WaterShapes World Blog

Handoffs
I have a couple things to point out about the newsletter surrounding this blog: [  ] This edition includes the introductory text for - and a link to - the twenty-first and final video in Eric Triplett's amazing "PondCraft 101" series.   Eric originally prepared these videos as a means of letting interested consumers know
Toddler Prep
Every year at about this time, I survey my backyard and make certain everything is ready for summer - patio furniture, grill, deck, shade sails, misting system and, probably most important given our usual summer lifestyle, the pool and spa. This year, however, my examination of the watershapes in particular
All Lined Up
It is with no small pleasure (and even more relief) that I can announce completion of the digitizing of WaterShapes magazine:  Every one of the articles and columns printed in the 131 issues we published between February 1999 and July 2011 are now all available online in .html format. It has indeed been a monumental task - one that started early last
A Triple Play
This edition of WaterShapes EXTRA brings back some particularly warm memories for me - and a great sense of pride.   [  ] For starters, there's the Essential item about John Lautner by his close associate, Helena Arahuete.  "Organic Artistry" (click here) was thekind of feature we only dreamed about running when
The Preservation Arts
I've written quite a bit - and, I think, with passion - about the need to preserve and protect our cultural heritage as it relates to watershapes (click here, for one recent example).  There are plenty of grand public pools, classic fountains and even some architecturally significant residential watershapes that
The Fullness of Time
When WaterShapes first appeared in February 1999, those of us behind the magazine had some definite hopes about how things would play out in our declared marketplace. [ ]  First was the hope that there really was an emergent
Artful Engagement
This edition of WaterShapes EXTRA carries a link to one of my all-time favorite WaterShapes articles:  "Living Art" by Philip di Giacomo and Mark Holden. I remember how pleased Eric Herman was to land this particular story for our October 2004 issue.  He'd been after di Giacomo periodically for years, and we both looked on Phil's willingness to develop an article as
Enduring the Water Wars
I don't tend to be an alarmist, but I have to say that the mood about the drought here in California is scarier than anything I've witnessed in a lifetime of water awareness. We've been through these episodes before, of course.  More times than I can count, the state has been rescued by late-season rains or heavier-than-estimated snowpacks.  But this drought seems different, from one end of California to the other - more severe, more desperate, more polarizing and more caught up in quick reactions than in
Penny-Wise, Fountain Foolish
A news story out of New Zealand caught my eye the other day. It was all about a new fountain/waterfeature the city of Napier has added to a spot close to the National Aquaium and near beautiful Hawke's Bay. As you can see by clicking on the link below to get the full story and a photograph, it's a fairly pedestrian
Back and Forth
My job is great:  Every other week, I get to sit back and marvel at the array of content we flow into our WaterShapes EXTRA newsletters and onto the WaterShapes.com web site.   In each newsletter, we carry two or three items over from the