Following on from last year’s trend posts on blurred watercolor patterns and marbling, the watery theme continues this year with designers creating solid surfaces that look like swirling liquids frozen in time.

Elisa Strozyk covered round ceramic table tops in different liquid glazes, which were then mixed together by rotating each piece and blowing air across the surface. The swirling patterns are then fired and solidified in the kiln to create a glass-like finish.

The Diluted color vessels by Dutch designers Alissa+Nienke are made by pouring pigment into liquid porcelain, to create one-of-a-kind patterns.

The Landscape of Gravity vessels by RCA graduate Kirsi Enkovaara are made by nesting a small porcelain bowl within a larger one, filling them with water and then dropping bright blue ink onto the surface. The water is slowly drained from a hole in the bottom of the bowls leaving behind a swirling, inky residue that folds over and sticks to the bowls’ surface. See a video of the process here.

The Balloon Bowls by Belgian designer Marteen de Ceulaer are made by casting strong synthetic plaster within the space between two inflated balloons. The watery surface effect is achieved by adding colorants to the water prior to mixing it with the plaster powder. The two balloons act as flexible molds, ensuring a unique shape for each and every bowl – once the plaster is set, the balloons are removed, and the bowls are finished with a special  dry food-approved matte or glossy coating which reinforces the plaster and makes it waterproof.

Suitable for a variety of applications from space dividers, bar tops, wall panels, and table inlays, these swirling hand painted acrylic and glass panels by Sublime capture the interaction of metallic and opaque pigments.