Our purpose is to establish an ongoing international dialogue about contemporary displays that will help to promote stone appreciation. We encourage members of the global viewing stone community to create new ways of displaying stones that reflect your life in the 21st century, your regional geology, your customs, craft and culture. Unfamiliar types of stones, bases, accessories and materials are welcome. We are not confined to displaying viewing stones in either the traditional Japanese or Chinese manner. These are options available to us and we should respect and acknowledge the established ways of displaying stones, but they are not the only way. It is timely to explore exciting new options to create stone displays that have bases, display tables, and other accessories that reflect our regional and national arts and crafts.

By Joe Grande

31 cm x 18 cm x 10 cm
Basalt stone with driftwood and feathers
Collected, presented and photographed by Joe Grande

This smooth, water-worn stone was found in the Winnipeg River just north of Kenora, Ontario. Its bird-like shape immediately caught my eye, and I began thinking of how to best display it. Initially, I considered a traditional wooden base, but then I discovered a piece of driftwood I had set aside for a bonsai composition. Originally intended for a Tanuki (also known as a Phoenix Graft, where deadwood is paired with a living tree), the driftwood turned out to be the perfect “perch” for this basalt nestling.

The stone itself comes from the Winnipeg River plutonic domain, an ancient geological region. This area is known for its granite, which formed deep within the Earth’s crust from slowly cooled magma. However, the domain also contains a smaller amount of supracrustal rocks—remnants of volcanic and sedimentary materials that were deposited on the Earth’s surface long ago. Basalt, like this stone, is a volcanic rock formed from rapidly cooled lava, and its presence hints at the region’s volcanic past.

Beyond its geological history, the Winnipeg River has long been important to human activity. Indigenous peoples used it as a key transportation route, and later, European fur traders relied on it as a major thoroughfare. This river has always been a lifeline for travel and trade, and its ancient stones stand as silent witnesses to both the Earth’s evolution and human history.