My story, my journey
But how did I become a potter?
Flashback on my career... I had the pleasure of being an executive assistant for a multinational cutting-edge technology giant, for... oh my.. 35 years! And it clicked one day…
Changing your life , everyone dreams of it, right? Mine was pottery , for decades. This return to basics happened 6 years ago. I seized the opportunity of a 180° turn and off I went into ceramics, my hands in clay and my head in the stars.
Imagine this big gap in space-time... My first steps took me in 2017 to Quebec , to Catherine Auriol of the Gaia Céramiques workshop in the heart of Montreal. What a discovery! My hands and clay immediately fell in love. An emotion , a carnal contact with water and earth , the letting go of always learning ... Nothing is simple, don't believe it! But with patience and application, I knew that this was my new life .. A blog article is dedicated to this first learning.
My first pieces at Catherine's, in Quebec
Bernard's
At Isa's
2018: return to France , to the Chevreuse Valley, for new ceramic practices at Bernard Leclerc 's workshop in Verrières le Buisson. At the Lavoir-Céramiques I take Saturday afternoon classes. There I learned to turn earthenware, and decorations very inspired by Japan. Bernard's workshop is zen with its patio, its wash house and its Koi carp!
At the same time on Mondays and Wednesdays I am a student at the Atelier Céramuse with Isabelle Lamarre in Linas at the time, now based in Dordogne.
It was Isa who offered to deepen my practice even further. So many days of pleasure shared with friends from Isa! I followed a diligent apprenticeship until it clicked : I need professional training !
At Isa's
At the Créamik vocational school, and in Japan
And here I am, freshly arrived in Brittany in February 2019, in the beautiful region of the Gulf of Morbihan, at the Ecole Créamik on the Port Anna peninsula, near Vannes. Our master, Matthieu Liévois, taught us infinitely, I say 'us', the 16 students of the school. He led us all towards the Holy Grail of the moment... our CAP Ceramic Turning , Wonderful icing on the cake to graduate in my new profession. Our teacher also taught us about the magic of enamel .. Chemistry on the program, wow! Welcome to molecular calculations, recipes and formulas, weighings and test shards. What passion he transmitted to us! His expertise has led me today to make some of my own enamels , choosing my raw materials , playing with trials, failures and successes but still and always learning and in ceramic safety process.
Créamik School
Kasen Studio
At Créamik school, Brittany
Kasen Studio, Japan
2019 will definitely have been the key year of training that took me to Japan for a studious and extraordinary summer! Imagine for a moment... total immersion in a pottery village near Nagoya , 4 hours by train from Tokyo . In the village of Akazu , the Kasen Pottery Studio offers much more than ceramic training, it offers the opportunity to dive head first and arms forward into zenitude and a Far Eastern change of scenery that is as much cultural as human. And I was lucky enough to be able to choose my theme for these 30 days : the Tea Ceremony . Read in the blog , how I found myself 10,000 km from home, in a kimono, learning the traditional gestures of the Tea Ceremony from the Tea Master and serving it to our guests. And in the Chawan bowls that I had learned to make on the potter's wheel !
I thank my master potter Hirosige Kato for his shared art , far away at the end of the world , where all my Western references have exploded. Wow, what an experience, I brought back a box of more than 10 kg of pieces that I turned, decorated and enameled under the guidance of our master. I retained among other precepts : ' practice practice practice...' and then: 'This is important...' And there we knew, students, that this is the key . A big Beatles fan our master Hiro! If you want to know more, go to the blog article.
Inspiration close to home
But back to the present ! Brittany has welcomed me for 5 years now. I chose to experience my change of life here, in southern Finistère , here I am Breton by adoption. It is in this inspiring environment that my dream comes true ,
The A tout bolée workshop is located in Clohars-Carnoët , near Pouldu , a land dear to Gauguin. When the crowds of Pont Aven disturbed his inspiration, he came to recharge his batteries here with some impressionist friends, to place his easel in the light of the ocean, here on the coastal path, I took this photo on this coastal path. The GR34!
I understand Paul Gauguin! Heaven is here .
I launched my pottery adventure with passion, everything here is conducive to creation , to serenity. I invite you to enter my world for a discovery around clay. Let's continue to the Workshop to unravel its mysteries, on the page of my Creations , to discover my ceramics. The Portfolio tab will take you on a journey to souvenir photos, those of my travel creations (Canada, Japan) and my first ceramic steps here in Brittany. A question ? Meet here .