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BOOKS

An Invitation to Discover

Viewing Stones

of North America

By Michael Collins McIntyre, Canada

iewing Stones of North America by Dr. Thomas Elias has recently been pub-
lished by Floating World Editions. Floating World is the creation of Ray
VFurse who continues to lead this high-quality, specialty press and provides
deft editorial guidance. A quick browse through its catalog leaves no doubt about Thomas S Elias 2014.
its niche. Floating World focuses, with but one exception, on East Asian culture.
The Asian passion for stone collecting finds its way into the Floating World catalog Viewing Stones of North America
standing proudly along with other forms of artistic expression—poetry, literature, A Contemporary Perspective
painting, drama, myth, and history. Floating world has published two classics on Published by Floating World Editions, Inc. 276 pp.
stone collecting by Kemin Hu: The Romance of Scholars’ Stones and Modern Chinese
Scholars’ Rocks. It has also published Tom Elias and Hiromi Nakaoji’s wonderful ISBN: 978-1891640728. Hardbound.
work, Chrysanthemum Stones—The Story of Stone Flowers. Now, what about the $50 USD
one exception? It is of course Viewing Stones of North America.
North America! That is indeed a departure. In a recent con-
versation with Ray Furse, who is himself an East Asian scholar,
I asked about this departure. Ray replied that a focus on North
America and North American stones was in one sense indeed
a departure for Floating World but in another sense it was not.
Every art form has a history that provides a foundation for
evolution of new and different—sometimes radically differ-
ent—expressions. North American stones themselves and the
means of displaying them can be very different from Asian
stones and their display. Both types of stone are, however, im-
bued with the same ability to evoke and to represent nature.
They have the capacity to reveal the power of nature, of flowing
water, of blowing sand, and of geomorphological force. They
share, as Tom Elias remarked in an earlier work, the power to
“awaken… the soul.” 1
Both the publisher and the author are kindred spirits. Ray
Furse describes himself as an informal stone collector. He con-
fesses that, on every family trip that allows for the possibility,
he returns with a stone. He admits that he may spend a little
too much time gazing downward! These informally collected
stones have deep and multiple meanings. They evoke the natu-
ral world to be sure but they also evoke the time when and the
place where they were collected. They evoke shared memories.
For Tom Elias, stone collecting is fully encompassing as is the
scholarly work that serves to spread understanding of stone
culture. He has devoted his life to the study and promotion of
Asian culture. He was formerly Director of the U.S. National
Arboretum, which houses the National Bonsai and Penjing
Museum. In addition to its superb collection of bonsai that
includes, for example, John Naka’s masterpiece, Goshin, the museum also has an Figure 2; Unnamed
astonishing collection of viewing stones. These are beautifully described in the book Caledonia Mine, Upper Peninsula, Michigan
published by the National Bonsai Foundation with Tom’s participation: Awakening the Rick Stiles Collection
Soul. Tom is presently Chairman of the Viewing Stone Association of North America 13.5 x 6 x 4 inches (35 x 15 x 10 cm)
and President of Bonsai Clubs International.

October/November/December 2014 | BCI | 57