Page 13 - Tạp chí bonsai cây cảnh BCI 2014Q4

Guangzhou in September 2015. This was followed by Harkness, was full of enthusiasm both in voice and
the AABC presentation by Andrew Ward, President dress! He hand painted the raffle boxes in Australian
of South Australian Bonsai Society inviting everyone aboriginal designs and sold them off and the end of
to AABC in Adelaide in May 2015. the convention, proceeds going to the convention of
Glenis concludes, “The Delegation from the Philip- course.
pines then gave us a fun presentation with a message All good things must come to an end and both
from Fely Gupit inviting everyone to the Philippines host Presidents Lindsay Bebb, AABC President and
in 2016 for a regional convention. BCI board members Tom Elias, BCI President gave their closing speech-
past and present appeared in cartoon format on the es. Both agreed it was a very successful event which
presentation. It was very well done! was enjoyed by all and thanked everyone for coming.
Over the three days we had a constant silent raffle Next year in September, we are back to Guangzhou.
with great prizes. Some of our international guests Please join is for what will be yet another great BCI
were not familiar with raffles but after a bit of coaching event!”
they really got involved. The raffle coordinator, Bruce

An Array of Asian and Australian Viewing Stones

at the 2014 BCI Convention.

By Tom Elias, USA

splendid display of some eighty stones was exhibited at the BCI convention in Australia. The display
was arranged along both sides of a bright and airy hall leading to the area where two stone appreciation
A ctures were presented. It was extremely interesting to see this multinational display of stones and to
le
learn of the rapidly growing interest in Australia for unusual and beautiful stones that can be collected, displayed
and appreciated as objects of art.
Some excellent stones were displayed from the collections of Bradley
Barlow and Lindsay Bebb. The majority of the stones displayed were from
different regions of China. A small collection of Lingbi and Ying stones
were displayed, but the majority were more recently collected stones; from
Gobi Desert stones, to a variety of excellent stones such as Dahua and
Sangjiang from Guangxi Province in south-western China. One of these
outstanding stones, owned by Trevor Simmons, was a large arch-shaped
Laibin stone of a standard high enough to receive one of the three BCI
Excellence Awards presented to the stones in this display.
There were a small number Japanese suiseki on display including a
polished Neo Valley chrysanthemum stone and a large Seta River stone.
While initially influenced by both Chinese and Japanese stone
appreciation guidelines, many Australians are turning to their dramatic
native stones rather than importing stones from elsewhere. The fascinating
array of Australian stones displayed is indicative of the growing interest in
native stone appreciation. The lighter colored stones displayed evoked the more arid regions of Australia. These Above; A third BCI Excellence
included several reddish stones of considerable interest because of their abstract shapes. Award was given to John
One flat stone displayed in an upright position exhibited a pattern resembling a forest of large trees with tall Cowgill for his stone that
straight trunks. Appropriately named Lost Forest by its owner Brenda Parker, this stone was another recipient of resembled a costal bluff.
a BCI Excellence Award. It recalled the recent discovery of a large grove of a new species of trees, the Wollemi
pine, discovered in a hidden canyon in 1996. This new genus of trees, closely related to the Araucaria, led to
the description of Wollemia nobilis as new to science. A third BCI Excellence Award was presented to John
Cowgill for his stone resembling a costal bluff.
Displaying newly found stones with a distinctly Australian history is an important step in the development
of the Australia stone appreciation culture. Thanks to the pioneering efforts of Lindsay Bebb in promoting
this art form, and the participation of collectors like Trevor Simmons, Frank Kelly and Bradley Barlow, many
more Australians are engaged in Chinese and Japanese stone culture. With a geology that includes virtually all
known rock types and from all geological time periods of the Earth’s history, stone enthusiasts are searching
more remote areas for the fantastic new stones that can be found in Australia. These will be largely distinct from
well-known Japanese suiseki and Chinese viewing stones—new discoveries to further enrich and broaden the
worldwide suite of stones that are enjoyed as the stone appreciation culture spreads.

October/November/December 2014 | BCI | 11