Sunday, January 24, 2010

All Wet.


Northern California has been under a cloud of rain storms for the past week and a half.

This is great news for our reservoirs, cisterns and wells.

My own water catchment barrels are full to the brim.


Come this summer when the rain is all but a distant memory some people will be turning on their fountains to once again whet their liquid senses.


I’ve designed a variety of fountains.

Some were designed for meditation purposes while others were designed to mask the noise of adjacent street traffic.


Below is a brief sampling of fountains and why they were designed.


For meditation - we cut and hand carved this Canadian basalt column for a small enclosed

outdoor courtyard

From Water fountains in the landscape


Also designed for meditation. Situated on a roof top high rise in the city.

From Water fountains in the landscape


Purchased from Stone Forest Company. Designed to attract local fauna.

From Water fountains in the landscape

From Water fountains in the landscape


Hand built from New England bluestone and California brownstone.

Set into a circular patio. This fountain attracts the local birds as well as the kids who play in this garden.

From Water fountains in the landscape


Just plain artifice . To move your mind away from the 7 foot tall stucco wall.

Water gently ripples down the face of the glass and stone mosaic inset.

From Water fountains in the landscape


This fountain is set into a retaining wall. It acts as a focal point that is viewed from inside the house.

From Water fountains in the landscape


A simple water bowl meant to encourage wildlife into the garden.

From Water fountains in the landscape


A moderenist hand built New England bluestone fountain. Installed as a focal point and a sitting wall.

From Water fountains in the landscape


A natural granite stone hand carved and set into a stone terrace for quiet contemplation.

From portfolioMay08.jpg


Not really a ‘fountain’ but more of a fun way to cool off on a hot day.

In the center of the mosaic spiral there is a brass water nozzle that when turned on shoots water up from the middle of this bike riding ring.

The excess water goes into a gravity fed irrigation system that waters the orchard and garden below

From Water fountains in the landscape

4 comments:

danger garden said...

What fun I would have as a child following the blue swirl and then the water surprise at the end!

Bay Area Tendrils said...

Are we not getting a good soaking!
Great post, Michelle.
Seated here at the computer with the sound of traffic on wet pavement outside my window, I'm imagining the sounds of an indoor fountain.
Will look for your email, to send a private message.
Alice
ps I'm sorry not to have met you at my 21st Century Gardens talk. I'm certain you would have contributed greatly to the dialogue!

Deviant Deziner, aka Michelle said...

Hi Loree,
Even as an adult on a hot summer day I enjoyed running thru this fountain.
HGTV did a show on this garden and it was hot as hell the day they shot.
Most everybody took a run thru the water that day.

Alice,
I think we are going on our 10 th straight day of rain.
This is fantastic !
Sorry we didn't meet up at your talk at Marin Art and Garden. There was a seminar that same evening at the Mill Valley Com. center by a group of people (Sierra Club, Spawn, MMWD and Occ. Art and Ecology Center) on water conservation .

Looking forward to meeting up with you soon. Perhaps when Susan Cohan is out this way next month ?
Michelle

Garden Beet said...

interesting that you use water to screen noise - noisy neighbours can be such a problem - always on the look out for noise dampening solutions