, to help us stockpile for next year, PLEASE REMEMBER TO KEEP FILLING YOUR PACKS AND POCKETS at the Yuha and especially at any rivers or beaches you may explore! We can always use stones with strong images in our formal case displays, while more ambiguous images and patterns are desirable for hands-on interpretation. Although a more ambitious list of potential children’s activities had been developed, the 2019 location and the at times almost overwhelming logistics, restricted our interactions to a rather primitive level. Regardless, the degree of enthusiastic participation of children and parents definitely made an impression on our friends at The Huntington, dramatically demonstrating the potential for integrating experiential stone related activities and further securing the ‘relevance’ of stone appreciation. With this initial success we hope that interested club members will join with us to take advantage of the months ahead to better prepare for a similar program next year, one including expanded activities for older students.

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI

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1) Inspiration

2) Selection

3) Voila!

Stone or not, sand preparation is fun! Mika’s granddaughter

~GuyJim

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI PAGE 8

Larry Ragle founded California Aiseki Kai in February 1983 but local bonsai enthusiasts have been searching for stones since the early 1960’s. In the 1970’s, Larry was taking bonsai lessons from Harry Hirao and that was when he noticed Harry’s collection of stones. When he asked where he found them Harry would only smile. But Larry finally found the secret hunting grounds and collected his first Eel River stone. Larry and Nina attended the meetings of local bonsai clubs to find if there was enough interest for a suiseki club. The response was remarkable. In March of 1983 sixty people attended the first meeting held at the Museum of Science and Industry at Exposition Park. The first stone hunting trip was to the Kern River in the fall of 1983. This was a highly successful outing with nearly forty club members attending. The tradition of having a party after a hard days search for stones began in Hanne Povlsen’s motel room in Kernville.

The first desert trip was to Lake Hill led by Tony Thomas that included Larry and Nina Ragle, Vincent Covello, Cliff Johnson, Toy and Yuzy Sato and Melba and Ned Tucker. This desolate area is off the Highway 190 entrance to Death Valley National Park near the Panamint Springs Resort. During later trips we would stay at the resort that had a campground, cabins, food

and alcohol. On one trip we passed the hat and they kept the restaurant open for us and we partied in their dining room and embarrassed ourselves singing karaoke. A favorite desert area was in the Saddle Peak Hills, North of Baker. We would camp in the open desert and had wonderful campfires. We even had a port-a-potty built by Chuck Kantzer. The National Park Service eventually torn it down. Another desert stone hunting area that is quite unique is Garnet Hill. It borders the I-10 freeway at the turnoff on Indian Avenue going to Palm Springs!

The Early Days of Aiseki Kai by Ray Yeager

Sam Nakano, and Bill and Lois Hutchinson

Jim Greaves

Paul Laurenzetti (Marty’s father-in-law), Dorothy Middleton, Marty Hagbery, and Shirley and Ray Yeager

Lake Hill

VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI PAGE 9

Don received a B.A. in zoology with minors in education and botany in 1951. His work experience include the Army during the Korean War, curator of the former San Mateo Junior Museum, a biology teacher for 21 years, a seasonal California States Park naturalist for many summer, and a Los Angeles City Park manager for 12 years. He

retired in 1992 but remained continuously involved in biological research, writing, and conservation projects. Don is considered the “Father of the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park” – a park of over 4000 acres – where a trail is named after him by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. He also wrote a book promoting the park entitled Series and Subseries of the Woodlands in the Santa Susana Mountains of Los Angeles. Don’s passion for the natural environment of Los Angeles, especially for the wildflowers, was shared by Mary Elizabeth Patterson, his wife of 42 years, as attested to by their yard where in season the wildflowers obscured the piles of rock!

Don had many hobbies including art and antiques. Don formed the Los Angeles Historical Bottle Club 53 years ago in Granada Hills and the club still exists today. Don had a long passion for lapidary. In that pursuit he had explored the Eel River between Dos Rios and Eureka by traveling on the old logging train prior to his involvement with suiseki and California Aiseki Kai. Once involved with viewing stones he always managed to present interesting materials for our CAK Annual Exhibits. Mary has donated several of his viewing stones to the AVSRC Collections, including ….

Don Patrick Mullally (1929-2020)

Above: Eel River: 20 x 10.5 x7.5 (cut) Below: Mojave Desert

And a new dinosaur added to the mimetolith exhibit. Mojave Desert 7 x 5.75 x 4.75. Natural (At left) 11.5 x 2.8 x 9.25 (cut)

~Larry Ragle

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program with Hideko translating every word. This experience has had a lasting influence on our understanding and practice of tokokazari. Hideko has impeccable taste as is evidenced by her high quality suiseki collection. She leads by example. We have been fortunate to have her as a teacher and a friend.

Yuha Desert Trip ~ March 14 -15, 2020

We are headed out to the Yuha for another wonderful weekend of adventure. Our leader, Marty Hagbery, can field your questions. The most important things to remember are to be on time, drive an all WD or 4WD vehicle with good clearance, let Kyra know that you are coming, pack water, bring paper (or socks or diapers!) to wrap your stones, wear sturdy shoes, have something to carry your stones, a bucket or a backpack work nicely. Wear a hat and bring sunscreen. You will want to bring a lunch from home. Some of us will meet at the Golden Acorn Casino (Hwy 8 at Exit 61, Crestwood) where one can have breakfast. There are no facilities in the desert so be prepared. We will follow up with a potluck at the motel Saturday evening and although the club will provide pizza and some wine, please bring something else to share.

