Portfolio > Cairns

"Borrowed scenery" is a common technique used by Japanese gardeners to enlarge visual scale*. Their technique has been adopted here, using the sunrise over Seneca Lake in upstate New York.

This miniature cairn was assembled from medium to small pieces of feather rock. A hidden miniature pump creates the waterfall that cascades from the peak, as dwarf ivy climbs upward through the crevices. A lone crane is perched on the peak of an adjacent island.

The Korean tray, a casting of 85% mica and graphite, was sealed with a clear lacquer.



*Keane, M.P. (1996). Japanese Garden Design. North Clarendon: Tuttle Publishing. pp. 140-141.