Berry Hobby

58. GONE WALKABOUT...

2011-06-28T11:01:00.001+02:00

My pottery workshop in rural France will remain closed this year again...

57. My Helpers in 2011

2011-05-07T22:39:00.000+02:00

Apple blossom by the pergola in my garden in 2009

Through the HelpExchange website I have been in touch with a number of people since February to see who would come to help me with my pottery studio this summer. I first expected a Helper from Latvia to be my caretaker in the pottery house but he had to change his mind in March. So I had to leave the house unattended and empty without water or electricity while I moved to my attic summer abode in the next village.

Then for the Easter long week-end in April a couple arrived from Great Britain to see the house with a view to be caretaker, i.e. occupy the place without a rent but paying their own expenses. I picked them up at the Limoges airport on Easter Saturday and we drove back to St Civran, an hour's drive on the A20 motorway towards Paris. When they visited the house they did not appear to like the place at all but did not say anything. We spent the weekend together in my attic sharing a barbecue in my garden with an English friend and my son and his family. They also went for drinks to a local pub to meet other English settlers. We also walked the 5 km between the two villages. They figured that the area was indeed very quiet and very rural. Being used to suburban life near a large city they thought the place was not for them. I drove them back to Limoges on the Tuesday to finish off their holiday visiting the city. I haven't heard from them since.

At the beginning of May I got news from a young woman Helper from Finland with whom I had exchanged a number of e-mails. She arrived in Chateauroux where I picked her up at the railway station. We've been sharing the attic since then and I have to say we're really getting on well. So far we have been working in my garden and sharing meals, books and stories. Although we converse in English she is a keen student of the French language.

I intend to go to the pottery studio next week with her and spend some time tidying the workshop. But for lack of a caretaker in the house I won't be able to open up to the public this year again... Ah well! Good folks, come again another year!

This blog is a non-pottery blog after all... LOL!!!!

56. JUST FOR FUN

2011-05-04T22:15:00.001+02:00

I found this list of 100 questions on Chikblog who had found it on Sue Pariseau Pottery

Here are my answers, just for fun!

1. Started your own blog YES
2. Slept under the stars SURE
3. Played in a band NOPE
4. Visited Hawaii NOT YET
5. Watched a meteor shower YES
6. Given more than you can afford to charity YES
7. Been to Disneyland NO WAY
8. Climbed a mountain NOT SURE
9. Held a praying mantis YES
1O.Sang a solo NO
11.Bungee jumped NO
12.Visited Paris YES
13.Watched a lightning storm at sea YES
14.Taught yourself an art from scratch YEAH
15.Adopted a child NO
16.Had food poisoning NO
17.Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty NOT YET
18.Grown your own vegetables SURE
19.Seen the Mona Lisa in France YES
20.Slept on an overnight train YES
21.Had a pillow fight YES
22.Hitch hiked SURE
23.Taken a sick day when you’re not ill NOPE
24.Built a snow fort NO
25.Held a lamb YES
26.Gone skinny dipping NO
27.Run a Marathon NEVER
28.Ridden in a gondola in Venice NO
29.Seen a total eclipse YES
30.Watched a sunrise or sunset YES BOTH
31.Hit a home run NO
32.Been on a cruise YEP
33.Seen Niagara Falls in person NO
34.Visited the birthplace of your ancestors YES
35.Seen an Amish community NO
36.Taught yourself a new language YES
37.Had enough money to be truly satisfied PERHAPS
38.Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person NO
39.Gone rock climbing NO
40.Seen Michelangelos David YES
41.Sung karaoke NO
42.Seen Old Geyser erupt NO
43.Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant NO
44.Visited Africa NO
45.Walked on a beach by moonlight YES
46.Been transported in an ambulance YES BUT NOT FOR ME
47.Had your portrait painted NO
48.Gone deep sea fishing YES
49.Seen the Sistine Chapel in person NO
50.Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris NO
51.Gone scuba diving or snorkeling YES
52.Kissed in the rain YES
53.Played in the mud YES
54.Gone to a drive-in theater YES
55.Been in a movie NO
56.Visited the Great Wall of China NOT YET
57.Started a business YEP
58.Taken a martial arts class NO
59.Visited Russia NO
60.Served at a soup kitchen NO
61.Sold Girl Scout Cookies NO
62.Gone whale watching YES
63.Got flowers for no reason YES
64.Donated blood, platelets or plasma YES
65.Gone sky diving NO
66.Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp NO
67.Bounced a check NO
68.Flown in a helicopter NO
69.Saved a favorite childhood toy YES
70.Visited the Lincoln Memorial NO
71.Eaten Caviar YES
72.Pieced a quilt YES
73.Stood in Times Square, on New Year's Eve NO
74.Toured the Everglades NO
75.Been fired from a job NO
76.Seen the Changing of the Guards in London YES
77.Broken a bone NO
78.Been on a speeding motorcycle YES
79.Seen the Grand Canyon in person NO
80.Published a book YEP
81.Visited the Vatican THE WHAT?
82.Bought a brand new car YES
83.Walked in Jerusalem YES
84.Had your picture in the newspaper YES
85.Read the entire Bible YES
86.Visited the White House NO
87.Killed and prepared an animal for eating YES
88.Had chickenpox YES
89.Saved someone’s life PERHAPS
90.Sat on a jury NO
91.Met someone famous NO
92.Joined a book club NO
93.Lost a loved one YES
94.Had a baby YES
95.Seen the Alamo in person NO
96.Swam in the Great Salt Lake NO
97.Been involved in a law suit YES
98.Owned a cell phone YES
99.Been stung by a bee YES
100.Read a book in one day YES

55. The Snail and the Cheetah

2011-04-20T19:21:00.002+02:00

Quince blossom

Here's the story my grand-daughter told me as we were sitting on deck chairs in the shade of my quince tree this afternoon.

"Once upon a time there was a Snail who was friend with a Cheetah. They were very different but they were very good friends.

One day they met a Little Fairy who offered to grant them a wish. So they said they wanted to swap being what they were, the Cheetah wanted to walk slowly and the Snail run very fast. Unfortunately the Little Fairy disappeared before she could grant the wish and forgot even to give them her mobile phone number. Luckily they knew where the fairies' castle was so they started walking in that direction.

They walked for two weeks, Snail pace, the Cheetah by his friend the Snail. At one stage they saw two round towers in the distance, with a bridge up high between them. The Cheetah bounced, ran and got there in no time forgetting about his friend the Snail. As for the Snail he eyed a field of lettuces nearby and hurried to a crunchy one, eating at leisure. Meanwhile the Cheetah, realizing his friend was missing, started looking for him everywhere dragging his nose in the grass. He came to the patch of lettuces and running fast past a lettuce provoked the Snail to jump high and fall on his back. He didn't like the feeling of something crawling on his back until the Snail came to his forehead and fell on his nose and on the ground.

They were happy to be back together and realised that they didn't really want to swap being what they were. But, as they didn't want to have come all this way for nothing, they decided to go and visit the Fairies' castle anyway.

From outside it looked quite ordinary but once inside they saw that each wall was of a different colour and highly decorated. In the middle there was a kind of small village all in black and white and that's where the young Fairies were taught how to become proper Fairies. They met the Little Fairy again who was quite a debutante really and she said they had just arrived for a party. It was the beginning of their long holiday starting at Easter and lasting for a long time. They all looked for chocolate eggs together. The Cheetah found 11 eggs, the Little Fairy found 10 and the Snail found 5. They added all these chocoloate eggs and ate them sharing them.

Then the mother of the Little Fairy said it was time for dinner. They all said they were not hungry because they had eaten too many chocolate eggs..."

54. IN JUNE PERHAPS

2011-04-16T09:56:00.000+02:00

My plan was to open my pottery workshop to the public on 1st May. That will not be possible. I have to postpone opening till 1st June.

Three reasons:

1) I have been looking for a caretaker for the house next to the workshop to help me welcome hobby potters and their friends when they arrive. So far no one has shown any serious interest in the 'position'. It is not a paid job. The arrangement is that the house is let free of rent, all charges like electricity, water and telephone being at the expense of the caretaker.

2) Accomodation in the old mansion with creaky stairs is not ready. My customers will have to find their own accomodation independently. That has been the ongoing problem for me right from the beginning. I can't offer a holiday pack for that reason. It turns a lot of people off when they realize they have to look for their own accomodation.

