Making Potter Bowls and Loving It, Giving Bowls

Earthy handmade large bowl measuring 10" high x 13 wide. Bright Robin's Egg Blue inside. $120 plus shipping and handling.

Recently made slab and pinched giving bowl, ready to dry and fire twice.

Cereal bowls thrown on the wheel waiting to be trimmed, fired and glazed.

A plain and simple glazed bowl, thrown on the wheel, sells for $9 and lasts forever. Lead free, microwaveable, dishwasher safe and ready to fill with soup.

Very large bowl, great for bread, salad, candle your choice! Formed by hand from three different clays. Sells for $120 plus freight. 10" tall x 13" wide

The giving bowl. I read the book a long time ago and found it fascinating. Being a potter and having made who knows how many bowls over 35 years how could I resist reading a book like that. In essence, the Monks are out everyday with their empty bowls living off what others put in them. Hmm.
Part of me likes the idea and the other part wonders what separates them from the persons I see under the interstate, same spot everyday with a sign, "Will work for food." or "Homeless" etc. Beyond that it is an idea worth thinking about and I think I have a new spring theme.

I want to make more bowls. The bowl must be one of the oldest produced shapes ever and quite functional. And of course, I want to push it to utilitarian/art/ worthy and thoughtful, not to mention beatiful.

When I am stressed I like to make bowls. It soothes me. The wheels spins, the lump of clay forms into a lovely container that later meet our basic needs. Or, making it is the basic rhythm of pinching round and round, watching how the clay moves, forming the patterns and one of a kind finger prints. Later the bowl holds something we need to nourish our bodies or contain something special. Or to just sit there, looking lovely and handmade to do whatever we want it to do.

When I am not stressed I also like to make bowls. A person cannot have enough bowls and they make lovely gifts for dear friends, new or old for that matter, brides. Everyone needs bowls.

Life hands us what we have. What is in our bowls? Are we grateful? Do we want bigger bowls? Smaller bowls? Brighter bowls? Matching bowls? Earthy bowls? One of a kind bowls? Bowls.
Do we have enough or too many?

I like to think life does not hand me what I have in my bowl. Would you call that bowl control? I like the take charge kind of attitude and that might make it hard for me to stand on the corner with my bowl and see what happens. How long could I stand there? I think I would feel embarrassed.
I cannot stand the phrases, "It is just meant to be." or other similar religious statements and I won't go there for now. So what about that bowl?

I am making bowls, special bowls, all kinds of bowls and will soon have an artist's statement about them. Follow me on this blog and let's see what happens. By spring I should have lots and lots of bowls for sale, all kinds.

Put simply, I love making bowls. And now my "Giving Bowls, made with love, one at a time, for many reasons for many people."