reflections

Split-Level Pond
Given the choice, there are few projects I enjoy more than renovations:  The process of taking an existing outdoor space that isn't making people happy and coming to their rescue with a personalized dreamscape is about as satisfying as it gets. This sort of shift in vision happens quite often when homes change hands and the new owners bring in a different set of needs and desires.  In grand terms, there might be nothing particularly "wrong" with the original setting, but if the new owners either want to
2017/8.1, August 9 — Vanishing-Edge Pond, 24/7 Poolscapes, Algae Management and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS August 9, 2017 www.watershapes.com FEATURE ARTICLE…
#27: Fire Bowls
This article concludes a little series I've been doing that feature bowls in association with my pool and spa designs.  The first two were about water bowls in very different applications.  This one is about fire bowls and, in greater detail, about materials you can put in them to cover the burners, disperse the flames and make them look good even when
Riverside Recreation
Sometimes, things come together in just the right way. I'd been called in to a multimillion-dollar property with a large, three-year-old house on it, right next to the Chattahoochee River on the northwestern fringe of Atlanta.  There was an existing pool, but the homeowners wanted something new - a composition that befitted the home's elegance and said more about
2015/12.2, December 16 — Holiday Fun, Brilliant Mirrors, Old-School Decking and more
THE ESSENTIAL E-NEWSLETTER FOR WATERSHAPE DESIGNERS, ENGINEERS AND BUILDERS December 16, 2015 www.watershapes.com INTERVIEW Santa’s…
Industrial-Strength Milestones
I've been around watershapes a long time - for more than three-quarters of my professional life.  I started out with scientific and technical magazines in 1980, but once I started splashing around at Pool & Spa News in 1987, I never really looked back. As it turns out, I found my way into the world of aquatics
Formal Ease
These days, we do most of our work in the hills in and around Newport Beach, Calif.  To describe the area as "affluent" is understating the case:  For years now, even modest homes for sale in the area usually draw seven-figure prices - and the more modest the home, the likelier it is that it will be torn down and replaced with something larger and more elaborate. Through the past few years, we at Pure Water Pools of Costa Mesa, Calif., have been called to many of these built-out properties by homeowners who
2014/2.2, February 19 — Site-Specific Watershapes, Pond Plumbing, Sculpture on the Edge and more
February 19, 2014 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Refined Expressions The designers at the landscape architecture firm of…
2013/12.1, December 4 — Using Reflections, Liner Repair ABCs, Soil Basics and more
December 4, 2013 www.watershapes.com ESSENTIAL Graceful Reflections The potency of water’s reflective nature is a…
Liquid Mettle
From the beginning of my career as a sculptor, I’ve mostly given myself over to two simple elements – metal and water – and have tried to develop approaches that turn one into an extension of the other. I like the sense that a sheet of flowing water completes the simple stainless steel shapes I create.  I also like to play with illusion by creating the impression that