3) Not the least! I haven't officially registered as a business as yet. From previous experience I dread it. At the tax income office the other day I was advised to register as 'help to the person' which is in France the category for people working with old age persons. I tried to explain that my aim was to attract tourists in the area and look after them and entertain them. I'm not a pottery 'artisan' either. When I looked on the net for the 'self-enterprise' category, I couldn't find anything dealing with the tourist industry, 'tourism' being for hotels, B&B and campsites, and 'industry' in French being for the manufacturing industry alone.

My BerryHobby summer camp in St Civran will open in June perhaps!

St Civran pottery house in March 2009

53. Brits in France

2011-03-30T09:36:00.001+02:00

I know, 'Brits' is somewhat derogatory, I should say 'Britons' but it looks too much like 'Bretons' which is the name in French for the inhabitants of Brittany, whereas inhabitants of Britain are usually referred to, in French, as 'les Anglais'. Note that Brittany takes double 't' while Britain takes a single 't', but Britons and Bretons really look identic. A little ribald song in French will perhaps help here to identify the Bretons as opposed to the Britons. Bretons of Brittany with double 't' are said to wear round hats, wherehas Britons of Britain with single 't'... well, anyway, here's the little song:

Ils ont des chapeaux ronds,
Vive la Bretagne,
Ils ont des chapeaux ronds,
Vive les Bretons.

What prompts me to write a post entitled 'Brits in France' is my recent reading of a small great book entitled 'French Flea Bites' by a world reknown Briton under the name of George East. Mr East travels in France, lives in French villages and writes hilarious passages about his encounters with the strange French folks of France including the Bretons. He is usually to be found west of a line running roughly from Greenwich to Perpignan, tasting the chicken feed prepared in a cauldron by his farming neighbour for his chickens. You can usually find the recipe of what he's been tasting. Or, organising a boot sale whereby local inhabitants can bargain a single shoe on a stall. And he writes about it all with great gusto and humour.

His latest opus is about the Loire Valley, I think, and it could be published in May this year, if my source for this bit of intelligence is right. What I'll do, as soon as I get my meagre old age pension monthly instalment, is to connect to his website and shop there with a virtual basket for a few more of his real books.

52. WHAT'S A FRIEND

2011-03-21T21:25:00.002+01:00

In my previous post 49. Host and Helpers in 2006 I mentioned that "the only regret I have is that we never became friends". It sounds strange. I'd better qualify it.

As a college girl in France in the early sixties my idea of friendship was rather medieval in style, chivalry, loyalty, undefective support, that sort of thing. I was a fan reader of St Exupéry and I followed his line of idea re. friendship, more like mateship as I would call it now. We, girls at college in those days, used to be taught literature written by men. Things written by, say, Mme de Lafayette or Mme de Sévigné, or George Sand, or Jane Austen or George Elliott, were seen as very minor literature. So, when I was 16, my idea and practice of friendship was chivalresque. For instance I wouldn't let a 'friend' be punished on her own, I'd insist to be punished too if I had anything to do with the deed. Boyscout ethos was my type of definition for friendship.

Unfortunately once out in the big world I realised that chivalry and boyscout ethos was not on and definitely not expected of a woman. Women were seen as special creatures without any of the noble characteristics of men. I was supposed to be treacherous and unloyal.

When I made up my mind to part from my Australian husband, I wanted to be seen as a loyal friend despite the splitting as a couple. When we parted I think I said something to the effect that if he needed a hand in anyway one day, I'd be there for him. I meant it.

We parted in 1973 and I came back to France in 1974. In 1976 as I was living in a flat in Lyon, I received a letter from my husband who had joined the French Foreign Legion and was based in Corsica. He was asking me to help him deserting the Legion... (Sorry BJ if you read this, I've got to get it out of my system). So, me and my friends of the time who had a similar chivalresque idea of friendship, we mounted an expedition and my husband was smuggled out of the Legion. I hated it, I hated him for it. So many years later I still have a sour feeling in my throat. Why should I help a foreign husband get out of a French army corps? He joined. I had nothing to do with it. But of course my undefective support as a 'friend' was at stake. And so I did. My definition of friendship was somewhat altered after that.

What's a friend really? The dictionary says: "A person known well to another and regarded with liking, affection and loyalty"... 'known well to another' implies time spent in the company of each other. You can't call friend someone you met at a party and never saw again... 'regarded with liking' implies feeling positive towards that person you know well... and 'affection and loyalty' implies real support.

If a friend is 'a person known well to another', how do you become friends then? That's where I find I'm at odds with a lot of people around me. In my eyes you become friend with someone by allowing time to get to know that person, asking questions, being generally curious about his/her life, social background, family, area, history. BEING CURIOUS. Asking questions. Wanting to know.

When I was 19 and 20 I lived in Israel and that's where I learnt how to make friends fast. There in the sixties, people who arrived hurt from all over the world were in a hurry to 'make friends'. The urgency of life made you want to know other people well very quickly. I remember being shocked at first when someone, within minutes, would have asked me where I came from, what sort of family background, what language I spoke and how long I had been in Israel. Within minutes they also would have said that, for instance, they had arrived two years back, had lost their family, spoke a number of languages and were working here or there.

Later in my life I studied at university a subject called Ethnology. If you have an interest in a given group of people, you are supposed to take enough time to get to know them. You are supposed to be curious about them and to ask them questions about their way of life. I actually learnt how to 'make friend' with total strangers. It probably sounds weird to most people. But forever after that, I have felt cheated whenever people calling themselves my friend just don't bother asking me questions and show no interest in me whatsoever. It is lobsided if only one asks questions. It's an interview then, not an attempt at making friends.

Anyway what's a friend really?

51. Credit or no credit

2011-01-26T11:29:00.002+01:00

Should I ask for a credit? That was the question. I finally decided to return a request form for 5000€ to one of those credit offers you get advertised in the mail.

That was last Friday. This morning, Tuesday, I get a call on my mobile phone asking if I would answer some more questions... How long have you been retired? - For a year or so... No, you've been retired since you're 60 so that's 6 years. - I didn't ask for my retirement until I was 65. And what credits have you got running? - None... Yes, you are owner of your house and you've lived there since 2000 and that must be on a credit. - Sorry, no, I have had that house since 1994... You said you've lived there since 2000. - Sure, I was living abroad and I only came back to France in the year 2000.

It went on like this for quite a while. I always answered nicely to the lady's harsh voice and demanding tone. At one stage I blew up and said:
- Don't you talk to me like that! I asked for a credit, you grant it or you don't but there's no reason to talk to me as if I was a criminal. She went on saying they could not lend me more than 3000 anyway, did I want it. I said no, I need that money to open my pottery business and that won't do, thanks. She had to finish off by saying it was 'refused'. Yes, thanks, good bye.

What happened to that country since the last 30 years? What's wrong? Is that so very difficult to deal with people in a kind and friendly way? It hits me in the face every time. I am not getting used to it.

50. COOL FRENCH HOLIDAYS

2010-12-13T13:57:00.000+01:00

That's it. It's launched. The pottery studio in St Civran will open again on 1st May 2011.

If you are looking for some craft activity, strolls in sunken paths in an unknown French province and mad laughs in a dormitory... just try a holiday with BerryHobby in the village of St Civran (pronounced 'sainseevran') in the French province of Berry.

This time it's serious!

Starting 1st May until the end of October 2011, here's the offer for a cool French holiday:

- 3 hrs in the pottery workshop for beginners, morning or afternoon...
- 3 hrs of strolling along country lanes or by bike on the small roads, when we don't do pottery...
- lunch taken on the long oak table in the house attached to the workshop...
- the evening meal maybe too, except if you prefer to try a local restaurant...
- long summer evenings in the local cultural style like attending a theatre play in the backyard of a castle, or else a barbecue in the garden...

All this, in restricted company as BerryHobby only takes 3 (three) people at a time.

Now the cost.

- For the 6 hrs per day either doing pottery or strolling around: 35€ per day.
- Plus 5€ to share a meal.
- Plus the cost for accommodation of 35€ per night.
- Plus 5€ to share a breakfast.

As I was saying, this is a cool offer for a cool French holiday.

