Notes from Note Taking

I am up early each morning now preparing for my landscape and garden design workshops. This means I am reading through all my design notes from the past several years. So often when we fill our blank books with information and insights, we rarely have reason and chance to re-visit them. And so they sit for years on a shelf or in a box. All that knowledge. All those thoughts.

It is proving to be a source of deep happiness to re-read all my notes and so often I think of someone with whom I want to share these little snippets with. But can people endure early morning texts each day? So I shall deposit them here. They will be random and many without context. Much like my notebooks themselves.

• familiarity with a newness
• areas of retreat, areas of social gathering
• never put a camber with gravel - have a one-way fall
• cambers are good for asphalt
• asphalt isn't great for areas with a high water table
• edging always comes first to establish levels
• best time to find out about he water table is winter time - dig a meter deep (even in Utah?)
• we are designers and specifiers
• loose gravel weighs about 70% of the weight of the same solid rock
• sedimentary rocks changes soil PH
• granite does not change soil PH
• put it down 65mm thick so it finishes 50mm thick
• we are all bound in an endless cycle of suffering, caused by want and desire

Pure Land (Jodo): A Heaven where the spirits of enlightened individuals enter at death to be removed from the endless cycle of death and rebirth. It's an island - connected to shore by a bridge, Pure Land is attainable.

Aware (Ah-wa-ray): An epiphany at the discovery of beauty in the pathos of life.

Artist Statement

Below is an old Artist Statement I wrote about my work with the Great Salt Lake.

The mystical and ever-changing landscape of the Great Salt Lake in Utah's Great Basin is a highly curious subject for exploration. The story of space and time is told in surreal ways as wind and water carve and sculpt the salted sand into sinuous curves. Light and shadow weave into the water and rake across the sand, emphasizing the patterns and forms.

It's an elemental and otherworldly landscape, paired back to the minimal: sand, salt, water, and sky, with some mountains hosted along the distant horizon. Plant and animal life is limited. Yet in this seemingly basic environment, complexity and intricacy are tireless if one only looks. As an artist integrating myself into this space, I find surprising worlds through the lens of the camera. 

Here's to the ones who dream. Foolish as they may seem. Here's to the hearts that ache. Here's to the mess we make.

 - La La Land

Shop Update: Interpretive Landscape Drawings

Last year I took several road trips and wanders around the West. During these excursions I created interpretive landscape drawings or sketches, minimal marks to capture the landscape. I have now added several of my favorites to my online shop and they are available for purchase. 

2017 will see more wanders and more sketches. I am excited for where the open road will take me and to the plants, rocks, and forms I will appreciate and interpret along the way.

All sketches come initialed.

Winter's Light

I love the light quality during winter. It's poetic. Usually more pale and drawn out, like pigment which has been watered down a bit. The above image is not mine. I found it in Google images for computer wallpaper while searching for something about January and hope. It seems like it could have been captured in Richmond Park. I loved visiting Richmond Park while living in London. It always felt magical to me. 

A quote for the New Year

“We favor the simple expression of the complex thought.”

— Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb

I haven't made any New Year's resolutions yet. I have mixed feeling about them. But I do like this quote and I think it is worth some pondering over as a new year does begin. 

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And since it is a new year that means my Rothko 2016 calendar I bought from the Tate Modern in London last December is no longer of daily use. How sad. For the past two years my calendars have come from the Tate Modern. However, I didn't get over there in time for the 2017 version. A pity. 

Queen Anne's Lace

There's something about Queen Anne's Lace in December. 

Maybe it's the snowflake likeness. 

When I look at this flower I see delicate and beauty, but also strength. It is these qualities which define my favourite kinds of flowers.

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Next post: image gallery of my favourite kinds of flowers.

Life Beyond Social Media

It's the Friday after Thanksgiving and several weeks since I stopped frequenting Facebook and Instagram. I can only say that my life has improved many fold since then. And though I know I will return to both at some point in some capacity for professional reasons...right now I loathe the though of it. 

I read a lot more. I've begun to play my instruments again. My mind is calmer, clearer. I still have a drafting table full of papers and books, receipts and bills, the odd items which don't have a place yet...it hasn't helped me organize that yet. But I feel life more presently than I have in a long while. It's very positive. 

I have also become more social now that my substitute social life is behind me. And with that comes laughter, connecting, and living. 

Many people use social media platforms to grow their businesses and get their names and their work out there. I am not opposed to this at all. It has been an advantage for me as well. But when I return it will be a more governed tool. Otherwise I would just as well prefer to increase my reputation as an artist and designer sans technology. But the world lives online, and so to some extent, Lorien Hall the professional, will too.

