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Photo Gallery : i suiseki di Fabrizio Buccini

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The cleaning of a stone is one of the most interesting steps in the process that makes of a "simple stone" one astonishing Suiseki. We can find some stones which only needs a simple manual brush and a passage through running water so it is ready to the ageing period and it is already signed, our eye has immediately identified its features. We can find some stone that let its definitive shape glimpse out nevertheless it is very dirty in quite a few points and hopefully during the cleaning it will not show up any nasty appearance under its layer, but on the contrary, it will reserve some positive surprise. Sometimes we can find some hidden stone, that we pick up trusting our insight, improving within the years, or due to a big quantity of luck !

I often hear to affirm that the cleaning of a stone, being very difficult in quite a few cases (it is true !), it is also boring and troublesome; I don’t agree to this point of view: it is a very important and intimate moment that the "suisekist" lives with his "jewel", as a bonsaist does when setting up the plant with the copper wire in order to have a splendid bonsai afterwards.

Cleaning methods

There is so much talking about the cleaning method of a stone, different acids, sands, etc.. , all faster operations to remove the dirtiness from a stone, but with the risk of taking away the superficial part of it (the skin), that determines the final aspect of a suiseki.

As many other keens, I prefer and advise to take all your time by using steel brushes applied on the drill and on dremel to remove the dirt slowly, even getting to all difficult spots, instead of acting in irreparable way on the stone skin.

With the help of some pictures we can show a practical example of a very difficult cleaning :

Dirty stone

Dirty stone - Mountain with canyon - 28 cm length - 22 cm width - 14 cm height


► Base of the dirty stone	► A particolar of the dirty stone


► I begin the cleaning from the right side of the stone. You can start seeing the mountain zone on the right side of the central canyon.	► I begin the cleaning from the left side of the stone. It can be noticed the signs left from the brush removing the dirt that reveal the dark grey of the stone.


► Lower side, same thing, the colour of the stone is starting to glimpse now.	► Front of the wet stone. In evidence all the spots that are still to be cleaned (so many!)

As you can see in the photo below, the first cleaning has only removed the superficial part, it is indeed necessary to insist in all details, put highlight to the tops, the canals and the most inaccessible zones.

To do all that, it is necessary to carry on with the big brush (photo in the left and bottom) and small brushes of different types to point out and get into the details (see last photo).

The stone seen from behind

►Steel brush fixed on drill

►The stone seen from above


► Steel brush (small cup) fixed on Dremel

This stone is clearly an example of extreme difficult cleaning, both for the impossibility to reach the numerous gorges full of dirt and for the hardness of it.

At the end of the previous article I could obtain a rough cleaning that revealed the general structure, with its gorges, canals and especially the deep central canyon where a small river runs dividing the two mountain groups and giving shape to small lake, as you can see in the first photographs.

Now it is time to deal with the small details, the cleaning of which is very difficult and long, by using small accessories applied to the Dremel.

It is necessary take your time and patience and insist in trying to remove more dirtiness as possible, taking care not to alter or spoil the "skin" of this stone.

After the noumerous microcleaning intervention the wet stone still points out a result not completely satisfying, but it will be perfected with some further intervention

Taking much care in handling and therefore preserving one of the fundamental elements of a Suiseki : the "skin".

► Same detail with longitudinal sight

► The front after a further cleaning with brush

and drill

► Detail of the canyon with the small lake


► Small accessory	► Small brush cup

We are already at good point

► On focus here some parts where it is still necessary to perform

► The situation is definitely improved

► The stone seen from above

► Canyon detail

► Front

(Article published on the numbers 51 and 52 - 2006 of "Bonsai^talia - ARTE E NATURA")

What is a suiseki ?

	The answer to this apparently simple question is actually complicated and can't be reduced to a mere definition. If you have already turned over the pages and images of this site, you'll have probably realized that we're talking about *stones,* not to be confused with minerals, and and so far there's nothing difficult : the stones surround us, they are the floor of our living, sometimes they are our sky, from the cave to the skycraper. Primitive weapons were made of *stone,* we got warm with it, we used it as ornament to our body, and also as a source of healing and as a symbol of power.
This is the most prosaic feature; but a *stone* has always attracted the eyes and the hand of those who see odd unexpected shapes, recognizable drawings or the colours of the rainbow. However, for a Westerner, this interest was nothing more than a fugacious pastime, like when you play at recognizing the shape of a cloud that the wind immediately disperses.
In the east, on the contrary, man has always looked on stones in another way: *the Chinese* first and then the *Japanese* have turned the pratice of enhancement of a stone into a real art, investing it with a religious, philosophical and poetical meaning, according to the respective tradition and culture.
Under the name of *Gongshi* in China, and *Suiseki* in Japan, stones are selected according to precise criteria, where shape, surface,grain and colour but also more inner and evocative qualities are of great importance. Thus, while in China light stones even with abstract shapes are appreciated, in Japan dark stones whose shape may recall natural landscapes are best loved.
With the growing diffusion of bonsai art and the publishing of specialized magazines, about 30 years ago the art of enhancement of the stones began to spread also in the Western countries with precise reference to *Japanese tradition. Those who devoted themselves to this art, looking for stones to be exhibited,did it following the criteria defined by the Japanese conception of art, using therefore the term suiseki* to define those stones that respect its spirit. As a matter of fact, Western name, like *Viewing Stones, was coined but the Japanese word suiseki* remained the official one all over the world. Zen culture and, in general, the peculiar relationship that the Japanese have with *nature, which can be seen in all their forms of art, from bonsai to ikebana, from handwriting to tea ceremony, determined also the principles of suiseki, establishing rules that look very strict to a Westerner's eyes. Which is these rules? I can now reintroduced the initial question: what's a Suiseki* ? Briefly, a Suiseki is a stone that, according to the principles of Japanese tradition, : must be completely *natural, shaped only by nature only and never modified by man; must evoke a natural element* (mountains, waterfalls, lakes, islands, animals, anthropomorphic characters) in few essential traits ; all its *physical features* (shape, colour, surface, hardness) contribute to define the *spiritual ones :* sobriety, solidity, tranquillity, loneliness, deep detachment.
This last point is maybe the hardest to be understood and realized by a Westerner : in fact in a stone we can appreciate aesthetic qualities, imagine similarities and analogies, feel emotions and involvement, but it is more difficult for us to live its philosophical aspects.