You can enrol right now for 1st May or later. At this stage you only need to send an e-mail giving your details and the dates you wish to attend to:

berryhobby(at)gmail.com

First arrived, first served. You only need to put your name down to have a place reserved. You pay when you get to the workshop. If you change plans, never mind, your place will be given to the next one on the waiting list.

The address: La poterie, 2 rue du Lavoir, 36170 St Civran, France.

49. Host and Helper in 2006

2010-12-13T13:37:00.003+01:00

The HelpExchange website is a place where someone owning a farm or a house to renovate, called the 'Host', will offer free accommodation and food to someone, called the 'Helper', willing to help with some hours of work per day and per week. The arrangement between the two parties is loose. It is on a kind of volunteering basis on both sides. It stems from the organisation widely used in New Zealand and Australia called 'vwoof', i.e.Volunteer Work On Organic Farms. It is common and popular in those countries for young and less young people to hit the road and travel from one farm to another within this organisation. The system is so popular that it has extended to other types of activities. You now find Hosts having Helpers to do all sorts of small jobs on their properties.

In 2006 as I was already planning to revive my pottery workshop, I received Jessica from the USA as a Helper. I drove to Paris to pick her up at the airport and took her with her large bicycle back to my remote lonesome rural village in the centre of France. She was jet-lagged, culture shocked and heart broken as she had just split from her boyfriend and for my part I had heavy family problems. But anyway she soon adapted to my way of life and we had some good time together. She was very helpful, friendly and well behaved. The only regret I have is that we never became friends. The age difference perhaps. We exchanged travel stories and I raved so much about New Zealand that she went on her travels ending up in New Zealand.

Here are some photos of her stay with me.

Stacking logs in St Civran

At the potter's wheel

Walking to Chazelet

Mowing in Chazelet

Driving back from La Borne

Baby sitting my grand-daughter

48. MORE PLANS FOR A REVIVAL

2010-12-11T20:09:00.002+01:00

Frankie breaking up dry clay in her workshop

The year 2010 is nearly over and I am thinking again of getting my pottery workshop off the ground.

With the aim to provide for a stressless enjoyable environment with pottery making as a theme, but not as a structured course, I'm thinking of opening up from May to October 2011 to holiday makers like I did in 2002 and 2003. The pottery activity will be limited to beginners only and I'll deal with them.

However as I do need help, I have registered with HelpExchange as a Host to recruit Helpers.

Since I am able to live in another village, the house attached to the pottery studio in St Civran can be made available to Helpers. The way I see it, there will be a 'caretaker' in the house staying for the season from May to October. He will look after the place and welcome anyone turning up, either hobby potters or tourists passing by or other Helpers arriving for a short stay. As I see it, the house would have a nice atmosphere with people happy to share travel stories, a drink or a meal, and always neat.

In 2002 I tried to do all the jobs on my own, the welcoming in the house, the teaching in the pottery studio, the advising where to stay and so on. It was exhausting and as I'm a bit older now, I just would not cope on my own. A 'caretaker' will make it so much easier for me.

The publicity to attract people to the workshop is done by internet. As this takes quite some time, I do need someone to help me with that too. A Helper with advanced knowledge and experience on handling e-publicity is needed.

That way my job will be limited to come to the workshop and take charge of 3 beginner hobby potters. This I can do.

What I dread, of course, is all the administrative stuff I will have to deal with.

47. Genesis of a dream

2010-08-05T12:09:00.000+02:00

When I decided to write out the story of my pottery venture on a blog, it was mainly for myself to remember and perhaps also to analyse. It was also for those descendants of mine who would care to know in the years to come.

However having readers, and what's more anonymous readers, has made a big difference in the way I write. I don't say everything I'd like to say bluntly like when writing in a private diary. I'm going to write, this post at least, as if it was for my diary.

What got me into pottery?

There was no interest in pottery or potters in my childhood in my family. The province of Berry had plenty of clay tile makers but that was of no interest. The traditional pots used by my grandmother looked great, I thought. That is the only link I can find to my later interest... ah yes, now I remember that when I was a teenager in the late 50's there was a famous artist potter, Guy Baudat, in the nearby artist village of Gargilesse who was famous. But it never occurred to me that I could be a potter. And also I must add that I was a boarder for many years in a state school in Limoges which is the capital of ceramics in France. It rubbed off perhaps quite unconsciously.

My first interest surfaced in 1967 when I was a young married woman living in Canberra, Australia. I lived as if alien to my own life. It felt as if I had been hijacked from my own destiny. This married woman working as a clerk in an administration, sitting on a chair at a desk all day, then coming home and preparing dinner or doing the washing, in other words this domestic female was not me. I had lost my bearings and in the fog was trying to find something to hold onto to catch a grasp of reality again.

I looked around for an occupation to escape this alien life I was drowning in, something closer to my inner identity so to speak. On a list of hobbies I found pottery classes available to adults after work. I joined. I liked it very much. Working the clay oblivious of the passing of time was exactly what I needed to forget my new lifestyle. But as always, prone to making big plans, I started thinking of turning the wooden garage where we lived into my own workshop. Unfortunately we were tenants and the owners would not have approved of that.
So after a term at the tech evening classes I dropped pottery and tried another hobby.

Years went by. I returned to Europe on my own in 1974 at the age of 30. This time I was not going to let anyone hijack my life. I wanted to learn how to sail on the ocean and I started pottery again. Did a summer course in a village where I was living in the province of Dauphiné between Lyon and Grenoble. I guess that is where I got the bug and the idea of having, one day in the grand future, my own workshop to welcome and teach the art of making clay pots.

At the same time I started studying ethnology at the university of Lyon 2 'Lumière'. One of my student research paper was about an old dauphinois potter. He was the last of his lineage working at his wheel making bowls and plates and dishes on orders. In 1978 this guy was saying there was no future in his trade. He was aware of being the last of his species. There was no future in manufacturing clay vessels by hand. It was the end of a trade that went back to the dawn of times. I wrote all this down with his interview and drawings of his pots and so on. I guess that propelled me further into thinking of a workshop for hobby potters. In my mind the art had to be kept alive. It was fundamental. Potters as providers of kitchen equipment could disappear... but not their art, their knowledge and know-how.

A lot more years went by. In my 50's in New Zealand I squinted at pottery shops and workshops, even went for a job once in one of them but was turned off. In May 2000 I flew back to France again. My mother had died and her estate had to be sorted out. The story of BerryHobby pottery in St Civran starts from there.

I knew I could not possibly start the business venture I had in mind, on my own. When I tried to tell my German partner of the time about it, he said: 'tell you hairdresser about it'. That's a german expression meaning that the subject is mean and of no consequence. I returned to France on my own but kept in touch by phone. I knew I could not live on my own in a rural village. At the best of time a single woman is frowned upon, at the worst is rejected. My partner arrived from New Zealand eventually but everything went to pot (ha! ha! ha!) and I found myself alone at my open house day when I started up my grand plan.

That's how I got into pottery.

For any request...

2010-02-01T10:54:00.000+01:00

I won't be uploading this blog for quite some time.

For any request please write a letter and send it by post to:
La poterie, 2 rue du Lavoir, 36170 St Civran, France.

Good bye for now.
f r a n k i e

46. PLANNING THE HOLIDAY SEASON 2010

2010-01-23T17:07:00.001+01:00

Taking stock: I have a pottery studio about 70m2 in size equiped with one single potter's wheel and a 3 meter long cement workbench. There's no kiln in the studio at this stage. There are a few hundred kilograms of red earthenware clay. Tools. Shelves. It is a pleasant place to work with a 3 bedroom house attached. Situated on the main village square.

The plan: For July and August, and by extension from May to October, I plan to welcome european hobby potters to come and enjoy a week's holiday in my house and pottery studio. The offer is a holiday pack all inclusive with hours in the pottery studio, accomodation in a private room, a kitchen and bathroom to share, entertainment such as a folk singing evening, a barbecue, attending theatre plays in the area, visiting one tourist site such as an old castle or a museum, a bike ride, or anything that may be spontaneously thought of and organised. The aim is to provide for a stressless enjoyable environment with pottery making as a theme, but not as a structured course.

Advertising: A static webpage in French, English and German will be launched and published in due course. There will be no other type of advertising. The number of people per week at the same time will be just three. Filling up means, 3 people by 4 weeks, i.e. 12 hobby potters to welcome per month.