I love the image at the top of this post. It's rich in color and mood. Very appropriate for seeing November into its final week. I love this month. I love its sunsets and dried up leaves. Walks in the brisk air. Snow begins to fall and the scent in the air shifts as the seasons which came before decay into earth. It's somber and reflective. Like rich gold that sits on the heavy water; the sinking sun mirrored onto the wide and idle river.

The High Line Plant List

What makes The High Line The High Line are the plants. This is of course, my opinion, but I think it would be hard to dispute.

Last week while I was researching grasses I came across the plant list for this must-experience destination. They also have a Bloom List for each month! I am even more in love with this inspiring space and all the good it has done for so many groups, communities, and individuals around the world. I look forward to my next trip back!

The blog is also worth checking out!

Catching Water

I love this effect for the garden. This image of these little stone rain catchers comes from the website: HAVETID

Pre-register for Landscape & Garden Design Workshops

You can now pre-register for my workshops I'll be teaching in March and April 2017! No payment required at this time. Official registration will begin end of January. Here's to a future of beautiful landscapes and gardens.

Photo Journal: Organ Pipe Cactus

Lately I have been reviewing my photography from previous months, creating new collections for printing. This particular one stood out. I took this photograph last March while camping in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It's such an intimate image of a plant we typically think of as unapproachable.

I feel like I am right there, close. It even feels comfortable.

Quote on Time

Time is what keeps everything from happening at once. 

- attributed to different sources, including Einstein...skeptically.

Landscape & Garden Design Workshops

Eleven years ago I was talking with a good friend and classmate from university about starting an independent design school. It would be the Taliesin West of landscape and garden design. I was in my final year of my undergraduate studies and as we walked around campus, the plans for the school became more grand and more exciting. Around the same time we had contacted Dudley, a caretaker for a castle in Ireland whose gardens we were going to spend the summer restoring. Our ambitions were definitely running high though the castle project never happened.  

Over the past few years I have felt a shifting was needed professionally but I haven't been sure what to shift to or from. Several weeks ago the idea to teach again came up in conversation and then I remembered my plans for a design school. And so the dream moves forward!

To start, I will begin teaching 3 day workshops tailored to the homeowner who wants to create a design themselves rather than hire a design professional. My minimum for a design is $5,000.00, but by providing a workshop environment, I can teach you how to create a design for yourself at a fraction of what it would cost to hire me to create a design for you.  The workshop will take place in my home studio in Salt Lake City and will be capped at 10 students per section. My goal is to teach you how to think about your spaces, and how to make wise design decisions. I give you the tools to create your own landscape or garden and I will be there to guide you throughout the workshop. Workshops will be part-lecture, part-studio time, part-discussion. If you take WORKSHOP I, you will have a solid foundation from which to grow and build once the workshop is completed. If you add on WORKSHOP II you will receive more in-depth teachings and I will be there to guide you as you work through your design in the studio. For participants who don't have their own property yet, or who simply want to learn more about landscape and garden design (students and professionals alike), I will have a property for you to use for your design.

I will spend the fall and winter writing my curriculum and will begin teaching workshops March 2017. Below is a tentative breakdown of what is to come, subject to change. I will teach two WORKSHOP I's for every WORKSHOP II.

WORKSHOP I Section A and B

• Introduction: gardens and landscapes
• Creating a site plan and a program list
• Site inventory and analysis
• Mood boards and motivation
• Creating a foundation and a framework
• Common mistakes
• Studio time for design development

WORKSHOP II

• The psychology of a space
• The personality of plants and how to use them
• Color and seasons
• Using natural light in the garden
• Japanese design principles translated for an American garden
• Group discussion from reading
• Studio time for design development

WORKSHOP I Section A: March 18th 10:00-1:00 PM, March 24 7:00-9:00 PM, March 25 1:00-4:00 PM. Cost $200.00 plus materials.

WORKSHOP I Section B: March 21st 6:00-9:00 PM, March 27th 6:00-8:00 PM, March 28th 6:00-9:00 PM. Cost $200.00 plus materials.

WORKSHOP II: April 8th 10:00-3:00 PM, April 15th 10:00-3:00 PM, April 22nd 10:00:-3:00 PM. Cost $300.00 plus materials.

There must be a minimum of 5 students registered for the workshop to take place.

