Dorcas Adkins is certainly a magician when it comes to fountain design. Her wizardry encompasses bamboo, wood, ceramic, concrete, stone, and metal creations, from small tabletop delights to full-sized garden waterfalls. Her extremely thorough and well-diagrammed instructions make even the most complex projects approachable--and some of them are indeed fairly complex, involving woodworking skills, plaster and concrete casting, ceramic modeling, soldering, or rigging an existing sculpture. But the results are well worth the effort, yielding Zen-like arrangements in which water trickles over a miniature bonsai garden, through bamboo piping, or into a rustic stone trough filled with water lilies; or more traditional Western constructions such as a ewer-toting cherub, a shell-and-stone-and-tile mosaic, or various spouting faces.

Beginners or those seeking smaller-scale productions are best off starting with a more basic approach, like Dawn Cusick'sTabletop Fountains. But for the more adventurous fountaineers, it's hard to beat Adkins's presentation, which also helpfully includes a list of mail-order suppliers and a useful at-a-glance guide to finding general materials, from antique tubs to pond liners to wooden barrels.--Amy Handy

Fountain magic
A truely awesome book. I came upon it when I looked through Angel Lee's review list and ordered it. I am indebted to her! I have been making my own fountains since I bought my 1st home 6 years ago, and wanted new ideas. These are wonderful. Some of the simpler dish-type gardens will make lovely Christmas gifts, and I look forward to starting them. For the more adventurous, there are more complex and larger fountains/ponds, all truely picturesque, which would be great fun for anyone with a reasonable sized yard. A friend has created one on his terraced front lawn, and it captures the attention of by passers, making his neighborhood The Place to visit of late. For the truely enthused, there are directions for casting subjects in ceramics, for designing cement fountains or basins, and even for making masks of living persons. Although many items can be collected from the "saved" materials everyone seems to store away in garages or from yard and garage sales, those like pumps, tubing, and other hardware items can be found at nurseries and hardward stores. There is also a very useful list of addresses where other types of supplies may be found. I can hardly wait to get started! Thanks again Angel.

The materials selection is varied. Almost any watertight vessel can be the basis of a small fountain. Other materials include bamboo, wood, ceramic, concrete, stone&metal. Pump selection&mechanical requirements are also covered.

Projects range from small table-top fountains to elaborate outdoor units. There are even instructions for a 3' high tiered waterfall. All have clear construction diagrams&color photos of the finished work.

Helpful extras include lists of suitable plants to use with the fountains, suggestions for finding materials,&a list of mail order suppliers. This is the book to get if you want to know the joy of building a fountain of your own creation.

Every conceivable problem is addressed with buying information,pictures,diagrams and trouble shooting.

I know I can create a beautiful water fountain from the information presented in Ms.Adkins' book. I recommend it highly.

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