Page 14 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q2

and stone exhibition and sales at the Cow Palace in
San Francisco. To his surprise, he sold all of them.
This inspired him to begin collecting stones seriously
and to target the growing number of people in North
Top Left; Another large, multi- childhood when his father used to take him search- America, and eventually in Europe, Australia, and
colored Trinity River watershed ing for fossils and minerals in different regions of the other countries, interested in the hobby of stone ap-
stone stands 18 inches high. state. As a result, he developed an intimate knowledge preciation. He joined the California Suiseki Society
These are very desirable stones of the geology and natural history of northern Sierra in the San Francisco area in 1999 to become more in-
and highly sought after by
collections of North American Mountains, an important factor in his ability to locate volved with a group of people interested in the natural
stones. excellent stones for others. stone appreciation. McLeod gathered geological maps
Top Right; A small granite McLeod saw some Japanese style suiseki when he of California and adjacent states and began to study
stone with a fascinating calcite attended an Arts in Asia show in San Francisco in them as a means to locate prime collecting places.
pattern that resembles the 1998 and noticed that they were similar in appear- His familiarity with the varied natural areas of
late actor and director Alfred ance to stones he had seen in the rivers and mountains Northern California is a major asset. Another impor-
Hitchcock. in northern California. Ken, being an insatiable col- tant feature is Ken’s adventuresome and even fearless
Bottom; This Eel River
watershed mountain stone lector of things, decided to take some of the stones habits. He explores some of the remotest regions of
with a plateau make an he had picked up in previous years to a 1999 bonsai the state, hikes many miles on foot to reach a river and
attractive viewing stones.
Some of the quartz veins
may represent a waterfall.
This stone is 9 inches high,
17 inches wide and 10 inches
deep.

Facing page; This large, multi-
color stone consisting of
jasper, serpentine, and jade
was presented by Ken to the
U.S. National Arboretum to
complement their collection
of North American stones
in the arboretum’s National
Bonsai and Penjing Museum.

12 | BCI | April/May/June 2014