Staff: At this stage there is no staff to do the job and I'm working on trying to convince people to come and help me. I have a few people in mind to help organise the barbecues and to play guitar for the folk singing evenings. But I badly need someone who would share attendance in the studio with me. I can only attend for half the time. It has to be a proper potter or an experienced hobby potter. It is not a job offer as such. It is an invitation to come and stay for free for a month or longer, using all facilities and being in-charge of the pottery studio for half a day for 6 days in exchange of free accomodation. It concerns someone who is a bit adventurous and curious. And due to immigration difficulties it has to be someone with a European passport and some knowledge of French and/or English or German.

This is the plan for the summer 2010. I really want to launch my pottery studio again. I am convinced that there is business to do with it welcoming tourists in the area. Come and join!

Anyone interested in coming to help can write a comment here or send an e-mail to the email address stated in my profile.

Happy New Year 2010

2010-01-17T16:12:00.000+01:00

Happy New Year 2010 to all friendly potters!

45. Back to work

2009-12-07T01:31:00.002+01:00

End of April 2009 : Half of the pottery studio is now in working order. I am breaking chunks of dry clay with a heavy hammer to soak them in a large bin in order to be able to use that clay again. Then I spread that mud on a plastic sheet on my work bench and wait for a few days until it has the right consistency. I knead this stuff into balls ready to use on the potter's wheel.

With 2.2 kg of red clay I threw the top part of a fruit bowl and with 0.9 kg I threw the foot of the fruit bowl. The next day I put the two parts together and spread a cover coat of white clay in the inside of the fruit bowl. A day later again, with the tip of a wooden tool, I carved a phrase taken from 'Alice In Wonderland'. Scratching the white cover coat, it made the red clay appear in the writing. That's it.

Now it is drying on a shelf until further notice, i.e. when it looks and feels very dry. It would then need to be 'bisque' fired but since I don't have a kiln any more... don't know what I'll do!!

44. WORKSHOP REVIVAL

2009-12-07T01:25:00.001+01:00

April 2009 : Workshop revival... perhaps... I'm thinking about it. Slowly sorting out the mess in the barn that used to be my pottery studio. But yes, I am thinking about opening up again.

I could, for instance, offer a week package with 6 afternoons work on the potter's wheel, plus accomodation in a guest bedroom in the house attached to the studio. Or, let people choose how long they want to stay and break it up as:

€20,- for a half day work, morning or afternoon, in the pottery studio

€30,- for a night's accomodation in the house

___

€50,- per day all told, except for food expenses.

It means a comfortable and pleasant holiday in a quiet village at a minimum expense:

250 Euros for 5 days

300 Euros for 6 days

500 Euros for 10 days

This would cover 'work on the potter's wheel', i.e. access to the studio to work on the wheel, for half a day only, mornings or afternoons as best suited. I would be there to guide and give advice, but not to teach or coach as such. Potteries made in the workshop would not be fired. The hobby potter would be free to either destroy them before leaving, or take them away in their 'green' state, or leave them behind. This offer is for hobby potters who already have some basic knowledge of work on the potter's wheel and wish to spend time practising, as well as spend a quiet holiday in the countryside.

It would also cover 'accomodation', i.e. access to the house to sleep in a self contained double bedroom downstairs with access to the bathroom upstairs, as well as access to the kitchen to prepare meals if needed. Restaurants can be found within 10 km.

I could only take one hobby potter at a time since I now have one single potter's wheel. The fees would be payable on arrival. It would not cover food cost. Accomodation for a partner would be an extra 20 euros per day.

There's a new business registration system on offer by the government in France at the moment. It is called 'auto entreprise' and it is done direct on internet. I'll try that. Maybe.

43. A French garage sale

2009-12-07T00:59:00.002+01:00

The 15th August in France is a long public holiday. A lot of people are holidaying at that time and the summer season is at a peak. Garage sales, called 'brocante' in French, pop up everywhere.

In August 2008, last year, I decided to have a stall with my last potteries at the 'brocante' in the nearby village of St Benoît-du-Sault. It was free of charge. All you had to do was to put your name on a list and say how many meters you needed for your stall. The lady at the tourist office had mentioned you had to be there at 7.30 am at the latest when someone would assign places for stalls.

When I got up, my clock said 7.30 but I soon found out from the radio that it was 10 to 9. Nearly gave up the idea of going at all. My motivation was rather low. I eventually drove to St Benoît and after some time looking for the man in-charge, I was told to squeeze in between two other stalls. It turned out to be a great opportunity!

On my right was a man, a former HRD from Paris, trying to sell old attick stuff for his in-laws. We had a long chat about psychology, sociology and anthropology. He did sell a number of items, from fancy lamp shades to large procelain platters, in between reading his book and talking to his neighbours.

On my left was a group of sisters, brothers and in-laws from Paris and the south of France, also trying to get rid of family stuff to enable them to buy brand new furniture for their family house in the area. They had a painting on hessian that I quite fancied. It was priced at €50,- I asked them to keep it for me, that I'll buy it off them as soon as I sell €50,- worth of my pots... ha ha!

In the morning there was quite a crowd looking and buying. English and Dutch as well as French could be heard. My neighbour attracted customers. For my part I sold one pot to a lady who seemed to really want the thing. She came twice for it, hesitating, and finally buying for the full amount of... €6,- I was happy to let it go, even at that price, because I saw she loved the pot.

There was a lull at lunch time and in the afternoon people walking past the stalls did not seem to be interested to buy. My left neighbours kept the painting for me and at the end of the day, around 5pm, they agreed to give it to me in exchange of some of my pots. I really enjoyed giving them my last pots and I was thrilled to leave with the large painting. They also gave me a number of cowboy shirts that their father used to wear when he was painting.

At one stage the man on my right kindly offered to take a photo of me in front of my stall with my own camera. I showed him where to press for the photo and he did. Unfortunately, or fortunately, the video button was still on (a hard one to press off on this particular camera) and therefore he took a clip rather than a still photo.

Back home at night I worked with my computer on all the little videos I had taken during the day to produce this two and a half minute clip:

A FRENCH GARAGE SALE

42. A Growing Delight: SAINT-BENOIT du Sault.....

2009-12-06T21:28:00.002+01:00

In May this year 2009 my blogger friend, Alice, came to visit me. I was thrilled and so happy to have Australian visitors to show around. With her husband we toured some of the highlights of this Berry native province of mine. Back home Alice published her photos of the area. Here's the link to her post:

A Growing Delight: SAINT-BENOIT du Sault.....

41. My whereabouts

2008-10-13T15:21:00.005+02:00

October 2008
Since my last post I have received messages from friendly potters as to my whereabouts. Nice to know some people care.

I have moved to Germany where I shall no doubt meet nice potters.

I'll update this blog as soon as I am properly settled and can afford an internet connection.

Cheerio! f r a n k i e

November 2008
After a month in Germany I drove back to my lonesome village in the middle of France. Thinking of re-opening my pottery studio for next June, July and August...

Cheerio! f r a n k i e

March 2009

No, my pottery workshop will not reopen. I am looking for a tenant for the house and workshop. Get in touch if you are interested!

40. FAILURE

2008-06-30T15:39:00.003+02:00

The story of life is how to cope with failure. I'm aware of that. It is not getting easier to cope with failure as you get older. I've found that out.

They say that in order to succeed, you have to be on the right spot at the right time. Well then, I was on the wrong spot at the wrong time. That rural village in the middle of France in the first few years of the 21st century was the wrong place at the wrong time. True.

I can take some of the blame too. I'm pretty hopeless in business... can't stand accounting and paper work, can't bare having to spend time at other things than my actual job, namely being in the workshop preparing clay, throwing pots, showing someone how to do it, trimming half dried pots, firing the kiln, mixing glazes and applying them onto bisques and firing again. Another problem with me also is that I love doing all that for its own sake, whether I get paid or not. I realize that to make money in any entreprise, the main drive must be to want to earn the money... So, I will call it a day. The pottery studio is defunct. It has no more function. It is closed.

I have sold the kiln.

Around me in the area, there has been a number of other 'eccentric' people venturing into new activities too. In the street just below me was a young English family with two young teenage daughters and a grandfather. They bought a property, worked steadily at renovating it with the intention to offer self-contained accommodation to tourists they would entice to come for a rest in this quiet rural place. They never made it either. After a few years they had to go back to England and leave their dreams behind. Further up, a Belgian couple bought a manor house and renovated it to be able to welcome groups of artists from Belgium who would want to rehearse or create whatever in a quiet place. They ended up selling and left too.

