 Still Pointriver stones with black walnut tray, 38" x 24", private collection |  Still Pointriver stones with black walnut tray, 38" x 24", private collection |
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 A Stillness in the Streamriver stone and woven aluminum wire, carved mahogany tray, 37" x 21", Portland Japanese Garden |  A Stillness in the Streamriver stone and woven aluminum wire, carved mahogany tray, 37" x 21", Portland Japanese Garden |
 By the Riversideriver stones & rusted iron, cherry tray, 35", Johnson Museum of Art |  By the Riversideriver stones & rusted iron, cherry tray, 35", Johnson Museum of Art |
 The Ploughman's Dreambark & slate, brushed aluminum tray, 36", Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard |  The Ploughman's Dreambark & slate, brushed aluminum tray, 36", Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard |
 The Ploughman's Dream IIbark & slate, patinaed steel tray, 36", Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard |  The Ploughman's Dream IIbark & slate, patinaed steel tray, 36", Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard |
 Where Forest Meets Fieldbark & wood slivers, black walnut tray, 30", Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard |  Where Forest Meets Fieldbark & wood slivers, black walnut tray, 30", Center for the Study of World Religions, Harvard |
 Blue Mountains Walkingceramic wall, weathered wood tray & flame-worked glass, 33" x 10", private collection |  Blue Mountains Walkingceramic wall, weathered wood tray & flame-worked glass, 33" x 10", private collection |
 Blue Mountains Walkingceramic wall, weathered wood tray & flame-worked glass, 33" x 10", private collection |  Empty Mountains 1ceramic "stones" & weathered barn-board base; maple frame; 35" x 24" |
 Empty Mountains 1bceramic "stones" & weathered barn-board base; maple frame; 35" x 24" |  Empty Mountains 3ariver stones & slate base, ash frame; 35" X 21" |
 Empty Mountains 3briver stones & slate base, ash frame; 35" X 21" |
Bontei
Tray Gardens
盆庭
Bontei means tray garden in Japanese. There are many traditions in East Asia of presenting stones and plants on trays or in ceramic pots such as bonsai (tray-plantings) and suiseki (water-stones).
All of these traditions express the beauty and rhythms of nature in highly abstracted form, capturing the sense of reflection one feels in wild nature in the space of a tray. My bontei begin within that tradition but broaden the scope to include new materials and philosophies.