Oakland Geology

This weekend was the 16th annual show by the California Suiseki Society, held at the Lakeside Garden Center. This is what it looked like.

In my amateur opinion, it was a strong show with a lot of variety in its 35–40 stones. Nearly all the entries were from California with a heavy emphasis on the northern Coast Range. The photos below are a few of the stones that impressed me—but there were many more that were too hard to photograph well. Unlike last year, the exhibitors picked a background paper with a color that seemed a little too intrusive to me. But you’ll see how my camera did. I’m not going to comment on the styles of the suiseki because I’d surely botch them. But the rocks themselves are generally familiar stuff, like this dark slate.

I’m always taken with the serpentinite conglomerate of which there are several excellent examples each year.

This blue-green Klamath serpentinite is by Tony Saraceno. I have a nice streamworn boulder of it at About.com. That’s not a suiseki, just a specimen.

This one is by Tom Colby. Not everyone filled out their cards, but I like to acknowledge the collectors when I can.

Felix Rivera collected this nice serpentinite. He’s the founder of the society; see his site at felixrivera-suiseki.com where the society’s home page lives.

And Bob & Polly Gould exhibited this exquisitely weathered marble from Southern California. At least, I think it’s marble. Doesn’t matter.

Look for the next show in mid-June 2012, right here in Oakland.

This entry was posted on 19 June 2011 at 9:20 pm and is filed under Suiseki. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.