Lost opportunities. Miscarried business. The point is that there has not been any wealth created. Therefore there will not be any wealth to be 'shared'. Creating, generating wealth is Act 1. When a business venture fails, the country gets poorer by one notch.

The moral of the story????...

39. Pause PUBLICITE

2008-05-16T18:07:00.002+02:00

Ce qui suit n'a rien à voir avec ce qui précède... Comme tous les grands médias de nos jours, voici ma pause pub!

Une machine à remonter le temps... si, si, ça existe!

Un jour de l'an 2003 une dame se prénommant Françoise m'a mis dans les mains une longue liste de noms. En la lisant assidûment j'ai rencontré mes ancêtres jusque dans les années 1500 portant le même patronyme que moi. Je n'en revenais pas. Ce privilège de connaître intimement ses ancêtres était réservé aux familles de la noblesse d'antan. Ce privilège de savoir qu'on a un lien de parenté avec un brillant inconnu m'est désormais réservé.

Cette généalogiste a changé ma vie. Elle a travaillé d'arrache-pied toutes ses années pour arriver à la somme des connaissances sur la saga de ma famille paternelle. Cette étude hautement documentée de 250 pages est maintenant sous presse. J'ai hâte d'avoir enfin le livre en main.

FRANCOISE ROUET, géniale généalogiste devant l'éternel, attend vos commandes et vos travaux de généalogie coincés dans un tiroir. On peut laisser un message à l'adresse e-mail suivante: fr.rouet.genealogie(at)gmail(dot)com

38. EXPECTING A MIRACLE

2008-04-03T10:58:00.005+02:00

For this coming season, May to October 2008, the St Civran pottery studio will remain closed. I have to face it. My little venture has not been a success.

When I started it in the spring of 2002 with an open house day, my vision for the future was to attract tourists, for six months of the year, to this quiet rural area in the middle of France only three motorway hours from Paris. For two reasons:
a) to bring people and new ideas to my native province, and
b) to earn a living for myself.

I may have been naive and/or arrogant in thinking I could change the world all on my own! The local dwellers have not shown any interest in my plans. They carry on their routine lives as cattle farmers without apparent qualms.

However, I keep thinking that nothing is given for ever. Cattle breeding is great but what if it failed to feed its farmers one day? Sure, meat production is a valuable element in agriculture. But, what about vegetables? There's next to no horticulture in the area. And hardly any tourist activity.

My pottery studio was geared to attract city people with an interest in pottery as a hobby. With the adequate internet facilities nowadays, it is quite possible to get city dwellers from the north of France, Britain and Germany to come and spend a week or two in the area. What I had in mind, moreover, is that my pottery activity would bring other such folk art as traditional dancers or wicker basket makers. It didn't. In fact my feeling is that my 'new' activity in the village has been seen as a disturbing element. I have now left and the pottery barn will be closed this summer. But this is not my last word.

I am expecting a miracle!... As someone said one day: "People who do not believe in miracles are not realistic"... A miracle whereby some bold entrepreneurs would come and settle in the area with that same vision. I need help to pull that cart forward! I know France is not an easy place to be bold. Numerous rules and regulations send shivers down the spine. Above all, the general idea that being successful and earning 'profits' are sinful, sends any business minded person running. I'll give it another go... next year.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
my French translation:

Pour la prochaine saison, mai à octobre 2008, l'atelier de poterie de St Civran restera fermé. Il faut que j'admette que ma petite entreprise n'a pas été un succès.

Quand j'ai démarré au printemps 2002 avec une journée porte ouverte, ma vision de l'avenir était d'attirer des touristes pendant six mois de l'année dans ce coin du centre de la France, rural et tranquille, à trois heures d'autoroute de Paris. Pour deux raisons:
a) pour amener des gens et des idées neuves dans ma province natale,
b) pour gagner ma vie.

J'ai sans doute été naive et/ou arrogante de penser que je pouvais changer le monde toute seule! Les habitants locaux n'ont pas montré d'intérêt pour mes projets. Ils continuent leur vie routinière d'éleveurs sans soucis apparents.

Pourtant, je continue de penser que rien n'est jamais donné à jamais. Elever des troupeaux, c'est génial, mais que se passerait-il si cette activité ne nourrissait plus ses fermiers un jour? Bien sûr que la production de viande est un élément essentiel de l'agriculture. Et les légumes alors? Il n'y a pratiquement pas d'horticulture dans le secteur. Et guère d'activité touristique.

Mon atelier de poterie était prévue pour attirer les citadins qui s'intéressent à la poterie en tant que hobby. Avec les facilités de connection internet d'aujourd'hui, il est tout à fait possible de faire venir des citadins du nord de la France, de Grande-Bretagne et d'Allemagne pour qu'ils passent une semaine ou deux dans la région. Je pensais aussi que mon activité à la poterie attirerait d'autres arts populaires tels que la dance traditionelle ou la vannerie. Ce ne fut pas le cas. En fait j'ai le sentiment que ma 'nouvelle' activité dans le village a été un élément de dérangement. J'en suis partie maintenant et la grange de la poterie sera fermée cet été. Mais je n'ai pas dit mon dernier mot.

J'attends un miracle!... Comme quelqu'un a dit un jour: "ceux qui ne croient pas aux miracles ne sont pas réalistes"... Un miracle qui ferait que des entrepreneurs téméraires viendraient s'installer dans la région avec la même vision. J'ai besoin d'un coup de main pour tirer la charrette! Je sais bien qu'en France il n'est pas facile d'être téméraire. Les nombreuses règlementations font frémir. Et surtour, l'idée génélament admise que le succès en affaires et le 'profit' sont un péché, renvoie chez lui toute personne tant soit peu intéressée. Je retenterai ma chance, encore une fois... l'année prochaine.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
German translation by Horst:

Für die kommende Saison vom Mai bis Oktober 2008 wird mein Töpfer-Studio in St Civran (Frankreich) geschlossen sein. Ich muss es gestehen, meine kleine Werkstatt war bisher nicht erfolgreich.

Als ich im Frühling 2002 mit der Idee einer "offenen Tür" begann, war es mein Anliegen mit Besuchern aus der Nachbarschaft und von auswärts zu arbeiten. Ich wollte die Werkstatt für 6 Monate im Jahr öffen. Die Töpferei liegt nur 3 Fahrstunden (Autobahn A20) von Paris entfernt in einer ruhigen und ländlichen Gegen Mittelfrankreichs.
Meine Gründe waren:
a) neue Leute und Ideen in meine Gegend zu bringen und
b) etwas Geld für meinen Unterhalt zu verdienen.

Vielleicht war ich naiv oder arrogant, als ich dachte, ich könnte die Welt alleine verändern. Die Nachbarn rundum zeigten und zeigen keinerlei Interesse an meinen Plänen. Sie leben weiterhin ihre Alttagsroutine als Viehzüchter.

Wie dem auch sei, ich denke nichts bleibt so wie es war und ist. Viehzucht ist zwar nützlich und gut, aber was ist, wenn eines Tages keine Viehzucht mehr benötig wird. Selbstverständlich ist die Rinderproduktion eine sinnvolle Sache. Gemüseanbau kann genauso sinnvoll sein. Demnächst wird es aber keinen Gartenbau mehr in meiner Gegend geben. Und kaum noch Aktivitäten für Touristen.

Meine Werkstatt sollte Stadtbewohner mit Interesse an der Töpferei als Hobby anlocken. Mit den Möglichkeiten des Internet ist es heute einfach, Städter aus dem Norden Frankreichs, aus Grossbritanien oder auch aus Deutschland für einen Besuch von 1-2 Wochen zu motivieren. Ich glaubte, dass mit meinen Töpfereiarbeiten auch Volkskunst mit traditionellen Tänzern oder auch Weidenflechter ankommen würden. Aber es war nicht so! Ich glaube nun, dass meine Ideen im Dorf als störend empfunden werden.

Ich habe die Gegend nun verlassen und die geraümige Töpferei wird in diesem Sommer geschlossen sein. Aber das ist nicht mein letztes Wort!

