Big Bowl O Canada 37" Diameter Firebowl

Product Overview

The Big Bowl O Canada takes it's name from Canada's National Anthem, composed in 1880 by Calixa Lavallée, a talented musician whose father worked as a woodcutter, blacksmith and luthier. Although many variations of the song exist, in multiple languages, the tune is the same for all. John Unger couldn't resist the connection between music and sculpture, between firebowls, lumberjacks and blacksmithing. The idea of art arising from hard work, skill and a grounding in the natural world is at the heart of this design.

The motif was inspired by a custom Great Bowl O' Fire for a Calgary client who requested a stylized flame in the shape of a maple leaf. John liked the results so much that it moved him to create a design especially for the Great White North.

He has shipped firebowls all across Canada, from Vancouver to Halifax. As the second largest land mass on earth, that's a lot of ground to cover. Filled with natural beauty and wonders, peopled by folks who love the outdoors, we can't think of any place that has more use for a firebowl that is solid and durable, beautiful and meaningful, large enough to gather a group of friends under a huge night sky.

Additional Information
	Made in America	View all Products From this Artist

I'm best known as an artist and designer, but relaxing makes me tense, so I tend to put in a lot of hours on diverse projects.

I've been making art professionally since about 1995, and have made a full-time living as an artist since 2000. On the way to a successful art career I've been a poet and writer, a tech geek, a print and web designer, illustrator, industrial designer, musician, teacher, actor, set designer and even a paid guru once.

I like to joke that I'm the world's most well-educated self-taught artist - I've learned pretty much everything I know by doing it. I work in a lot of different styles using a wide variety of materials. I find that each new medium informs all which have come before.

It's all the same thing in the end - I wake up most days thinking about how I want to change, fix or improve some aspect of the world. And after a couple cups of coffee I get started on it. My specialty is impossibility remediation: if it can't be done, I'm on it.

Art has been good to me, and I feel very lucky to have been able to pursue what interests me on my own terms. As an artist, I am also a small business owner who supports a family, pays taxes, and supports other local businesses through the sale of my fire pits. I have a part-time assistant who depends on the income I provide him to make his house payment. I buy the materials for my firebowls at the scrapyard, paying a premium to have them cut and delivered (I've spent over $10,000 at the scrapyard this year alone). I am one of the larger customers for my local freight company and am pleased to be able to pass along my 75% savings to you.

There are not a lot of successful businesses or job opportunities in the area of Michigan where I live, and the income I make from my art and spend in the community is important to the people I support. The fact that I am able to sell my work globally and bring money into the Michigan economy (one of the worst in the nation) is something that I am very proud of and I feel pretty good about the fact that I can help people pay their bills while larger corporate companies are laying people off left and right.