Book & Media Reviews

Riding the Tides (25 years of WaterShapes)
Since its debut in February 1999 as an innovative print magazine, WaterShapes has spent the past 25 years exploring the art and science of water – and the oceans of possibilities waiting to be discovered along the way. As Eric Herman shares in this special retrospective, the long journey through the world of water has been its own unique reward.   ...
Poolside Perspectives Podcast Comes Online
Veteran watershapers Kevin Woodhurst and Mike Farley are teaming up for a new podcast targeting consumers with an eye toward elevating the industry’s public image. Titled Poolside Perspectives, the weekly podcast will feature in-depth interviews, valuable information and more. ...
Water’s Complex Human Narrative
The story of water and the need to control is very much the story of human existence. According to author Giulio Boccaletti, efforts to transport and store water for agriculture and human consumption was, and remains, the primary organizing force in human society, a phenomenon that lives on to this day. ...
Water’s Endless Beauty: an interview with artist April Waters
Inspiring artistic expression is one of the many ways that water impacts the human condition and experience. April Waters has mastered the art of painting aquatic scenes and has gained widespread acclaim for her work capturing the subtle beauty of nature. Her work and life experience are both testament to the beauty and power of natural waters.   ...
Divining the “Sensitive Chaos”
We all know that water is essential to life, but do we know why, or to what extent the presence of water influences living organisms. Here Eric Herman shares insights found in an amazing and venerable text written in the 1960s known as “The Sensitive Chaos” a treatise on the influence of water that touches all aspects of biological science, as well as geology and weather patterns.   ...
A Million Blue Marbles
As part of Wallace “J” Nichols Year of Blue Mind, he recently offered a reading from his seminal book of the same name. Here is Chapter 9: A Million Blue Marbles, a treatise that broadens perspectives by focusing on something simple and small. ...
Price & Profit Strategies
Although pricing and profits go hand in hand, Mike Farley points out many in the watershaping industry are woefully misguided when it comes to what they charge. That needs to change, he says, and for anyone seeking guidance in this all-important facet of doing business, there’s a terrific “no BS” resource worth reading. ...
Designing a Design Business
Becoming a pure design firm in the pool and spa industry is not easy. The reason being, notes Mike Farley, the industry is geared entirely toward selling construction projects rather than earning design commissions. For those looking to move into design, he suggests a book that defines the business of design.
The Journey Into Design
The discipline of landscape architecture is based on a single process, says Mike Farley, that can be applied to a variety of design types. Here's how you can pick up this systematic approach without having to go to college.
Comedic Chasm
The descriptive blurb on Turner Classic Movies definitely caught my eye: "A swimming pool tycoon is coerced into giving a vacationing tourist a sales position so he can chase after a girl who saved him from drowning." I was immediately intrigued: In a lifetime spent watching odd movies, I'd never seen a