Doch ich glaube an Wunder!... Eines Tages sagt jemand: "Menschen, die an keine Wunder glauben, sind keine Realisten". Ein Wunder wäre es, wenn kühne Unternehmer kommen und sich in der gleichen Gegend mit Zukunftvisionen ansiedeln würden. Ich kann jede Hilfe gebrauchen, um meine Vision zu verwirklichen.

Ich kenne Frankreich und es ist nicht einfach hier, kühn zu sein. Viele Regeln und Vorschriften verhindern unternehmerisches Handeln. Ich bin der Auffassung, dass unternehmerisches Handel für ein Land sehr wichtig ist und auch entsprechend durch Geld verdienen belohnt werden sollte. Erfolg kann motivieren. Im nächten Jahr werde ich es nochmals versuchen!

...Vielleicht werden bis dahin die Heinzelmännchen für mich arbeiten.

37. Functional pottery

2007-11-15T14:33:00.000+01:00

The urge in making a pot, as far as I am concerned, is to produce a vessel I am going to use. The shape is ruled by the function, i.e. by the way I am going to use that pot. If it is a beaker, it has to have a spout that does not drip and a handle easy to grab. And, as far as I am concerned, 'functional is beautiful'.

Here's my home made functional jug...

Comments welcome!

The Berry Province in the central rural area of France has always been producing plain functional clay pots. The area is also known for its flat thick tiles called 'tommettes' used on the floors in most farms. Roofs are also covered with small clay tiles.

And while I'm at it, here's a short clip of Berry folk dances...

36. POTTERS IN ASIA

2007-10-15T10:44:00.000+02:00

Here are three articles of interest about potters in Asia that I found on the website called 'CERAMICS TODAY' :

- in China
From an article by Steve Brousseau, 'Throwing Classical Porcelain of Jingdezhen' :

"Jingdezhen classical porcelain is unlike any other clay. (...)

"Kaolin clay, gaolin, was discovered around 500 years ago during the Ming Dynasty in the mountain village of Gaolin. This addition of white gaolin clay to the petunze gave a structure to the porcelain and made possible the throwing of large forms, both as complete pieces and in the sectional cylinders of the body-height vases. (...)

"Jingdezhen is the home of nine of the 26 Masters of Art and Craft of China, the highest national accolade. This title is generally reserved for the decorators. The unsung craftsmen throwers are hidden away in factories and one stumbles upon them to watch in awe at their tremendous skill and humbleness."

- in Korea
From an article by Ron du Bois, 'Ongi Potters' :

"Korean pottery today is still largely produced as it was in the past. (...)

"The complexity of the ceramic process is taken for granted, as is the necessity for a division of labor. Chopping wood, mixing and decanting clay, slicing, stacking and firing are assigned to specialists. The authorship of the pottery when it emerges from the kiln is diffuse, since it is the result of the coordinated effort of many hands." (...)

"But, for the present, at least, the Western potter is still able to observe the traditional skills of the Korean potter.

- in Cambodia
From an anonymous article :
"The National Center for Khmer Ceramics Revival is aimed at the revival of Cambodian ceramics. (...)

"Serge Rega established NCKCR in Siem Reap-Angkor, renowned for the Angkor temples. Tourists abound, creating substantial incomes, but paradoxically Siem Reap remains one of the poorer provinces of Cambodia. Siem Reap is emerging as a developed city, but geographically, poverty is displaced by about only 2 kilometers.
NCKCR is involved in Vocational training, which helps the poor rural population and will decrease poverty. Training is provided free of charge. Students are given an allowance to compensate for 'lost' time, which would otherwise be spent earning a living."

35. Robert's story

2007-08-17T18:13:00.000+02:00

Early last year I received an e-mail from a young woman saying her 70 year old father had had a keen interest in pottery all his life. She wanted to offer him a week in my pottery studio as a present. Was it alright with me? I said I would be delighted to show him what I knew about throwing a pot on the wheel.

He arrived with his handicapped wife and two old dogs at my gate one day in summer 2006. They were staying in their caravan at a camping site in the area. I remember taking them to the back of the studio where there's a patch of grass under an apricot tree and giving water to the dogs.

The next day after getting some clay balls ready we sat each at a potter's wheel and I started my demo. I usually rave about the cosmic experience it is to 'center' 700 grams of wet clay in the middle of the wheel. Yes, I state that throwing a pot is a spiritual happening... after all it is said somewhere in the bible that god is a potter, isn't it?

Anyway, it worked on Robert. He produced a number of great items within a week.

But the weather was very stormy and I didn't want to start my electric kiln in an electric storm. So he left with his stuff in green clay nicely packed. He promised he would come back to glaze and fire.

As things went, I could not have him in October when he could come. Some time later he could not come when I was ready to welcome him back. In January 2007 I received an e-mail with new year greetings. Later in March or so I sent an email to his daughter which was returned to me as 'unknown correspondent'.

Yes but... Robert hadn't waited 70 years to learn pottery and forget about it so soon. In July this year he turned up at my gate again saying he and his wife (and the dogs) were parked at the camping ground in Argenton-sur-Creuse. When could he glaze and fire his pots?

So we worked for about four days and then he got his stuff out of the kiln! Hoorey Robert! Bravo...

34. TIPS AND HINTS

2007-07-16T19:57:00.000+02:00

Clay used for ceramics is roughly of two kinds:

- stoneware (grès) of high density and non porous, fired at 1300° Celsius;
- earthenware (faïence) more tractable and porous, fired at 1000°.

This last one remains a little porous even with a good glazing. Certainly, the bottom of pots is glazed with great care, but, even then, an earthenware pot still oozes a bit when you fill it with water. Awkward. It leaves marks wherever you put it.

A remedy?

I heard that you had to fill the said pottery with milk and let it stand for a few days. The particles of 'curdle' slyly filter through the minute pores of your ceramic and make it waterproof.

True, it works!
If you don't believe me, try it!

33. Marketing pots

2007-07-06T11:32:00.000+02:00

I recently drove to Bourges as Fanny had told me about a pottery shop there that she likes visiting.

I was amazed. It looked like a million pots had been stuck on numerous shelves as if for storage. I didn't know where to look. Different artists. Various styles. Many colours. I really didn't know where to start looking. So I left.

At the potters market on Sunday it was the same kind of arrangement. Each stall looked like the potter had loaded his entire stock on the table.

Wondering how I could sell my pots at my own place, I thought I would rather put up a few things here and there to attract the attention. But I'm no specialist in pot marketing, or in marketing at all. So, if any one has advice for me, I'll take it!

32. A POTTERS MARKET

2007-06-24T18:29:00.000+02:00

Each year on a Sunday in June is held a potters market in the nearby town called Argenton-sur-Creuse. Here are a few photos of the event this year.

I have found that all potters were master craftsmen and women. All ceramics on the exhibition were beautiful and well made and reasonably priced. I didn't buy anything but I did fall for an onion pot with small holes and a lid priced at €48 that I would have loved to acquire!

31. Try the potter's wheel

2007-06-16T21:06:00.000+02:00

Many people are made to believe that throwing a pot on the potter's wheel is teeerribly difficult. It isn't. It isn't that hard. I may have the knack to pass my bit of knowledge on the subject but all my beginner students so far have been able to make a pot on the wheel after 4 or 5 days in my studio... I have photos to prove this!

This summer, at long last, I will be able to offer accommodation together with my pottery course. As from 14 July next, a loft in an old house will be available to my students. Basic but comfortable. With a big shower in a nice bathroom and a fully equipped kitchen corner. Just bring your own linen or sleeping bag. You will be able to buy food at a small supermarket in a nearby village.

The package for 6 hr pottery in the studio, together with accommodation in the loft, is €100.-(euros)per day per person, payable when you start. No booking fees.

To book or ask for more information, send an e-mail to berryhobby@gmail.com

30. FINGER MARKS

2007-06-02T15:56:00.000+02:00

In March I took a badly needed two week break and drove to Scotland to visit potters. I didn't visit potters really but I wrote a travel blog anyway.

Back in my studio in rural France with renewed inspiration and energy I'm now making a set of new pots that I expect to sell. I am getting inspired by a book called Country Pottery 'Traditional Earthenware of Britain' by Andrew McGarva, that I bought at the Museum in Stoke-on-Trent in England.

