J’ai toujours été créative. Je me suis essayée à de nombreux domaines de l’art et de l’artisanat et la restauration de meubles l’a presque emporté à un moment donné. Mais en réalité je voulais essayer la poterie depuis 2015, lorsque l’émission « The Great Pottery Thrown Down » first aired in the UK. I was hooked and amazed beyond my expectations at what can be created from clay. Sadly, it was not possible for me back then for several reasons. For 16 years I was working as a pharmacy technician, so this pottery dream had to sit on a shelf for eight long years.

In 2020 I moved to France. We live in the gorgeous Valgaudemar Valley in the French Alps. Saint-Firmin is a tiny village with a population of only 450, surrounded by mountains. The majestic mountain in front of our house is called le Banc du Peyron (2777m), hence the name of my studio.

Sometime in June 2023, a month before my 44th birthday, my husband was in the garage, and he looked at the lonely pottery dream still sitting on the shelf. He decided to dust it off. It appeared that the dream wasn’t completely forgotten because he noticed a little sparkle. That was all he needed to start searching for pottery classes in the area…there was one. He signed me up and that was the most appreciated birthday present ever. The course finished at the end of October, and I knew right there and then that this is the path I should follow. In those months I did more research on pottery than I did for my dissertation on sports psychology – it’s not a joke!

My pottery business was officially created on the 1st of December 2023. So no, I don’t have years of experience and schools of ceramics under my belt. What I have is the purest passion and love for pottery. My teacher said that I also have a rare talent because no one has ever created 12 good pieces on their very first day of touching the clay. And let me tell you, when that wheel started spinning and my hands felt the clay shaping under my fingers, there was nothing else I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

So here I am. Believing in myself and in my dream, that now sits proudly on my shoulder, fresh and shiny, filling my head with ideas of creation. I also allow myself to believe that you will appreciate my art and find something you like and admire.

Mon travail s’inspire de the nature thats surrounds me, but also by simplicity and function. Each piece starts as a lump of clay and is shaped by my hands. Idea, heat, chemistry, and time to achieve the final product. I also buy raw components and mix my own glazes, so the results are often surprising. However, there’s nothing more satisfying than opening the kiln and holding something I have created from start to finish. I cherish each piece as I hold it in my hands, the pretty ones, the surprising ones, and the unfortunate ones too – I learn from them.

All this wouldn’t be possible without Nicolas, my amazing husband, who not only is my biggest supporter but also my accountant, my IT guy, my chemist, my kiln technician, my business plan creator (he loves spreadsheets in Excel), the guy behind all the numbers, and my shoulder to cry on when the Kiln Gods don't favour me.. Atelier du Peyron is our creation.