Reviving faience decoration
- Cécile specialises in decorating raw glazes on pieces that she shapes herself
- Her work revisits traditional patterns from the 17th and 18th centuries
- She set up her atelier in her garden in 2008
Cécile Lowy creates earthenware using the traditional, rare technique of decorating on raw glaze. Her fascination with antiques led her to a training course in faience decoration focused on 18th-century heritage. What started as a way to sharpen her eye as a collector quickly grew into a passion strong enough to pull Cécile away from a career in contemporary dance. "I knew that I wanted to make these decorative traditions my own and carry them forward through modern, everyday pieces," she explains. Since 2008, Cécile has worked on her pieces from her garden studio. While her inspiration draws from European earthenware of the 17th and 18th centuries, her pieces take on distinctly modern shapes.
Discover her work
INTERVIEW
After earning my diploma as a ceramic decorator, I set up a small studio in a shed in my garden. I bought a second-hand kiln and began reproducing drawings on pieces I sourced from local potters.
Over time, the pieces I obtained from potters no longer suited me, so I started making my own. Slowly, I began shaping the clay and creating plates and bowls. People appreciated the slight irregularities – there was a fun contrast between the precise decoration and the roughness of the shapes.
A well-made object features decorations with sharp lines, harmonious colours and tangible movements. When I take the piece out of the kiln after the second firing, the glaze should be glossy, smooth and free of imperfections. The piece must invite people to hold it.
I love when people describe my pieces exactly as I would have defined them. It is moving to see how my work resonates with others and how it touches something in the collective subconscious.
Cécile Lowy
Ceramic decorator
Saint Sauveur en Puisaye, France
AVAILABILITY
By appointment only
PHONE
+33 670873649
LANGUAGES
French, English
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