I'm also getting inspiration from other potters who put photos of their work on the net on a flick account in the Ceramics Group. This salad bowl in red clay has marks of my dirty fingers... I put my wet hands on some gritty sand and then placed them on the wet-from-the-wheel new pot. It stuck! Once it was a bit dryer I brushed some white slip on it . The next thing is bisque firing. After that, I don't know!

This is a view of a home made earthenware vase with home made flowers that I planted in my garden a couple of years ago. They are now in bloom and fit real nicely in my vase.

29. In the month of May

2007-05-16T22:55:00.000+02:00

At last the weather has warmed enough for me to start work in my pottery studio again. I will be able to use it until the end of October.

A young student in physics and chemistry contacted me recently and asked if she could come. At first I sent her off saying I wasn't giving beginners courses any more. But she said she had been trying to come for some time and she sounded like she meant it.

Like Jessica last year, she is actually staying with us in the house for a week or so and is using the studio for most of the day. I only showed her the tricks of the trade for the first day. She keeps trying and she's getting good. I hope she will come back regularly as I really enjoy sharing my studio.

While my assistant potter sweats on the wheel and my grand-daughter plays with earth, I break dried clay into bits with a big hammer. Put in buckets filled with water, this muck becomes workable clay again.

28. RENT A POTTERY STUDIO IN FRANCE

2007-03-29T09:37:00.000+02:00

Rent my pottery studio in St Civran!

fully equipped WITH 2 POTTERS WHEELS and AN ELECTRIC KILN

FOR 100 EUROS PER WEEK

over the 2007 season FROM MAY TO OCTOBER

See details of the area on the right column here

You can take a look at some of my flickr photos. You'll have to click on the set called 'BerryHobby Pottery Workshop' to view the studio and the set 'Province of Berry' to see the region.

If you wish to come and visit, try this Bed n' Breakfast in a nearby village.

27. Winter 2007

2007-02-19T10:43:00.000+01:00

My workshop is but an old barn turned pottery studio. There's no ceiling and the tile roof has only been vaguely insulated. In winter the temperature inside the studio can go down to a couple of degrees above 0 Celsius, i.e. near freezing point.

In the winter of 2002-2003 I had a wood stove and a gaz heater on all day. However the temperature used to come drastically down during the night. One bisque firing came out with a crack under each pot in the form of an S like a Zorro sign with a spelling mistake! From then on I decided not to fire bisques during the winter at all.

This year, apart from a snow storm in January, the winter is amazingly mild. Some days I can fiddle, if not work, in the studio with just a wood stove on.

I've decided to try a glaze kiln.

Here with a paint brush I am putting a layer of a product called XE356B (61356) MULCORIT on the kiln shelves. It prevents pots from sticking for ever on the shelves if by chance a drop of glaze has run.

At first I put the stuff on both sides of each shelf. A bad idea. After a while, it gets hard and flakes of it fall down on the nice glaze of a pot on the shelf below.

Now I use one side of a shelf without any product for bisk firing and the other side with the stuff for glaze firings only.

26. FAST FORWARD

2007-01-13T15:38:00.000+01:00

I started this blog to tell the story of St Civran Pottery from its beginning in 2002 till now in 2006-7. As it is taking much longer than I expected, I am jumping to the present, i.e. January 2007, to make an announcement.

I have decided to let my pottery studio with furnished house attached for this coming summer, as of 1st July.

An ad for it can be seen on the FrenchEntree website.

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°° Pass the word! °°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

25. A training project

2007-01-09T01:06:00.001+01:00

Through the employment agency, in October 2002, a contract was signed between myself and my 'trainee' whereby I was to train him for 580 hours at no cost for me while he was getting paid by the agency. I was formerly promising to employ him at the end of his training.

I had to produce a formal document stating how I was going to train him during these 580 hours. Here's my translation from the French of my 'Proposition for a training project giving access to an enterprise':

This is a training program targeted to the employment of a young person wishing to learn the potters craft.

The process of making a ceramic is rather simple but its mastering requires a good experience which you can only acquire progressively.

Like for any manual profession you must first and foremost have a taste or a talent for manual work. As for pottery, the taste starts with a liking for 'shape'. The potter's job is to reproduce a given shape into clay, and then make it solid and durable.

TRAINING WITHIN THE ENTERPRISE

A. The idea of 'shape'(lasting 26 hrs):

Introduction to various shapes is done continuously throughout the training,

1) By reading books on the subject:
- "La poterie", J. Chavarria, Gründ edition 1994
- "Le modelage", D. Nour-Margeault
- "La poterie à la main", A. Riedinger
- any other book on the subject available at a public library

2) By visiting museums:
- the Argentomagus gallo-roman museum in Argenton-sur-Creuse
- Adrien Dubouche in Limoges
- the diocese museum in Limoges
- the Campana gallery at the Louvre museum in Paris
- the museum at the potters village in La Borne

3) By being aware of objects everywhere at all times:

Pottery being a traditional art, it is possible to be introduced to shapes by visiting antique dealers or even garage sales.

B. Reproduction into clay (lasting 300 hrs):

There are three techniques to shape an object from a ball of clay: throwing, handbuilding and casting. The training offered as 'A course of access to the St Civran Pottery studio' will mainly consist of throwing on the potter's wheel:

- kneading the clay
- how to center a ball of clay
- throwing a bowl, a plate, a cylinder
- throwing pots of various shapes
- the finish off

C. Firing in an electric kiln (lasting 54 hrs):

To make it solid and durable a given shape fashioned into clay must then be fired to a very high temperature in a special kiln.

The studio is equiped with an electric kiln, Ceradel C128, of a 128 liter volume and able to reach 1300 degrees Celsius. The trainee will learn to prepare and fire a kiln of earthenware pots,

- at first firing (bisque)
- and at second firing (glazing).

D. Glazes and enamels (lasting 100 hrs):

Glazes used at the St Civran Pottery studio are not made on the premises but are bought at a wholesaler's in Limoges. Learning to use these products to glaze the pots is a long process and requires a lot more knowledge than the throwing technique. Within the studio the following methods will be seen:

- glazing by dipping
- glazing by spraying
- glazing by painting

E. Computer skills (lasting 60 hrs):

The 'trainee' will have to be computer literate. Daily use of the computer will be recommended on the premises, using a HP Pavilion computer running a Microsoft XP system with free access to internet:

- learning how to use the keyboard with ten fingers
- read and answer e-mails from the pottery studio's customers
- regular visits to website related to the ceramic industry to keep in touch with new development.

TRAINING OUTSIDE THE ENTERPRISE

The 'trainee' will attend a course in Limoges (lasting 40 hrs) to be acquainted with the enamel on copper traditional techniques.

24. LIMPING

2006-12-19T22:28:00.000+01:00

After the roof was insulated in the autumn of 2002 the gaz heater was still not heating the place properly. I borrowed an old wood stove from a friend on a farm. It was installed by Hadrien again slash hammering the wall to get the smoke pipes out. As some fire wood was needed I ordered a big heap from a forester I knew in another village. By the way wood is still measured in 'cordes' i.e. roughly the equivalent of 3 cubic meters.

It came one day cut in logs half a meter in length and split ready to fit into the wood stove. It was mainly oak. Good stuff really.

In my rush to open the gate and make ready to clear the front yard to have the wood delivered and stacked I put my right foot in a hole on the uneven ground and twisted my ankle badly. It hurt like mad.

For days on end I had to spend time with my leg resting on a stool level or higher than where I was sitting. First I used crutches to walk around and then I just limped around. It took 6 long months to heal and 2 years for the 'shadow pain' to subside altogether.

23. A client's order

2006-12-16T23:07:00.000+01:00

One day the phone rang and a lady from Paris sayd she needed hundreds of plates, beakers, mugs, platters, ashtrays and other things urgently... before Christmas, say. I blocked the phone receiver and asked Hadrien at the potter's wheel if he felt he could make a few hundred plates before Christmas.

He didn't choke as I would have. Just said: 'sure!'.

As the order was for white earthenware bisques some new clay had to be purchased and stored beside the red one I already had. Everything was cleaned and any red stuff removed from the shelves and instruments. The studio became a hive. The young lady came to visit to see how her order was getting on.

It looked like it wouldn't be ready in time. The winter weather was setting in and the clay just wouldn't dry. I took a lot of raw potteries inside my living room hoping to dry them faster in front of the wood fire. To no avail. The atmosphere was damp and cold everywhere.

