Viewing Stones of North America

Viewing Stones of North America PDF Author: Thomas S. Elias
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781891640728
Category : Chinese scholars' rocks
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Although firmly rooted in ancient East Asia cultures, stone appreciation has no necessary boundaries; around the mid-twentieth century it found a congenial reception in the West, where it slowly began to flourish. While after more than a half-century, Asian perspectives on connoisseurship of natural stones have become well established in the West, books on viewing stones still predominantly feature East Asian examples. This is the first book to feature outstanding North American viewing stones from private and institutional collections, and includes introductory essays on Native American stone appreciation and a brief history of stone collecting on the continent. North America has a rich and varied geological history that is yielding many types of beautiful and unusual stones. Some resemble natural features, plateaus or mountains with cascading rivulets, while others are figurative, portraying creatures real or mythical. Some are abstract in form, while others exhibit appealing shapes, beautiful colors, or fascinating surface patterns. However, all share one quality: an ability to elicit an emotional response in the viewer. They confront us with the beauty and diversity of the natural world and demand a response, while we are drawn, willingly, to comply. Sixty-three individuals and institutions participated in this project. From over 330 professional photographs submitted for consideration, 151 stones were selected for inclusion. A jury of stone enthusiasts evaluated each submission based on seven criteria, without knowing the identity of either collector or owner. The result is fabulous array of beautiful and unusual stones from a diverse group of collectors, demonstrating not only the richness and diversity of the continent's geological resources but also the vibrancy and enthusiasm of the North American collecting community.

Contemporary Viewing Stone Display

Contemporary Viewing Stone Display PDF Author: Richard Turner
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578675244
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
A comprehensive guide to viewing stone traditions and practices, featuring a gallery of stunning stone displays by an international array of collectors. This volume offers fresh perspectives on an ancient practice to all readers, from the curious to the connoisseur.

Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation

Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation PDF Author: Vincent T. Covello
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
ISBN: 146290257X
Category : Gardening
Languages : en
Pages : 175

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Book Description
The Japanese Art of Stone Appreciation is an exploration into the art of suiseki—small, naturally formed stones selected for their shape, balance, simplicity and tranquility. Written by two leading experts in the field of Japanese gardening and art, this concise introduction offers aesthetic guidance and direct practical advice that is a window into traditional Japanese culture. It details the essential characteristics of a high-quality suiseki, describing the various systems of stone classification in this Japanese art form and explaining how to display a suiseki to its best advantage. There is also a section on incorporating suiseki alongside a bonsai tree, the most popular and rewarding complement to peaceful suiseki miniature landscape gardens. Sections include: Historical Background Characteristics and Aesthetic Qualities Classification of Suiseki Displaying a Stone Suiseki with Bonsai and Other Related Arts Collecting Suiseki How to Make a Carved Wooden Base Suiseki Classification Systems

Small Stones Worlds Apart

Small Stones Worlds Apart PDF Author: Thomas Elias
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780578985398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
Small Stones Worlds Apart is the most comprehensive book featuring small-sized viewing stones ever published in the English language. The 272-page illustrated book features 439 stones or stone displays. The book is a product of an online Small Stone Contest sponsored by the Viewing Stone Association of North America (VSANA). Each stone or display is assigned to one of four categories: traditional stones, contemporary stones, traditional stone displays or contemporary stone displays.

Chrysanthemum Stones

Chrysanthemum Stones PDF Author: Thomas S. Elias
Publisher: Floating World Editions
ISBN: 9781891640599
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Chrysanthemum stones are so called due to their unique mineral formations that resemble chrysanthemum flowers. A rarity in nature, they are found primarily in East Asia, where they have been admired for nearly three centuries; they are now are achieving notice among Western collectors, and recently have been found in the United States. Chrysanthemum Stones is the first comprehensive presentation of these extraordinarily beautiful stones, and sets a new standard for books relating to the art of stone appreciation that has flourished in Asia for over 2,000 years. The authors traveled extensively in China and Japan to bring historical information together with new data, which is generously illustrated with over 120 full-color photographs. Readers are shown the full range of chrysanthemum stones, from the rarest and most valuable to those more frequently encountered in the marketplace, and are provided the most complete set of published references to chrysanthemum stones available. Book jacket.

Spirit Stones

Spirit Stones PDF Author:
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 0789211521
Category : Art
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
Brilliant photographs of scholars' rocks, or Chinese ornamental stones, from a leading collection Shaped by nature and selected by man, scholars' rocks, or gongshi, have been prized by Chinese intellectuals since the Tang dynasty, and are now sought after by Western collectors as well. They are a natural subject for the photographer Jonathan Singer, most recently acclaimed for his images of those other remarkable hybrids of art and nature, Japanese bonsai. Here Singer turns his lens on some 150 fine gongshi, ancient and modern, from the world-class collection of Kemin Hu, a recognized authority on this art form. In his photographs, Singer captures the spiritual qualities of these stones as never thought possible in two dimensions; he shows us that scholars' rocks truly are, in Hu's words, "condensations of the vital essence and energy of heaven and earth." Hu contributes an introductory essay on the history and aesthetics of scholars' rocks, explaining the traditional terms of stone appreciation, such as shou (thin), zhou (wrinkled), lou (channels), and tou (holes). She also provides a narrative caption for each stone, describing its history and characteristics.

