introduction
By Jim McCloskey Few people in the industry know about it, but WaterShapes once tried to…
It’s been almost a year since we announced that WaterShapes would be moving to a bimonthly publishing schedule. Ever since, we’ve been gratified by the number of people who have stepped up to express their appreciation for the magazine – and their hope that it would soon return to its familiar monthly appearances. Unfortunately, the economy hasn’t improved sufficiently to make that possible. We’re confident things will eventually turn around and that marketers will once again have the resources to lift us to a point where we can fulfill our readers’ desire for more issues, but until then, we’ll keep on publishing the industry’s favorite magazine every other month and keep upgrading
Last year in our May issue, I put a deliberately upbeat spin on market conditions that had prompted us at WaterShapes to switch temporarily to a bimonthly publishing schedule. The tack I took did not go unnoticed. In the aftermath of our announcement, of course, many of you let us know that you were four-square behind the magazine and offered to pitch in to do whatever you could to help – all of which was and remains most appreciated. But there were others who, in various ways, essentially told me that
Does the size of a project or its budget correlate with its creativity or quality? I know many of us have clients who think that way, believing the more money they spend, the better product they're going to get - and my best guess is that there are lots of watershapers and landscape professionals who buy into that model as well. We all come to this view honestly; because all through our lives we're bombarded by cultural messages suggesting that bigger/grander/more is always better: From reality shows on television that embrace all things affluent to images in books and magazines where the most celebrated properties are always owned by the very rich, we have been told incessantly that
Does the size of a project or its budget correlate with its creativity or quality? I know many of us have clients who think that way, believing the more money they spend, the better product they're going to get - and my best guess is that there are lots of watershapers and landscape professionals who buy into that model as well. We all come to this view honestly; because all through our lives we're bombarded by cultural messages suggesting that bigger/grander/more is always better: From reality shows on television that embrace all things affluent to images in books and magazines where the most celebrated properties are always owned by the very rich, we have been told incessantly that
Thomas Alva Edison once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." That may be his most famous utterance - and for good reason: A good idea is important in just about any creative endeavor, but without dogged pursuit of appropriate
Thomas Alva Edison once said, "Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." That may be his most famous utterance - and for good reason: A good idea is important in just about any creative endeavor, but without dogged pursuit of appropriate
Santiago Calatrava. Mario Salvadori. James van Sweden. Piet Oudolf. Topher Delany. Frederick Law Olmsted. Frank Lloyd Wright. Andy Goldsworthy. If these names aren't familiar to you already, I'd suggest making an effort to find out who these people are and why I've listed them like this. Some are icons in the history of architecture and design, and certainly all of them have inspired many of us in the landscape trades to reach beyond our boundaries. Personally, these gifted artists have long served as primary sources of inspiration and have always fueled my creativity. Inspiration flows from many sources, of course - maybe from a project you've seen in print or a particularly
