Throughout his career Tom Odell has produced pieces other than jewelry which have included all sorts of fine metal work for various uses both functional and sculptural.
In 1986 having arranged to work in the workshop of Mr. Shumei Tanaka in Kyoto, Japan he began work on a series of hand raised hollowware pieces. Upon returning from Japan in 1987 he has continued making these hand raised pieces of holiowware in the patinaed Japanese alloys and sterling silver. Many of these have been designed for Japanese tea ceremony and have been entered in competitions in Japan where they have been exhibited and received awards, as well as in this country. Not all of the hand raised pieces are made for this specialized use and even the ones that are, are certainly not restricted to that as a sole use.

In 1993 he began work on what is a continuing series of vessels and sculptures in cast and patinaed bronze. Modeling wax originals of each vessel allows many possibilities for a broad range of shaping and surface texturing possibilities which can then be carried out with the casting process. Bronze was chosen for its durability and wide variety of rich color possibilities through patination.

The functional vessels are created in a sculptural context and while they are intended as usable flower containers, among other uses, they may also be enjoyed solely for their sculptural nature. The vase, provides a wonderful opportunity for artistic collaboration with others through its use and that is a great part of its appeal. It is inherently not just a single artistic expression, but as the vase is used by others to create new artistic compositions with the addition of natural plant materials it will always be part of an ongoing improvisational design process.