North America Viewing Stones: Canada

Remembering Arthur Skolnik - A Canadian Icon 

By Jeffrey Shortt; with grateful acknowledgement to Barbara Rosensweig and Joe Grande 

In Canada, the population is spread over a vast landscape, rich in natural resources. There is great potential for bonsai and viewing stone enthusiasts, but building a community of such specific interests over such a broad area can be difficult. It takes individuals with passion and determination to make it work. One such person was Arthur Skolnik. Many of the Canadians— and indeed many North Americans—involved in these art forms can thank Arthur for being drawn in. He was a large personality, ever smiling and positive, with an infectious enthusiasm for trees and stones. From the 1980s through the 2000s, he was a regular draw at Bonsai conventions and workshops, acting as an instructor, panelist, judge, and auctioneer. In addition to his skills as a Bonsai artist, Arthur was a noted expert on Viewing Stones with an uncanny eye for their subtle beauty. 

Arthur was born in 1953, raised in Québec City, Canada, and eventually moved to Montréal. He attended Concordia University and then the University of Waterloo. 


On a trip through Canada, the US, and Mexico in the early 1970s with a friend from school, an incident at a hostel in Vancouver left Arthur badly injured and put his studies indefinitely on hold. He returned to Montréal to recuperate with his family. Noting his discouragement, some friends took him to the Montréal Botanical Gardens to see the newly donated Bonsai and Penjing collection. Arthur had never seen such a display, which was transformative: his life outlook changed completely. Within a short time, he had dropped his life plans and met his future partner, Gerry Rainville, and in around 1981-82, Arthur and Gerry opened Shikoku Bonsai, Canada’s first full-time Bonsai studio. There, they sold trees and gave lessons and seminars, and the business flourished. He was lucky enough to eventually go to Japan to apprentice under the same teacher with whom Gerry had studied. 


In 1983, Arthur met his future wife, Barbara Rosensweig, who was applying for a summer job before heading off to study Horticulture in Ottawa. Arthur bought the company a few years later, and they eventually moved to Toronto, where they opened Shibui Bonsai and Landscaping. During his years in Bonsai, he became more familiar with suiseki and became obsessed with them. Many of his bonsai friends mentored him in this new art form. He developed a scholarly approach to the art, poring over texts about Chinese, Korean, and Japanese spirituality and the nuances between stone appreciation in different Asian cultures. Stones became his relaxation after the rigours of tree maintenance and running two businesses. 

Viewing Stones became a passion for Arthur. He appreciated stones from all cultures and studied them in great detail. He understood the differences between Chinese, Korean, and Japanese Stone art, but was most strongly influenced by the Suiseki of Japan. At the same time, Arthur was a proponent of innovation. He was excited by the new classifications of the American Stones, and encouraged new ideas in Stone display. 

This encouragement channeled him into the role of Ambassador. On the Bonsai circuit, where he regularly attended conventions and workshops, much of his time was also spent near the Suiseki. Arthur actively looked for any Viewing Stones on offer, always eager to offer comments and encourage the membership to expand their collections. He joined several clubs and organizations, even the British Bonsai Society. 


He was one of the principal organizers of the International Viewing Stone Appreciation Conventions held in Pennsylvania in the early 2000s, with Jim Doyle, Glenn Reusch, Martin Schmalenberg, Sean Smith, and William Valavanis. He also rubbed shoulders with the likes of Jim Hayes, Felix Rivera, Melba Tucker, John Naka, Harry Hirao, and Frank English, all titans of the bonsai and suiseki world in North America. 

Arthur had great charisma. He projected a joy of life and was fun to be around. He was also very stubborn; if anybody told him he couldn’t do something, he made it his business to prove them wrong. This often took him into dangerous situations, where hauling an enormous tree or a stone weighing several hundred pounds out of the bush for his collections was a normal occurrence. On one such occasion, he re-located a 400-pound serpentine boulder from the Eel River in California over a mile to the road, where it was loaded into a truck and shipped to Canada. There, he had it cut to exacting specifications at a company that produced stone monuments. The stone now resides in a mahogany daiza in the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre in Toronto. He was always ready with a humorous anecdote or some sage advice. He drew on his experiences and studies liberally and was rarely at a loss for something to say. Some of his advice could be as follows… 


The Japanese Rules of Altering Stones. You should never alter a stone in any way. Ever. But if you do… This is what you do. This is the tool you use. And there’s a sale on next weekend at… 


Good protocol for collecting stones (Really!). Start along the river. Collect the first good stone you find. Continue along until you find the next stone. Put the two side by side and compare carefully. Save the best of the two and put the other back. Continue this for the duration of your collecting day. You may return with only two or three stones. But they will be the BEST. You won’t end up with a pile of lower quality samples, easy if you get too enthusiastic. (Editor’s note - While I respect this advice, I’m at an age where I may not have too many collecting days ahead of me. I may be a bit more greedy. J. S.) Arthur’s influence in Canada and abroad helped numerous organizations grow and flourish. 


Joe Grande of the Bonsai Society of Winnipeg writes: “Arthur’s connection with Winnipeg runs deep. I first encountered Arthur at his bonsai retail store in Toronto, where I purchased my first bonsai tools and the inaugural edition of Bonsai Today magazine. Subsequent encounters, including the Bonsai Borealis convention in ’97 and a visit to his home, solidified our friendship. Arthur’s articles in the BCI magazine, which I subscribed to, further enriched my bonsai journey. Upon releasing his video, “The Growing Art of Bonsai,” our club procured multiple copies, incorporating it into Tom Zane’s syllabus, “Introduction to Bonsai.” The video, a departure from traditional lectures on overhead transparencies, added a valuable dynamic to our learning experience. … At the time, his was arguably the best English video on how to do bonsai. Arthur generously led workshops and demonstrations for the Bonsai Society of Winnipeg, covering topics such as Juniperus procumbens and Thuja occidentalis. Despite an initial hiccup on his first visit, he graciously rearranged his commitments, leaving an indelible mark by presenting me with one of his viewing stones as a gesture of goodwill. During his 2009 visit, Arthur gifted a beautiful stone to our club president, Paul Collard, a cherished memento proudly displayed at our bonsai exhibits. Arthur’s charisma also shone during a Joint BCI & ABS convention in St. Louis in 2004, where he charmed everyone as the auctioneer for donated items. His ability to share captivating stories endeared him to our club, even when offering candid critiques, always delivered without malice.” 


Arthur Skolnik passed away suddenly in January 2016 while on vacation in Antigua. This sudden void in the fabric of Canadian Stone culture has been difficult to fill, given the broad geography of the country and its comparatively small population of Stone enthusiasts. His influence still lingers, however. Martin Schmalenberg traveled to Toronto and visited with Barbara to console and reminisce. Barb gifted him with several stones from Arthur’s collection. At the U. S. Bonsai Convention in Rochester later that year, Martin was one of the judges of the Viewing Stone competition, and he awarded the winner one of Arthur’s Stones. Today, the Stone community in North America is a small but vibrant group of knowledgeable and enthusiastic collectors. Many of us have recollections of a charismatic, positive and passionate individual from Canada, who was like a kid on Christmas morning every time he saw a new Viewing Stone. He would tell each and every one of us that we have a gift—that of seeing the beauty in a piece of mineral, and that he couldn’t wait to see the next addition to our collection.

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