A carved stone niche in the First WallLately I have been a stone mason. There is a line in the band Cakes song Sheep go to Heaven, Goats go to Hell; "The Stonemason does all the work&...
Hundred year old magnolias planted as seeds or cuttings in the Bishops Close Garden in PortlandArbor Day is a national holiday in the United States that falls on the last Friday of every April.  ...
I will be giving my presentation called The Pleasure Garden in Eugene at the Willamette Valley Chapter of the Hardy Plant Society on April 10. Eugene is my home town, so it is a pleasure to bri...
This essay is a continuation of the last one about the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. In that essay we accomplished the equivalent of two days exploring the citadel of the Nasrid Emirs. We w...
The Alhambra viewed from the Generalife"Everything here appears calculated to inspire kind and happy feelings, for everything is delicate and beautiful. The very light falls tenderly from above, ...
I am about to post the most laborious essay I have written to date for this blog site. Ive been wanting to do it ever since I revisited the Alhambra in Granada, Spain last year, but hesitated t...
Palacio de AsambleaMelilla is one of two Spanish enclaves on the Moroccan coastline that are remnants of Spains occupation of parts of North Africa. The other is Ceuta near the city of Tangier,...
A view of Chefchaouen, MoroccoChefchaouen is a small city in the Rif mountains of Northern Morocco known for its climate, blue houses, and kif, or marijuana that is grown in the surrounding mountains...
A Pebble Mosaic Carpet I built in a garden in Los AngelesI am in Morocco again for the second of what may be a continuing series of trips to discover and revisit all that is wonderful about this coun...
Looking up in to the interior of the Koubba El-BadiynMarrakech is a city rich in history and architecture. The city was founded by the Almoravid people nearly 1,000 years ago on a plain near th...
A film poster with Calla Lilies in the Cinema RifIts Friday the 13th of December and I have been in Tangier for a week now. The prankster spirits were out in force today, and I made the mistak...
I am very excited to announce that I will be having my first ever photography exhibition in the Volubilis Gallery in the Kasbah of Tangier, Morocco. The opening will be on February 3rd, 2012. I...
View of the Alcazaba from the lower rampartsThe Alcazaba is a Moorish citadel built on a spur of a hill overlooking the harbor of Malaga on the southern coast of Spain. The site was formerly a ...
A Lush Desert Garden in the Botanic Garden of the University of ValenciaJardi Botanic de la Universitat de ValenciaBotanic Garden of the University of Valencia, SpainI have a thing for botanical gard...
Stones from a mix of different eras form a wall in TarragonaI just spent 3 days, from December 17 to the 20th in the town of Tarragona, southwest of Barcelona, an hour and a half by train. ...
Wall at the front of Park GuellRoof of the Pavello de ConsergeriaWindow on the Pavello de Consergeria at the entrance to the parkPark Guell is one of those emblematic places in Barcelona that was som...
Column in Parque Guell in BarcelonaAs Ive mentioned before, I leave Portland, Oregon every winter for someplace that is the stuff of my dreams, and that is hopefully warmer. The Mediterranean i...
In 2006 I was asked to draw up a design for friends for a small garden behind a Victorian house that was under major renovation in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco. I wound up backing o...
Man at a bus stopIn the winter of 1998-99 I spent two months of a four month trip to Asia exploring the country of Vietnam, from the Chinese border in the north to the bustling Mekong Delta. Vi...
Strunk Garden, PetropolisStone mosaic in Parque Flamenco with the Pau dAzucarBrazil is one of those countries I always dreamed about visiting, and in the winter of 2005 I made my first journey there....
Bathing in my garden at nightI have been giving a lecture to various horticultural organizations in the past year called "The Pleasure Garden". I start out giving some historical contex...
A circular pond with a stone mosaic church on a central islandGrandpas PetuniasThere are a number of reasons that I became a person obsessed with the art of crafting with stone. The earliest in...
The Trouble with Mow and BlowI was just out in the garden having lunch when my neighbor’s mow and blow company arrived. Soon there was the roar of gas powered edgers, mowers, and then blowers.&...
Gold and Black alternating bands of Mexican Beach Pebbles in Los AngelesThe most frequently asked question I get in regards to my mosaic work seems to be "Where do you get your stones?"  ...
I was reading the latest issue of National Geographic, whos cover story is about The Wildest Place in North America. I have sea kayaked a couple of times in this breathtaking part of the world ...
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12 /24/garden/24mosaic.htmlThis article was written by Kate Murphy from the New York Times after interviews while I was working on the garden of Brooke Adams and Tony Shalh...
Pool, Fountains, and Niche Wall in my gardenIn 1998 I bought the house next door, what had been for over a decade a Crack House. The house had a violent and disturbing history that could be wor...
The Chilmark Walls, Martha’s Vineyard, MassachusettsA Wall in the wonderful Polly Hill ArboretumMartha’s Vineyard lies off the southern coast of Cape Cod, which extends in an arc like a crooked finge...
Islandwood Cistern ProjectOne of my classes at the Islandwood SchoolI was approached ...
Cyphers and Constellations in Love with a WomanIn 2005 I was asked to create a parking strip mosaic for clients in the historic Irvington neighborhood of Portland. I discussed this mosaic...
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