A magical quality in the creation of a miniature garden lies in the ability to create a physical destination, a cerebral destination or both.
What the John Henry is he talking about???
Ok, a little more information so that my thoughts may make sense to other human beings.
When creating a physical destination within an MG (my lazy way to say “Mini Garden”), one would create an actual path, trail or flow (like a dry river bed, stepping stones or such) that leads one’s eyes to a focal point (more on focal point in a future post).
When creating a cerebral destination within a MG, one focuses on creating a theme (see Kathy’s inspiring prior post on themes) that pulls the viewer mentally into the garden.
Through the eyes the viewer can “walk” around the scene and examine the elements. The viewer is mentally drawn into the scene.
A MG that has an interesting, physical path AND strong theme can do both at once. The mind becomes filled and occupied with the theme of the MG but the “eye” is drawn along the path to the focal point. In a well composed MG that is purposely created to draw attention to the focal point, it is hard to resist taking that virtual “walk” down the path or “float” up the dry stream bed.
Here is an example:
The cabin, dwarf spruce and stone work create a woodland theme that pulls the mind in. The stone steps going up the wall and the stepping stones lead one’s eyes straight to the front door.