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I have worked as a professional landscape and garden designer for 11 years and have taught Intro to Residential Design at Brigham Young University for several semesters. I received my Postgraduate Diploma in Garden Design from the prestigious Inchbald School of Design in London where I was awarded the Society of Garden Designer's award. I was a participant and also a TA for Mike Lin's internationally-attended two-week graphics workshop, and have been a presenter twice at the Green Conference for the Utah Nursery and Landscape Association. I have studied garden design in Japan, and completed the Japanese Garden Intensive Seminar from the Kyoto University of Art and Design. For the past nine years I have overseen the gardening at the private estate, Rivendell. I designed the grounds and gardens in 2007, and have worked as the head gardener for one of those years. I travel extensively to visit gardens and landscapes around the country and world from which to draw inspiration and increase my understanding of my craft. I love to teach and share my knowledge with others, empowering them to create more beautiful lives through well-designed landscapes and gardens.

Quote

The garden that is finished is dead. - H. E. Bates

Landscape & Garden Design Consultations

One of my favorite services I offer as a landscape and garden designer is to consult with the homeowner on their personal landscape. Last week I was reminded of this once again as a woman expressed her gratitude for my time and ideas, "this has been so wonderful, you have painted a picture and have given me a place to start and a lot to think about!" 

I give consultations for any size or scope of project and I spend as much time as you'd like walking through and talking about your landscape. I don't provide any drawings or plant lists, but I teach you how to think about your spaces and guide you in how to make certain design decisions. We talk about what could be, throw out a bunch of ideas, and see which ones resonate most with your specific circumstances.

A consultation will last minimum of an hour, but usually it ends up taking 1.5-2+ hours depending on the size of the landscape. My rate is $100.00/hr and if I need to travel for 30 minutes or longer I do charge for travel time.

Fall is a great season for consultations. We get all the ideas flowing now so once spring rolls around you have had a few months of winter to make some decisions for your landscape. To arrange for a consultation, you can call or text me at 801.231.4199, or email me at hello@lorienhall.com.

For the more intense DIY homeowner, consultations pair very well with my design workshops, which I will be starting Spring 2017!

OCHRE

I don't remember why I first came across the work of OCHRE - I was browsing images a little less than two years ago, maybe for a design project, and came across an interiors scene which enchanted me. I printed it out and pinned it to my cork board. The image above is not the one I have pinned - I haven't been able to find that one again. But the name OCHRE was associated with that image and it wasn't until many months later as I stood staring at the image on my cork board that I looked up the company's website to learn more about them.

As I did more research into the company I was increasingly impressed. Mostly because all three partners are women. And that is inspiring to me. Also I love their aesthetic, just the right amount of interesting with a calm created by simplicity...beauty of the understated.

Here is text from the about section on their website: 

OCHRE designs furniture, lighting and accessories for the interior. Their designs place equal importance on harmonious proportions, luxurious materials and matchless craftsmanship.

British designers Joanna Bibby and Harriet Maxwell Macdonald, who shared an aesthetic for the beauty of the understated, founded OCHRE in 1996. Solenne de la Fouchardière became the third partner and fellow designer four years later. Along with selling directly to individuals, OCHRE’s clients are leading international interior designers and architects. OCHRE has worked on many custom projects for private residences, boutique hotels and restaurants throughout the world.

Today, OCHRE is acclaimed internationally with showrooms in London and New York and continues to grow organically whilst staying true to its considered design roots. It is the destination for those in search of discreet glamour - the hallmark of OCHRE.

The Seven Elements of Shibusa

I stumbled across the Seven Elements of Shibusa/Shibui last week while researching the term, Shibusa. I vaguely remembered reading about it years ago when I was doing plenty of research on Japanese gardens and Japanese design aesthetic.

The seven elements are simplicity, implicity, modesty, silence, naturalness, everydayness, and imperfection.

During my Google search I came across this bit of writing and loved it:

Simplicity An aesthetic experience
producing quietude. Implicity Depth of feeling through spare surface
design manifesting the invisible core Modesty exalts excellence via understatement
and silence concerning oneself Modesty Silence A sanctuary of silence is non-dualism...the resolution
of opposites, is intuition coupled with beauty and faith Naturalness Roughness, irregular asymmetry wherein the center
lies beyond all particular things in infinity Everydayness A framework for an artist's oeuvre
to be a unit not a process Imperfection Beauty with inner implications...beauty
that makes an artist of the viewer.

Shibusa, or Shibui, is different from Wabi-Sabi. But I am not going to explain that right now. You can look it up.