Who says making functional pottery can’t be fun? Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a same old, same old type of guy. So one of the things about throwing pottery I enjoy the most is coming up with new and different product designs for items I can make on a wheel.

Pottery that rocks

2016 pottery design - cell phone speaker

Cell phone speakers are one of my favorite 2016 designs. The idea isn’t new. I saw it made first with a Pringles can. I ran into someone making them out of wood at a craft show last fall. But for reverberating sound outward, clay really is the bomb. I am constantly tweaking: playing with the size of the bowl to make a better echo chamber, playing with the size of the funnel horn to maximize volume, playing with the size of the hole to accommodate different phones. But a cell phone speaker made from clay really works! Come to one of my next shows and check it out. I almost always have one playing.

Pottery that pours

New pottery design from late 2016 - batter bowl in warm green

For 2017, I am designing a series of products that pour. Batter bowls, berry bowls (I know cooks would just call this a colander), and now pitchers. Not new ideas, I know. But I can promise you a slightly new take on an old functional piece. Right now I am still playing with the details of function and form on all these designs. What is the best pattern of holes on the bottom of a berry bowl? I need one that will let water pour out easily but that won’t produce cracks between the holes when fired. What is the way I want my spouts to look on my batter bowls and pitchers? These are the sorts of questions running through my head. Just wait to see what I produce. They will be works in progress for a while.

Late 2016 pottery design - berry bowl in snowy plum/blue combo

Pottery that protects

Not every design is an intended design, at least not in the Oddbowlz world. That’s how I came up with my brand new pottery birdhouse design.  Really this is not a house but a nesting box, made of clay. Again, the originality is not in the function, but the form. I’ve made just one prototype so far. We are looking forward to trying it out at our Ozark home this spring! Watch for a picture soon…if it works.

New year, new day, new minute…new idea. That’s what I love about making pottery. There will be more new odd bowl designs in 2017, just you wait and see!

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