Other Waterfeatures (from birdbaths to lakes)

The relationship between glass and water can be a powerful one, says John Gilbert Luebtow, a modernist sculptor who uses water to spectacular effect in some of his work. Here, he explores the nature of that relationship while describing three major projects in which the ‘visual dance’ between water and glass is expressed in multi-dimensional shapes and sweeping, organic lines.
Liquid Glass
As a designer and artist, I believe that water and glass walk hand in hand:  Both are transparent and translucent.  They distort and reflect surrounding colors and forms.  And depending upon whom you ask, water and glass are both liquids. The visual and physical resonance between these two fascinating materials is important to me:  I know that their interplay adds an entirely different dimension to my work that enhances the effects I can achieve using glass, metal and ceramics, so I'm always eager to explore artistic solutions when my customers want the project to include water. In this article, I'll examine three of my projects that use water to accentuate and reflect the sculpture while providing the soothing sounds that create an overall feeling of peacefulness in the surrounding space.  But first, a bit more about what I do - and how I do it. AHEAD OF THE GLASS As with many forms of sculpture, working with glass requires technical know-how and, like many modern artists, I have acquired a background in construction and fabrication techniques. Back in school my
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When coherent sheets of water fall gracefully from a height and down into just about any pool, spa or basin, you can bank on the fact that onlookers will be hooked. The effect is a true feast of sight and sound, says waterfall supplier Maria Hetzner, and it’s well within reach of any watershaper. Here, she briefly explains what makes these systems tick, then conducts a tour of a variety of sheet-fall applications in both residential and commercial settings.
Falling Water
As customer demands continue to push the creativity of watershapers to new limits, industry professionals need to stay atop the trends - and nudge those of us on the supplier side to new levels of creativity as well. In some cases, this means learning how to construct new environments, such as the vanishing edges and beach entrances so many clients now want. In other cases, this expanded creativity comes from a need to know what products are available from manufacturers. Although once they were the product of on-site construction skills, sheeting waterfalls now fall largely into the category of
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From golf courses to private estates, small lakes have become a familiar part of both urban and suburban landscapes. But few people give much thought to these mostly man-made bodies of water, says lake designer George Forni, or to how they are designed, engineered, built and maintained. To fill that information gap, he surveys the basics with an eye toward defining qualities that make lakes both beautiful and enduring.
Little Great Lakes
What is good lake construction?  What makes some pristine and beautiful while others seem fetid and slimy?  To discover the answer to these and other questions, we need to start by defining what we mean by "lake." It may seem arbitrary, but the distinction can be an important one, especially to people who own them.  You don't want to insult anyone by calling their lake a pond or lagoon, for example.  By the same token, you don't want to seem ill-informed or unprofessional in referring to their waterfeature as a lake.  Given the different
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‘ASK THE MASTERS’ SHOWCASE