ACCOMMODATIONS: El Centro, The Quality Inn, 1455 Ocotillo Dr., 760.352.5152. Call and say “rock club” for the $59 rate. Please re read March 2010 newsletter, pg 3 Seriously, you must call or email Kyra if you are coming. Plans change? Tell her! Either Call 626-584-1688 or email: kyrahaussler@gmail.com not later than noon on Friday March 13. Make sure Kyra knows if you will be at the Golden Acorn or at Dunaway on Hwy 8. We will leave from the Golden Acorn parking lot at 8:45 on Saturday morning. We all line up and caravan to Dunaway! The casino parking lot is 45 minutes east of San Diego. If you are coming from the east and you wish to meet us at Dunaway, be there by 9:30. (Most will caravan from El Centro.) We will not wait for you. Please call Marty if you have any questions: 909-257-9559.

PLEASE Read the Yuha articles: Feb 2008 Newsletter on page 3 and March 2009, page 5. Our newsletters are available on our website, aisekikai.com.

Winter Silhouettes Exhibition

Aiseki Kai was invited to display at the Baiko-en show again this year, January 18-19 at the LA Arboretum. They always have an outstanding exhibit where their members only use deciduous trees. Because we are a viewing stone club, we used Nina’s suiseki (landscape with snow) as the main item with one of Larry’s elm bonsai as the complementary piece (below).

Suiseki in California continued from page 1

More Stones Please...

We want to give a huge shout out to not only Jack Levy but all of the other raffle contributors at our annual potluck. Thank you. Please keep in mind that the kids program will need more stones for next year. While hunting in the Yuha next month, it would be helpful if you can bring back “extra” stones for that purpose. The kids will thank you! They are the future collectors!

~Larry Ragle

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

suisekistones.com

Freeman Wang 626-524-5021 Suiseki-Viewing Stone Sale

stores.ebay.com/thestoneking

February Contributors: Jim Greaves, Ray Yeager, and Larry Ragle. Mailing: Flash Partch Editor: Nina Ragle

Contact People

PAGE 11 CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI VOLUME 38, ISSUE 2

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.

Programs: Larry Ragle 949.497.5626 crimescene@cox.net Treasury/Membership: Nina Ragle 949.497.5626 ragle@cox.net Annual Exhibit: Jim Greaves 310.452.3680 jimgreaves@avsrc.org Exhibit Set Up: Marty Hagbery 909-257-9559 Refreshments: Janet Shimizu 310.822.6012 janet.shimizu46@gmail.com Beverages: Jack Levy 626.794-4572 jnlevy@earthlink.net Historian: Ray Yeager 760.365.7897 ryeager890@aol.com Webmail: Chris Cochrane 804.918.4636 sashaichris@gmail.com

In The Mailbox

Butch Buddingh from Lihue, Kauai, found this Yuha stone last year. It is 6.5 x 6.5 x 4.5. We think he made a perfect daiza for it and considering the views, he could use a turntable as it looks so good from all sides!

Front Back Left side Right side

At right: This was from Carol Mortensen who said she, “Wanted to share my latest photo with you. This layout has been inspired by The Keido School and I wanted to see both the stone and its companions and give each the proper space I felt they needed. My okimono is similar to Jim’s “the watcher”, but he was so intuitive when he called mine “the dreamer” when he saw this photo.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing! We love what you are doing and we can see how much fun you are having.

Ragle P.O. Box 4975 Laguna Beach CA 92652

Coming Events

Leaves no stone unturned

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

aisekikai.com

Thank you holiday party-goers, for the gourmet delights at out potluck. What a spread! And speaking of spreading, we know our waistlines will when we take our break at the February meeting thanks to the volunteers who bring it on! Zero sign ups at the moment…. Here’s your chance to shine. Bring it on!

Check Golden Statements Magazine digital issue at gsbfbonsai.org for additional coming events

Dues are Now past Due. Become an e~subscriber and save a tree: Send $10 to California Aiseki Kai c/o Nina Ragle P.O. Box 4975 Laguna Beach, CA 92652-4975

BONSAI-A-THON XXI GSBF Collection at The Huntington Fundraiser, Feb 22-23, 2020. Huntington Botanical Center. 1151 Oxford Rd., San Marino, 8:00-4:30. This is a fundraiser so bring donations! Please continue to support the Southern California Bonsai and Viewing Stone Collection. For more information, go to: gsbfhuntington.com/bonsai-a-thon

An X on your label means this is your last newsletter

CALIFORNIA AISEKI KAI TANSEKI We are going to the Yuha March 14-15. Members only. 4WD is not required but all wheel drive is. This is the desert so please play it safe. Details on page 10.

SF BAY AREA SUISEKI and SHOHIN Suiseki Societies of Northern California, Bay Area Shohin Society and the California Shohin Society join together to present an exhibit on June 13-14 at the Lakeside Park Garden Center, 666 Bellevue Ave. in Oakland, CA For more information: contact Lisa Harper lisaharper@me.com or call 510.220.3339.

Refreshments