It all started in May 2006, when ceramicist & cocker spaniel owner Claire Pearson got fed up of her dog Bella's ears always ending up with bits of food on them after mealtimes. Bella had a spaniel bowl bought from a pet superstore but she is a pint size cocker and the shape just didn't work for her - in fact she could practically fit her whole body into the bowl, never mind her ears!

So Claire decided to try and use her skills as a trained potter to make Bella a bowl which worked and also looked nice. Two weeks later, Bella was presented with her first home-made spaniel bowl - slightly too small and a bit rough around the edges, but it worked as a prototype. So Claire had a second go and this time the bowl was the correct size and a far more satisfying shape.

Claire then made bowls for her two cats, and then offered a few fellow dog and cat owners the chance to have a personalised bowl - a few weeks later the orders just kept on coming and Chow Bella was born!

The business has grown very organically - it is still a very small affair, just one woman, a wheel and a small kiln. Claire works as a dog walkerand behaviourist and fits the bowls in around this, as well as sharing life with two bustly little cockers, a cat and a partner.

Claire has been throwing on a potter's wheel for around fifteen years now and has a Higher Ed Diploma in Fine & Applied Art Ceramics from London's City Lit where she trained under prestigious ceramicists  Dan Kelly, Robert Cooper, Annie Turner and Sara Radstone. Prior to making pet bowls Claire spent a number of years making and exhibiting art ceramics which can be seen here. The bowls then took over but she still makes and shows art works when she has time!

Exhibitions include:

New Designers, London (2003)

Torbay Visual Arts Festival (2003)

Recent Graduates: New Ashgate Gallery, Farnham (2003)

Iliffe Yard and Brockley Open Studios, London (2004-5)

Artscreative gallery (2004)

Galerie Zur Stellmacherie, Germany (2003-2010)

Pet Passions, The Shire Hall Gallery, Stafford (2008-9)

Artisan Gallery, London (2010)

Claire lives in London with her partner, two blue-roan cockers (Bella, who the company is named after, and her sidekick and half-brother, Zorro), and a rather demanding Burmese crossbreed cat named Taj Mahal who came to us from Battersea Dogs and Cats Home a little over 14 years ago.

                                                 Bella (left) and Zorro in Greenwich Park, London

                                                                Taj "helping" in the studio!