Structures (Editor’s Notes)
One Saturday during the summer of 2000, I sat down for breakfast in Santa Monica, Calif., with Suzanne and Ron Dirsmith. They had just published the first of what have now become several articles in WaterShapes and had flown in from Chicago to
One of the most interesting things about running WaterShapes has been the opportunities I've had to get out and see projects, both in process and finished. Through the years, I've been treated to
As natural anomalies go, this year's rainfall in California has given us one for the record books. By far, one of the most interesting outcomes of the deluges of 2005 is the explosion of life the storms engendered in the harshest desert environment in the United States - so bountiful, in fact, that a lake actually formed at the hottest, lowest and nastiest place
Watershapes of all kinds have come a long way in recent years, with elaborate, fully integrated and highly creative designs that were mostly unheard of in days gone by. For many of us, me included, exposure to "aquatic environments" (as they are now grandly known) began with the most familiar
Sometimes it's the most ordinary experiences that yield the most sublime memories - the pleasant surprise, a beautiful view, the warmth of the sun after a dip in the ocean. For me (and I suspect I'm not alone), these experiences occur
If you've been reading WaterShapes for any length of time, you've probably noticed that we take more than a bit of pride in presenting the arts and crafts of watershaping in the broadest possible ways. From modest and subtle to bold and elaborate, the work
The combination of water and plant material is so pervasive and obvious in natural and man-made settings that it's easy to take it for granted. In urban parks, rural settings and countless backyards, where one finds the blue, one also finds the green - and we all seem pre-wired
Watershaping is one of the few art forms possessed of the ability to bridge the gaps between the very old and the very new. From the classic looks of Roman baths and the reflecting pools of ancient Islam to
In a sense, the way we "dress" our homes' exteriors is not all that different from the way we dress ourselves: Both are expressions of personal pride, and the aesthetic choices we make speak volumes about who we are. Some of us prefer
