|
|
Making a Japanese garden is very different
from making a Western gardening. Process and forms must adhere
to fundamental traditions, philosophy, and elements, some of
which are shown in these
watercolours. |
|
 There must be a place of refuge, a
quiet place where human constructs are separate from, yet in
harmony with, the rest of the garden. A chair sits on a brick
half-circle, beneath the blossoming plum.
|
|
The little stone
lantern embodies the human spirit of the garden, a five-part
'head, shoulders, torso, hips, and legs' that keeps watch with
its light in the night.
|
|
In the fledgling garden, when the
rocks and earth were still just bare bones, with some
volunteer poppies, six chickadee babies fledged in it. Five of
them flitted quickly to protective greenery, but one brave
little soul stayed in the open, risking all to drink in the
sun's warmth.
|
|
 The fall leaves fell into the ribs of the dry pond,
accentuating the pattern carefully made to imitate the actions
of nature, showing how the human and natural work in
harmony.
|
|
Rocks edge the dry pond and stream, feeding it
as if they were formed by a debris torrent. First morning
light plays up the integration of the contrived and
natural.
|
A Japanese
garden must have a path that encompasses this world within a
world. The human-made objects must be in stark contrast to the
curves of nature, to play them up while fitting perfectly with
them. Signs of the forces of nature that formed it must be
subtle and clear.
|
|
|
