the past and present: working with clay is for me the result of a personal and artistic journey that started in France where I grew up.
I have an MA in political science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux, France, and worked in public relations in Paris where I met my American husband. I followed him in Connecticut and took the opportunity of this life change to explore the world of ceramics that always fascinated me, particularly the Italian majolica, French faience, and Spanish and Portuguese azulejos.
For several years, I found painting and decorating industrial bique tiles very satisfying. I made multiple murals and inlayed table tops. However, the standard sizes of these tiles limited my projects, and I decided that I had to make my own tiles, which is how I discovered clay.
I quickly felt the need to work with volumes and make forms. I went to Wesleyan Potters to learn hand building techniques. I was drawn more to sculptural than to functional forms.
I then took classes at the University of Hartford Art School to learn about clay and glaze making, and refine my artistic expression. My professor, Matt Towers, gave me the direction, stimulation and critique that I was longing for. He encouraged me to apply to juried shows.
I am now a member of the Wesleyan Potters co-op in Middletown, CT, and I also work from my home studio.
the creative process: I find it easier to create outside the studio without any pressure. I enjoy perusing magazines looking for details in photographs that fuel my imagination: unusual juxtapositions of shapes, constrasting colors, light and shadows... Political and social issues can also be a trigger. Sometimes I am just interested in the aesthetic process of creation; other times, I want to incorporate deeper meaning in the work.
The interpretation of my thoughts into clay are the most exciting part of the process. I experience a very primitive attraction to the idea of taking a rudimentary material, and transforming it with my own hands, into delicate and complicated forms.
I have an MA in political science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Bordeaux, France, and worked in public relations in Paris where I met my American husband. I followed him in Connecticut and took the opportunity of this life change to explore the world of ceramics that always fascinated me, particularly the Italian majolica, French faience, and Spanish and Portuguese azulejos.
For several years, I found painting and decorating industrial bique tiles very satisfying. I made multiple murals and inlayed table tops. However, the standard sizes of these tiles limited my projects, and I decided that I had to make my own tiles, which is how I discovered clay.
I quickly felt the need to work with volumes and make forms. I went to Wesleyan Potters to learn hand building techniques. I was drawn more to sculptural than to functional forms.
I then took classes at the University of Hartford Art School to learn about clay and glaze making, and refine my artistic expression. My professor, Matt Towers, gave me the direction, stimulation and critique that I was longing for. He encouraged me to apply to juried shows.
I am now a member of the Wesleyan Potters co-op in Middletown, CT, and I also work from my home studio.
the creative process: I find it easier to create outside the studio without any pressure. I enjoy perusing magazines looking for details in photographs that fuel my imagination: unusual juxtapositions of shapes, constrasting colors, light and shadows... Political and social issues can also be a trigger. Sometimes I am just interested in the aesthetic process of creation; other times, I want to incorporate deeper meaning in the work.
The interpretation of my thoughts into clay are the most exciting part of the process. I experience a very primitive attraction to the idea of taking a rudimentary material, and transforming it with my own hands, into delicate and complicated forms.
