Serenity in the Garden

this is the jardines de la fonte baixa in Asturias, Spain F or a great blog post about this enchanting garden go here: http://www.elblogdelatabla.com/2012/12/jardines-de-la-fonte-baixa-paraiso-de.html

Andy Goldsworthy, the nature artist, was born in 1956 and spent his childhood in Yorkshire, England.  His art speaks to us of time and place. He creates his works from rock,twigs, leaves, stones, ice, snow,  trees and flowers... Goldsworthy works on site in forests and in open fields and in places as varied as the Yorkshire Dales, the North Pole, the Metropolitan museum and the Australian Outback. If you are in San Francisco you can see several of his works.  “The Spire” is a very tall structure that sits  within  the Presidio Forest in  San   Francisco ...'Spire' is one of three Goldsworthy works there.  For this, Goldsworthy took 37 trunks of felled Monterey cypresses ( they were in decline and needed to be removed) and fastened them together. It is 15 feet wide at the base and 95 feet tall. It is a beacon, a tower, and eventually will fade away within a growing forest... This is a marvel and well ...

This is a great landscape design magazine! Click to read it. My article on Designing with the Four Directions is on page 30.

Vase of Irises by Henri Matisse, at the Hermitage    "What I dream of is an art of balance,  of purity and serenity,  devoid of troubling or depressing subject matter, The terrace, St. Tropez, Henri Matisse 1904  an art which could be for every mental worker,  for the businessman as well as the man of letters,  for example,  a soothing, calming influence on the mind,  something like a good armchair  which provides relaxation  from physical fatigue." -   Henri Matisse Henri Matisse cutout Matisse's words apply to gardens of serenity as well. We aim for a similar result - to be a 'soothing, calming influence on the mind'. Matisse succeeded beautifully in his goal.. his art still brings us joy and is 'something like a good armchair'.  His love of nature shines vividly in his famous collage 'cutouts', done at the end of his life, when he was bedridden. The leaves dance across the paper. Bravo...

photo by  Kilian Schoenberger  The photo of the day today is not a garden photo - it is of a path in the woods. I urge you to see more exquisite photos on the website of photographer Kilian Schoenberger  (click on his name for more amazing photos.) The photo reminds me of some lines in one of my favorite poems, 'The Road Not Taken ' by Robert Frost: "....I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."

design by Fernando Caruncho  Fernando Carunch o, the minimalist landscape designer,  views the garden, not as a landscape, but as a person with its own personality and as a member of the family; a protector of the residence. He first attended the University of Madrid to study philosophy, but learning of the Greek method of teaching in the garden, he transferred to Castillo de Batres School in Madrid where he received a degree in landscape design in 1979.  Fernando saw the importance of the garden to the Greek philosopher Plato, who used the garden as a place of teaching and repose. He follows this idea and his gardens provide every opportunity for meditation and reflection. 'Heaven is a Garden'

 Did you know that carbon in the soil makes it more capable of holding and retaining rainwater? No flooding! The old ways are being re-learned by the cattle farmers who see the benefit of certain 'weeds' for repleninshing the soil... A new day is finally dawning! Please share this fabulous 12 minute film with others.. .click here weeds are in. http://carbonnationmovie.com/about/clips/225-new-video-soil-carbon-cowboys