Felix G. Rivera

I first learned about suiseki in 1958.
Curious about bonsai, I checked a book from the New York City library titled "Bonsai -- Miniature Potted Trees" by Norio Kobayashi. A four page chapter was devoted to suiseki. I was fascinated, and little did I know my studies of the art would continue to the present.
Moving to Los Angeles in 1960, I was fortunate to meet a group of Japanese who introduced me to their arts.
This was the first time I ever saw a real suiseki displayed in a tokonoma at one of their homes. I was awed and in disbelief.  It opened up a fantastic new world.
I became a suiseki-do, or, a follower and advocate of the way of suiseki, in all its manifestation :aesthetics, culture, philosophy, and active field collecting.
I came to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1968 and joined a bonsai club through whom I was able to meet like-minded members. I explored creeks and rivers, with little success, I might add. I had the passion but I lacked the visual and aesthetic sensibilities to identify and collect potential material.
I met Hideko Metaxas, a good friend, and through her I was introduced to her suiseki world. I joined the San Francisco Suiseki Kai and had the good fortune to study under the master Keiseki Hirotsu. I was able to make contact with Arishige Matsuura with whom I have corresponded. . I was honored by him when he wrote the Forward to my book“Suiseki: The Japanese Art of Miniature Landscape Stones”.

 

Suiseki are sophisticated tools for inner reflection that stir in me an appreciation for the awesome power of the universe. I love their power of suggestion and their understated elegance and subtlety. This shibui, I believe, is the corner stone of suiseki within the Japanese aesthetic tradition.

 

A well-proportion suiseki satisfies the eye and soul; still inspires a sense of amazement as I see the world in their beautiful minerals. They can also be treasured as a spiritual and philosophical dynamic, a metaphor in stone that helps me connect with and understand those things I value in life.

Felix G. Rivera

Photos save from Felix Rivera trips in Italy

 

     

Prohibition of hunting... any suiseki

   

Prohibition of hunting... any suiseki