Stone Effigies of the High Plains Hunters

Stone Effigies of the High Plains Hunters PDF Author: James Gaskins
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
ISBN: 1684560772
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 264

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Book Description
This text is meant to educate and help people with the identification of unusual stones fashioned by early man. Many of these stones are nothing short of true works of art, as you will see. In these pages are photographs and drawings of stones collected over thirty years, and four years to write this book—60,000 words and 318 photos and drawings to help you understand how ancient man used and really looked at a stone, and you will too. There's no book like this on earth!

Visions in a Seer Stone

Visions in a Seer Stone PDF Author: William L. Davis
Publisher: UNC Press Books
ISBN: 1469655675
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
In this interdisciplinary work, William L. Davis examines Joseph Smith's 1829 creation of the Book of Mormon, the foundational text of the Latter Day Saint movement. Positioning the text in the history of early American oratorical techniques, sermon culture, educational practices, and the passion for self-improvement, Davis elucidates both the fascinating cultural context for the creation of the Book of Mormon and the central role of oral culture in early nineteenth-century America. Drawing on performance studies, religious studies, literary culture, and the history of early American education, Davis analyzes Smith's process of oral composition. How did he produce a history spanning a period of 1,000 years, filled with hundreds of distinct characters and episodes, all cohesively tied together in an overarching narrative? Eyewitnesses claimed that Smith never looked at notes, manuscripts, or books—he simply spoke the words of this American religious epic into existence. Judging the truth of this process is not Davis's interest. Rather, he reveals a kaleidoscope of practices and styles that converged around Smith's creation, with an emphasis on the evangelical preaching styles popularized by the renowned George Whitefield and John Wesley.

Listening to Stone

Listening to Stone PDF Author: Dan Snow
Publisher: Artisan Books
ISBN: 9781579653712
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
A master craftsman introduces the techniques and beauty of hand-built, drystone construction in a richly illustrated volume that celebrates this ancient architectural style used to create an imaginative variety of walls, follies, and other structures that honor the unique characteristics of stone.

American Radical

American Radical PDF Author: D. D. Guttenplan
Publisher: Northwestern University Press
ISBN: 0810128314
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 601

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Book Description
Popular Front columnist and New Deal propagandist, fearless opponent of McCarthyism and feared scourge of official liars, I. F. Stone (1907–1989)—magnetic, witty, indefatigable—left a permanent mark on our politics and culture. A college dropout, he was already an influential newsman by the age of twenty-five, enjoying extraordinary access to key figures in Washington and New York. Guttenplan finds the key to Stone’s achievements throughout his singular career—not just in the celebrated I. F. Stone’s Weekly—lay in the force and passion of his political commitments. Stone’s calm and forensic yet devastating reports on American politics and institutions sprang from a radical faith in the long-term prospects for American democracy. In an era when the old radical questions—about war, the economy, health care, and the right to dissent—are suddenly new again, Guttenplan’s lively, provocative book makes clear why so many of Stone’s pronouncements have acquired the force of prophecy.

Stone Medicine

Stone Medicine PDF Author: Leslie J. Franks
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1620555301
Category : Health & Fitness
Languages : en
Pages : 1302

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Book Description
A comprehensive manual for using crystals, gems, and stones to address physical, emotional, and spiritual health conditions • Includes an extensive Materia Medica detailing the healing and spiritual properties of 200 crystals and stones based on Classical Chinese Medicine • Explores the role played by the color of each stone, its Yin and Yang qualities, crystalline structure, chemical composition, and topical and internal applications • Explains how to make stone and crystal elixirs, wear stones as healing jewelry, use them in massage and energy work, and cleanse and recharge them • Based on the oral teachings of Dr. Jeffrey C. Yuen, a Taoist priest from the ancient lineage of the Jade Purity School (88th generation) masters In addition to herbalism and acupuncture, Chinese Medicine has a rich tradition of using stones as medicine, passed from generation to generation for thousands of years. In this comprehensive guide and extensive Materia Medica, Leslie J. Franks presents the Stone Medicine teachings of Dr. Jeffrey C. Yuen, an 88th generation Taoist priest from the ancient lineage of the Jade Purity School, which dates to the Han dynasty, 206 BCE. Detailing the therapeutic properties of 200 gems, stones, minerals, and crystals, Franks begins with an extensive look at 15 different forms of quartz, followed by chapters on transformative stones, protective stones, nourishing stones, source energy stones, and alchemical stones. She explains the physical, emotional, and spiritual conditions each stone can treat and how their color, form, hardness, and energetic qualities affect us according to Chinese Medicine. She discusses how to make stone and crystal elixirs for internal and topical use, how to charge quartz with the healing properties of other stones, how to cleanse and recharge a stone after use, and how to combine stones to create healing formulas for individual conditions. She explains different techniques of wearing stones as healing jewelry and how to use them in massage and energy work. She examines the chemistry and sacred geometry of crystal structure, revealing how the minerals contained in the stones affect our physiology by supporting our Jing (Essence); by nourishing Qi (energy), blood, and fluids; and by clearing Wind, Cold, Damp, and Heat conditions that can lead to disease. Including a thorough primer on Traditional Chinese Medicine and backed by modern scientific research, this book explains how stones access our deepest layers, vibrating ever so slowly, to initiate deep lasting change.