aesthetics

Shared Vision
As I've gotten better at what I do as a watershaper, I've found that lots of the maturing has been related to getting really good at listening to my clients. Once I figured out how to attune myself to their visions and voices and set aside my ego (however temporary that might be), I found that my designs crackled with new energy I was borrowing from people who wanted my help in expressing themselves. That's the artistic, inspired side of watershaping, of course, and as my listening skills grew and my projects took on new and sometimes
2018/7.2, July 25 — A Special Edition — WaterShapes’ Overlooked Gems!
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS July 25, 2018 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE/May…
#30: Tiled Finger Ledge
Safety is never far from my mind as I design for my clients, but as important as it is, it's seldom the only thing on my mind as a project comes together. In fact, balancing the need for features we must include for safety's sake with our everyday passion about never compromising on aesthetics is something I consider with every detail.  Whether it's the extent to which
#28: Channel Drain
  For the past ten years or so, high-end designers and builders have focused extensively on hiding things that disrupt a viewer's visual pleasure or violate the clean lines and sleek surfaces they've lavished on their watershapes. This may be why you see so few diving boards and slides these days. It may also be a contributing factor in the speed
Thank Goodness
  I wouldn't have thought that a bit of Thanksgiving travel could teach me so much about the regional differences among watershapes, but what now seems obvious came as something of a jolt to me. My youngest daughter has a new job in Philadelphia and couldn't get away. Someone suggested we should
Deck-Toned Skimmer Covers from CMP
CMP (Newnan, GA) manufactures Natural Wonders Deck Covers as a custom design element intended to…
Another Look
Before I walk away from my little series of blogs on big transitions, I want to call attention to renovations, which I consider to be both a generational phenomenon as well as the greatest potential source of projects and market growth through the next
Bobé Releases Line of CorTen Planters
Bobé Water & Fire Features (Phoenix, AZ) has introduced a line of planters made from…
Green Evolution
If friends had told me that, eight years after leaving the Las Vegas desert, I'd be incorporating synthetic turf in a high percentage of my outdoor spaces in Texas, I would've said "No way!" What a concept!   I now live and work where there's no water shortage, so why on earth would my clients or I have any interest in finding substitutes for big expanses of lawn? Well, what I'm seeing now is that the low-maintenance, long-lasting faux-grass solution is
2017/5.2, May 17 — Ponds and Oxygen, Thinking Safety, Classic Yosemite and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS May 17, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…