March 2026 Turning Challenge: David Bartell Wins!

[Michael Anderson]

Hi everyone!

This month's turning challenge was form-centric: turn an olla vessel. We had eight participants submit eight excellent pieces. Some natural, some embellished, all very cool. I appreciate everyone's participation--another month, another challenging vote!

Now, the challenge for all forum members (this means you and me) is to choose a favorite. Voting begins now and concludes ~11:59p UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) Thursday, 2 April, 2026. You are allowed two votes; once you have voted, you won't be able to go back and change your votes. After you have voted, you can track the vote totals. The voting is secret (just like an actual election), so nobody else can see who you voted for (not even the moderators/administrators). In case of a tie vote, the forum moderators will gather in a virtual waist-deep green shavings-filled shop to determine the winner.

As in all previous challenges, the winner might have to pass a lie detector test before being awarded the Grand Prize (rumored to be a miniature olla made from Balsa wood).

The following are this month's entries. FYI, you can click on each image for a larger view:

 

[Michael Anderson]

Additional entries:

 

[Rick Moreton]

Congratulations David, great piece!

Every entry had something that I loved that was different from the others.

 

[David Bartell]

Congratulations David, great piece!

Every entry had something that I loved that was different from the others.

Thanks Rick. That was a fun project. I agree with you about the impressive variety. Your piece was very creative and authentic looking and TINY! Well done.

 

[Michael Anderson]

Big congrats to @David Bartell for his Southwestern style olla being chose as people's favorite for this month's challenge. It is a fantastic piece! Thank you to everyone else that played--these challenges get more fun the more folks participate. Stay tuned for April's turning challenge, coming soon to a theater near you.

 

[David Bartell]

Thank you Michael for the origination of this project and for your hard work in managing all of the challenges.

 

[Vincent Vogel]

Congratulations David your piece was very nice as usual. All the other entries had something that I liked also.

 

[David Bartell]

Congratulations David your piece was very nice as usual. All the other entries had something that I liked also.

Thanks Vincent.