One of the destinations on our long overdue European holiday was rural France. But where to start? To combine “work” with pleasure, I looked up French pottery sites, and found http://www.potiere.com , which lists, amongst other things, all the pottery fairs being held in France. So we found that on the date we wanted, there would be a fair in Charavines. Where? Yep, we managed to find it on google map, reasonably close to Lyon, and even a gite (cottage) we hoped would be within an hour or two’s drive.

The internet. Wonderful. We struck gold: the accommodation was lovely, the people so friendly everywhere, the wine cheap, and the scenery stunning. Our village, St Antoine L’Abbaye, dating from the 12th century was gorgeous, the beautiful abbey grounds also housing a variety of craft shops, including a potter.

We took a long drive to another medieval town, Dieulefit, an area with lots of potters. Many of them were shut, having had a fair the previous weekend. The work in shops seemed to be mainly domestic ware from large production workshops. However we did find the ceramics institute which runs course as well as exhibition space. (http://www.maisondelaceramique.fr )

Emmanuel Arel

The downstairs had a cool exhibition of contemporary non-functional work made by ceramic artists in tandem with glass artists. I loved the way the glass and ceramic components worked together complementing each other.

It was another very hot day when we went to the pottery market in Charavines where 32 potters were represented. No sight of the ubiquitous trestle tables and cloths typical of NZ fairs, everyone had very individual displays of plinths, planks or even old furniture, and obviously they were not restricted for space. There was a wide range of functional ware, much of it in earthenware/terracotta, some in stoneware. There was also a lot of raku, including larger pieces and whimsical works. Though the

Jean Marc Plantier

potters did not all know each other, they all lived within a radius of a couple of hours’ drive and they enjoyed a potluck lunch, with wine of course, not terribly concerned about leaving their stalls. We got talking to a potter (http://www.yvesgaget.com ) whose work I admired, and it just so happened fellow Wellingtonian Linda Forest had been working with him the previous week! Yves works in terracotta with slip and sgraffito decorations. I loved his shapes, but not being much into cherries and grapes, I selected a jug with a more abstract pattern- oh, that one I developed after visiting Australia he said!

Another coincidence, among the handful of punters, there was a group of Australians, led by Jane Annois (Australian potter) whose friend Jean Marc Plantier displayed some dramatic raku pieces with white and turquoise crackle glazes.

Yves recommended another exhibition in the area, at La Grange Dimiere. (http://www.lagrangedimiere.com) A 17th century granary with high beams, it was such a wonderful setting for an exhibition of Raku work by 5 artists. Thierry Sivet worked

Yves Gage

with wood and raku , while Emmanuel Arel and Franck Brunet had some amazing large pieces with a lot of presence. This exhibition really was top notch.

From our very narrow experience, it seems that ceramics is still very much alive in France, while facing the same problems we have in New Zealand.

As a bonus, and not really anything to do with ceramics but of interest to like minded people, we went to see the Palais Ideal (www.facteurcheval.com), the strangest, craziest, most amazing, detailed, imaginative, sculpture/monument built by one man, a postman, over a 30 year period from 1879-1912 using only cement and stones found on the road. Extraordinary and wonderful !

Aimee McLeod
August 2011


La Grange Dimierec	Le Palais Ideal