One of the oldest parts of the Contemplative Gardens was built by a gentleman named MacDubh. Like many, he showed up in Ruadh one day, stayed for a while, and then disappeared into the desert with no notice. MacDubh had unusual ideas; he seemed to think that all of Kaliphlin should be united under a single tartan, and couldn't be dissuaded from the notion, no matter how many times we told him that Kaliphlin aren't really interested in homogeneity. Undeterred, he decided that he would subliminally change our minds by incorporating his vision of a Kaliphlin plaid into builds across the Guild.

Now, none of the travelling artists have seen this pattern anywhere else, but perhaps we're looking in the wrong places. At any rate, we enjoy this piece of the gardens he built for us.

"The Contemplative Gardens: a collection of gardens and religious structures located in the southeast corner of Ruadh. Popular with locals, students, and tourists alike as a quiet, calm location, perfect for meditation and inspiration."

from Ruadh: A Guide, coming soon to a forum near you

The tree in the center is meant to be inspired by the Joshua Tree, native to the Mojave Desert. According to Wikipedia, most trusted of resources, it was named for its resemblance to a man reaching his hands up to the sky in prayer. Seemed appropriate.

As always, feedback and constructive criticism are most welcome!

I'd like to claim UoP credits for:

Architecture: Round Walls (approved)

Landscape Design: Flowers and Dense Foliage Landscaping (pending: 2 for, one against, one undecided)

Edited September 19, 201410 yr by SarahJoy

Wow, very nice job Sarah! The curves you managed to build are great. Brick on!

  On 9/18/2014 at 6:15 AM, Simon_S said:

Wow, very nice job Sarah! The curves you managed to build are great. Brick on!

Thanks Simon! :)

Nice! The wall colours are great! Those curves are brilliant!

I really like how you made the curves around the pond.

Very cool curves, also I really like the brick work on the wall it's self :) well done :)

As others have said, those curves are great! Good job on the landscaping as well! +1 for round walls, but I don't think I can give you flowers and dense foliage for the little section inside the curve. It's nice and dense, however I'd like to see more before I give you credit for the subject.

Excellent garden, like the others, I really like the curves

Nice tree and surrounding landscape as well

Gorgeous. I love that tree and I think it may be pretty unique among Lego trees I've seen so kudos! I echo everybody else's comments about the curved walls and landscaping. You should throw some 'figs in there but I can see why you wouldn't. Great idea and write-up for the build too.

Very well done! As everyone else has mentioned, the walls are great.

  On 9/18/2014 at 6:59 AM, Lord Vladivus said:

Nice! The wall colours are great! Those curves are brilliant!

  On 9/18/2014 at 10:17 AM, BrickCurve said:

I really like how you made the curves around the pond.

  On 9/18/2014 at 2:03 PM, Garmadon said:

Excellent garden, like the others, I really like the curves

Nice tree and surrounding landscape as well

  On 9/18/2014 at 4:23 PM, janatale said:

Very well done! As everyone else has mentioned, the walls are great.

Thanks y'all! IT was a fun challenge to take those intersecting curved walls from concept to reality.

  On 9/18/2014 at 11:59 AM, Kai NRG said:

As others have said, those curves are great! Good job on the landscaping as well! +1 for round walls, but I don't think I can give you flowers and dense foliage for the little section inside the curve. It's nice and dense, however I'd like to see more before I give you credit for the subject.

Thank you Kai! Re: flowers and dense foliage, I understand. I know the little garden part is small (about 16 bricks inside, at its widest) and can't really compare to UoP builds like this or this, but I had hoped based on this and this, it would show sufficient mastery.

  On 9/18/2014 at 3:40 PM, mccoyed said:

Gorgeous. I love that tree and I think it may be pretty unique among Lego trees I've seen so kudos! I echo everybody else's comments about the curved walls and landscaping. You should throw some 'figs in there but I can see why you wouldn't. Great idea and write-up for the build too.

Thanks mccoyed! Noted: more minifigures! I find I tend to build first and consider minifigs once everything else is complete, so they often seem superfluous. I need to change my way of thinking on this.

Edited September 18, 201410 yr by SarahJoy

I'm with Kai on this one; +1 for the round walls, but the dense foliage doesn't quite qualify.

I really like the colors, curves, and levels you designed into this! Nice job on the tree too! It is really hard to make organic looking trees with Lego but you did a decent job with the few pieces you used. I still wish Lego would come up with a modular tree design.

  On 9/18/2014 at 4:54 PM, gedren_y said:

I'm with Kai on this one; +1 for the round walls, but the dense foliage doesn't quite qualify.

Thank you for the +1!

  On 9/18/2014 at 4:56 PM, Mike S said:

I really like the colors, curves, and levels you designed into this! Nice job on the tree too! It is really hard to make organic looking trees with Lego but you did a decent job with the few pieces you used. I still wish Lego would come up with a modular tree design.

Thanks Mike! The tree is still a bit clunky. I have a feeling we'll be seeing different iterations of the Joshua tree in upcoming builds; I don't think it's done with me yet.

Not bad at all! Loving those curves and landscaping! :)

Inderesting curves there Sarah and lovely landscape texturing!

  On 9/18/2014 at 4:41 PM, SarahJoy said:

Thank you Kai! Re: flowers and dense foliage, I understand. I know the little garden part is small (about 16 bricks inside, at its widest) and can't really compare to UoP builds like this or this, but I had hoped based on this and this, it would show sufficient mastery.

Now you've made me wonder. Hmm. I think, since the main landscaping focus of the build is sand... oh, IDK! I'll wait and see what others say.

  On 9/18/2014 at 6:36 PM, Jakorin Swiftsword said:

Not bad at all! Loving those curves and landscaping! :)

  On 9/18/2014 at 7:27 PM, Gunman said:

Inderesting curves there Sarah and lovely landscape texturing!

Thanks for your kind words!

  On 9/18/2014 at 8:44 PM, Kai NRG said:

Now you've made me wonder. Hmm. I think, since the main landscaping focus of the build is sand... oh, IDK! I'll wait and see what others say.

I didn't mean to make things difficult! You know I'm cool with whatever you and the other esteemed guildmembers decide.

Edited September 18, 201410 yr by SarahJoy

Great work with this, good color combos and landscaping. I prefer little more of a textured look for the tree (smaller slopes perhaps?) but this is nonetheless pulled off well. I'm looking forward to more

Very nicely composed!

Lovely moc sarah, as has been said the curves are great. I might copy the walls in the future, on one of my mocs. Only addition I can think of is some form of path round it. Bravo still though.

great garden, I love this little oasis in the middle of the sand, and the colors and shape work great. As cablefoxley said, a path would be a good addition.

Very nice curves and the gems(look) great. The tree is so simple but effective.

Beautiful use of colour and shape SarahJoy. The sand green cheese is my favourite touch, it is remarkably effective at evoking a desert. It's been a long time since I saw a GoH moc with no mini figures, a brave call and I think it really paid off in making the viewer interact with the scene and contemplate the garden, rather than being a passive viewer of someone else's actions. Love the way you are building up Ruadh. UoP +1 all claims.

Very nice walls and a very unusual tree design, which however looks just right in the desert setting.

UoP +1 for both claims as the flower mastery is definitely demonstrated