From Beast to Beauty

 From Beast to Beauty

During a recent road trip with Jack, his wife, my girlfriend and I, we happened to catch a glimpse of a small but unique shop advertising rocks for sale.  We were a few hours drive from Taipei and as we were getting hungry we decided to stop, eat, and look.

As we walked into the ROCK SHOP with satisfied stomachs from the local dumpling restaurant, we were greeted by a man holding a water sprayer who looked surprised to see us.  He later told us that I was the first white face to ever walk into his shop!

Not only was this guy friendly, he had some magnificent rocks/stones for sale.  My eyes were drawn to one particular stone that was quite large, and possessed interesting character.  It really did look like a large mountain range with cliffs and valleys.  I can be an impulsive buyer at times.  This was one of those times.  After haggling the price down we eventually agreed on a fair price.  He told me this particular rock came from the Gulin River in Gulin, China.  I was curious as to the age of the rock.  He estimated the stone to be around 10,000 years old.  This made me even more satisfied, even if he was stretching the truth.  Maybe he is right?  I'm sticking to that story anyway.

I made a quick withdrawal from 7-11 and when I walked back into his shop, everything was wrapped up ready to be given a new home.  

I thought the rock pools added character.

Definitely an interesting front.

Later that night as I was unwrapping the bubble paper, I received a shock.  In my haste to buy this stone I had failed to look at the back of the rock.  

The back of the stone.  Had I looked at the back of this stone in the shop I probably would not have bought it.

I didn't like the back at all.  It looked as if it had lost all its power.  The front so strong and the back caved in.  I accepted this stone and didn't really get too upset, after all what could I do?  I figured I was to learn from this experience.  As the blood rushes to the head, I need to step back and take my time.  I looked and looked at this stone over the next few weeks and I eventually convinced myself this rock is still a natural work of art.  

I then took my stone to my bonsai teacher, Mr.Yen.  He and I studied the stone and decided that we could alter my original thought of having this stone as a suiseki display and change the composition into a penjing style.  A penjing arrangement meant adding a tree or grass, or plants, to create a vision of a landscape.  We both agreed that this was what we would do.  The plan was to make a defect into a feature.

I hunted around in his nursery and found a suitable pot.  He has many beautiful pots lying under all his benches.  I love this place!  

A 30 year old Chinese pot.

Mr.Yen had explained to me that the reason why it wasn't a valuable stone was because it didn't rise from a low point to an elevated peak all the way around the circumference.  The front did but the back failed to do this.

Covering the back section with soil and planting some bamboo was our final decision.  We hoped this would do the job of rounding out the back.

Our first step was to cover the pot with sand.

Next, position the stone a little forward of center to make space for the bamboo at the back.

Stone positioned with bamboo planted at the back. Starting to take shape.

Adding more soil in the caved-in section of the rock.  I found another rock and we decided to include it in our creation. It is meant to serve as another distant mountain, hence the different style and color.  Not sure if it works?

Adding moss to hold everything in place.  In among the bamboo plant we included some small rose bushes that are yet to bloom.  When they do, I think they will add a nice splash of dark red to the landscape.

After a nice watering with a fine holed watering hose.  
I wanted to fill up those natural rock pools.

A close up of the new improved back.  

A sparse covering of moss in the front is a nice touch.

Finished product.  Maybe a blood rush is ok if you go with your gut feeling?

All in all, it was a good learning experience.  People keep on telling me that every problem has a solution.  I don't know about that, but in this case I am happy with the end product.