08 Mar Custom Fountain to Match Big Bowl O’ Zen, 2010

About a year ago, Zenas ordered a Big Bowl O’ Zen Sculptural Firebowl™ for his Minneapolis townhouse, and when he chose to add a fountain to his landscape, he sent the following email:

We are looking for a water feature that will make enough white noise so that we do not hear our neighbors conversations and they don’t hear ours. It won’t take much noise. Additionally, we like the calming sound of a babbling brook.  We are looking for a fountain that would be self contained, electrically powered, and any size (up to 6ft tall max) that complements the Bowl o’ Zen. We have an electrical outlet nearby. We will need to drain it for the winter. And, it might be nice to have a heating element installed, but that is a secondary issue. We have dogs so it must use water only—no anti-freeze. My wife and I did not find anything that we liked that would complement your Bowl o’ Zen. As a result, she suggested I contact you.

BTW: my middle-son—a college sophomore home for Christmas break— and I built a big fire last night and enjoyed the Bowl o’ Zen from about 9:30PM to past midnight.  It was 15 degrees out. We had a lot of fun. The fire became intensely hot. It burned blue flame. It appeared that the sides of the bowl funneled cold air into the coals. Additionally, cold air may have been pulled into the coals from the bottom hole. It was very interesting. We have been burning white oak which leaves almost no ash.

We traded some ideas back and forth and the above photos show the finished design. I’ve wanted to experiment with making a water feature for some time, so it was a welcome commission. Apparently the fountain was a hit with the heighbors as well—

My wife and I have been enjoying our fountain–mainly the babbling brook (shouting waterfall!). My neighbors like hearing the water as well. We have decided to keep the current pump (1900 Gph).