Commentaries, Interviews & Profiles
This has been a year of changes. Consider the weather, which, in my corner of the world, saw unusual, sustained periods of freezing temperatures never witnessed in my lifetime along with inconceivably low rainfall totals that make water rationing a very real possibility on southern California's horizon. Whether these climatic extremes are, as some scientists are saying, a consequence of global warming or not, the fact of the matter is that these phenomena are worrisome and their implications need to be
When people ask me what I do for a living, I like to tell them I'm a Texas-style maverick in the world of watershaping. That's a lighthearted way of characterizing what I do, but it speaks the truth when it comes to describing what I think this industry is really all about. Indeed, I see the best watershaping as being defined by a pioneer spirit and an appetite for innovation - a drive and hunger that convincingly overcome the all-too-common fear of trying new ideas, technologies and approaches. In my 37 years in the business, in fact, I've seen the process of shaping water change radically from what I witnessed when I started out in the 1970s. All those years of change and experience have helped me look at the art of watershaping in new ways: As have many other opened-minded artists in this business, I've
When people ask me what I do for a living, I like to tell them I'm a Texas-style maverick in the world of watershaping. That's a lighthearted way of characterizing what I do, but it speaks the truth when it comes to describing what I think this industry is really all about. Indeed, I see the best watershaping as being defined by a pioneer spirit and an appetite for innovation - a drive and hunger that convincingly overcome the all-too-common fear of trying new ideas, technologies and approaches. In my 37 years in the business, in fact, I've seen the process of shaping water change radically from what I witnessed when I started out in the 1970s. All those years of change and experience have helped me look at the art of watershaping in new ways: As have many other opened-minded artists in this business, I've
It's a statement that draws no argument: If you work hard, you should get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. For all of the obvious truth of that idea, I wonder how many of us hard-working folks in the watershaping trades take the time for those things that bring us enjoyment and a sense of reward. To be truthful, my guess is that far too many of us let the hard work get in the way of keeping promises we've made to ourselves to stop and smell the roses every now and then. Years ago, I hosted a radio program with my brother, Guy. It was called "The Good Life," and the tagline was, "The Bower Brothers sharing their enjoyment of food, wine and the good life." Neither my brother nor I were
Through the past 50 years, the watershaping industry has evolved from a small, elite group of contractors serving the needs of a small, elite group of consumers to become a vast industry whose services are in demand across a wide range of socio-economic levels. In fact, it's probably fair to say that in these most recent years of prosperity, watershapes are being sold to more people across broader economic bandwidths than ever before. Yet for all this demand and the innovation that's been happening, I don't see unity. Instead, I see a massive, diverse "industry" (definitely in quotation marks) with scores of niche organizations, geographic enclaves and specific interests, each moving forward without the
I was deeply saddened when I learned that Jim McNicol passed away in April 2001. He had been struggling with respiratory disease and other ailments for many months - and suffering far more, I'm sure, than he would have ever let on to those around him. He was a disciplined and creative thinker, and with his passing the industry has lost one of its true innovators and most devoted, respected and admired teachers. For those of us who knew him, we have all lost a good friend. I knew Jim for more than 10 years, and he was among the first people we turned to when we were framing WaterShapes' content in its earliest stages. His column, "Things Electric," ran in the magazine's premiere issue in February 1999 and was
It's great that more and more people in the watershaping business are interested in becoming custom designers. The way I see it, the future of the industry rests in the hands of those who strive for creativity and excellence in their work. Unfortunately, however, there are those out there who are brash enough to declare themselves "designers" without any sort of credentials to back up the claim - that is, without having done what it truly takes to
I've racked up my fair share of professional accolades and honors in the past 20-odd years. I suppose if I paid too much attention to all that stuff, I might be tempted to think that I know almost everything about my industry - but I wouldn't dream of harboring that thought, because the amount of stuff I don't know has always impressed me a lot more than the pile of stuff I do know. That simple recognition has made me hungry for knowledge and new experiences and has influenced the way I've always approached my life and my work. In fact, I shudder to think of all the things
I'd like to bring up an old observation of mine: In looking at the high-end watershapes that win awards or achieve some sort of public acclaim, it seems to me that the designs are increasingly coming from outside the mainstream pool and spa industry. This is just a strong impression, and I don't have any statistics to back up my case. But when I look around me and see who's doing the
Making Changes