Eventually the order was ready for delivery in January 2003. Packed nicely in the boot and on the backseat of my old Ford I drove with Hadrien to Paris. The young lady seemed happy. She was going to decorate all this and fire them in a kiln she still hadn't purchased...

The challenge had been fun but it didn't pay for the time and effort. The studio was simply not geared for production.

22. INSULATION

2006-12-12T14:38:00.000+01:00

The barn where I set up my pottery studio was covered in clay tiles. Ideal for ventilation of hay or grain underneath and cooling in summer. But not for potters shivering under as the cold weather was setting in. I soon realized that the roof needed insulation.

A quote from a builder was astronomical. It needed high scaffolding and quite some time to be done, he claimed. I simply couldn't afford it. The threat of closing down was on again. Then Hadrien said he could do it no trouble... He turned up with a long ladder. I borrowed a gun stappler from a cousin of mine. He went to the local Do-It-Yourself shop, got some insulation material, put the bill on a business account he opened in my name, came back with it and went up the ladder.

It took him two days. I did have an insurance but if anything had happened to him I would no doubt have ended up in jail... This job was not really included in his contract for apprenticeship.

21. Hadrien

2006-12-07T12:37:00.000+01:00

At the end of the summer 2002 I realized that the trickle of customers coming to the workshop would soon dry up. As local interest in hobby pottery was none existant it looked like I would have to close down until the following summer.

I couldn't resign myself to that. I asked the young fellow who used to help me with my garden if he was interested to learn how to throw a pot. He shrugged his shoulders and said 'why not'. The idea was to have an apprentice to be able to start a production. I enquired with the employment agency who had a special contract to offer. I was to train him for 6 months at no cost provided I would employ him at the end of his training. It suited him as he would keep getting social security allowances all the while.

His progress was amazing. After a couple of months he seemed to have been a potter all his life.

Here's Hadrien in October 2002 as he started at the potters wheel.

He would concentrate and absorb what I was teaching him like a sponge.

And here's the same guy two months later throwing a vinegar jar like a professional

20. MOTHER-IN-LAW

2006-12-04T22:38:00.000+01:00

Becoming a grandmother is one thing. It is a landmark in a life time, a point of no return. But somehow it has a pleasant public image and it triggers the motherly string again hugging babies and all that.

Becoming a mother-in-law is like having a car accident. You thought it could only happen to others. The public image is appaling. Whatever you do or say is taken down as evidence against you! You've not been warned. You're not prepared.

I was not prepared for what happened when my son, his girlfriend and baby grand-daughter came to live with me in the one room house attached to the pottery studio.

It lasted four months. In October 2002 they moved out to their own premises in a nearby provincial town.

Here's me as mother-in-law half asleep in an armchair.

19. Water supply and drainage

2006-12-01T14:24:00.000+01:00

When I first bought the place in September 2001 I knew I would have to renew the drainage system. So next to the concrete closed tank that had become obsolete, I had a brand new sewage tank installed at the back with a sand filter dug in the front garden. It worked perfectly well for the house.

The barn turned pottery studio had no water supply or drainage at all. The water supply was to come from the kitchen and a plastic pipe was run along the ditch dug for the sand filter. I also had a sink put in with a tap on it. But...

We could not use the water at the tap as it didn't exit anywhere. In July 2002 finally, as the project had been approved and financed by the village 'mairie' (townhall), a ditch was dug across the road. It enabled the water supply at the studio to exit and flow onto an already existing sewage system.

Here are men at work to allow the pottery studio to be connected with existing drainage across the road.

Camille is washing her hands the first time we were able to use the tap in the workshop.

18. A TRIP TO THE AIRPORT

2006-11-30T15:22:00.000+01:00

Meanwhile, one evening after work, I got on the road to drive to Roissy airport in Paris also called Charles De Gaulle airport (CDG). My village is 3 hrs drive by motorway to the south entrance of Paris named 'porte d'Orleans'. But Roissy is another hour to the north on the way to Lille.

My son and his family were arriving on a flight from Noumea at 4 am. I had plenty of time so I took the highway to save the toll fee on the motorway. And then by 10 pm as the light was dimming and I was fairly tired, I pulled up on a side road, sat in the back, kicked my shoes off and settled for a good rest.

I hadn't been there 15 minutes when a police van pulled up and two 'gendarmes' were asking me what I thought I was doing there. I explained. They didn't seem to believe me and advised me to move on.

So I got back behind the wheel and drove on.

But the thing was that for one I had been taken for a prostitute and second they didn't believe me. I left them a brochure... To this day no gendarme has been to my pottery studio to throw a pot on the wheel.

When I pulled up to park under of the 'arrivals' sign at CDG airport in the dark of the night, a police car appeared out of nowhere and pulled up beside me. Eerie.

The plane arrived on time. After a long time waiting for the passengers to be cleared, all 4 of us now headed back for St Civran. It took what remained of the night to drive on the motorway back home with my precious cargo on board.

Me and my old Ford

17. Summer 2002

2006-11-28T10:49:00.000+01:00

Well then things happened. Ladies came with their friends, their husbands and family, from the north of France, Belgium, Germany and Britain. There were only 2 guys among them wanting to be a hobby potter. The very big majority of my customers are ladies between the age of 25 and 50. Up until the middle of the 20th century women were kept away from the potter's wheel in professional workshops. So, I guess, it is a revenge!

Meike and her boyfriend came from Hamburg... on a motorbike.

Isabel was my first enrolment in March when she came with her partner at the Open House day.

Full house with customers from Germany, Paris and Tours.

Here's the back door pompously called 'Entree des artistes' (backstage door) with Regina from Germany taking a rest.

This is what Nick from England managed to make in a couple of hours having never done pottery in his life before.

16. THE VILLAGE GIRLS

2006-11-27T19:05:00.000+01:00

In July 2002 as soon as the summer school holidays started, a number of school girls came to the studio for a bit of a try. They were of the village or from Paris but visiting their grandmothers in surrounding villages. At first I was quite happy to have them around. Some of them didn't care much for pottery. They just wanted to try but didn't bother coming back for their pieces once they were fired.

The thing about clay is that you can't make it go faster! You do have to learn how to be patient.

Being used to subsedized leisure activities in this country, some grand-mothers claimed I was too expensive. So I cut in half my usual rate of €20.- for a half-day, i.e. for 3 hours of attendance. I invented a 'village girl rate' of €10.- only. This didn't cover costs and it made me sad but I thought I had to make people try my offer somehow.

Julie, a young girl from Brittany, was doing marvels. She had a talent and an interest for the clay. I am glad I was the one showing her how to use the potters wheel and throw a pot. In many years from now she might decide to take pottery as a hobby or even become a ceramist.

As it turned out after the first few weeks I decided not to have children or teenagers at all. Adult women and teenage girls together created a tense atmosphere in the workshop. And personally I did not have the patience...!

15. A grand-daughter

2006-11-24T22:18:00.000+01:00

In my life the year 2001 saw the end of a crazy relationship and 2002 the birth of my first grand-child.

At the beginning of 2002 my son and his girlfriend decided to leave Paris and return to Noumea, New Caledonia, in order to have their baby born there. I sorted out their debts as much as I could, paid for their rent until the end of April and bought their plane tickets. After they left, I rented a van and drove to Paris with my guest potter and a young fellow to help remove their belongings.

In May my son flew back to France leaving his expecting girlfriend in the care of her mother. He was at a loss as to what to do. His former plan of settling back in Noumea did not seem to work. With the lump sum I had given him he couldn't set himself up. Before returning back again to Noumea he madly worked on his laptop trying to invent some kind of e-service that didn't exist in New Caledonia yet. When he left, I forgot how it went, but he actually forgot his passport in the house and phoned from the railway station in Chateauroux. I never drove the 50 odd kilometers to Chateauroux in such haste. I was worried. Why had he come back at all? What was wrong? What next?

In June around the time when I had the radio interview he phoned one day and said: mum, you're a grandmother! And then in July they all came back and settled with me.

Here's a photo of baby grand-daughter in July 2002 in the house attached to the pottery studio.

14. A DILEMMA

2006-11-22T22:00:00.000+01:00

I started this blog with the idea to tell the story of my would-be business venture started in 2002. So far I have given an account of what happened with the pottery studio, its set-up from scratch, and the first visiting potters.

Yes, but... Should I include details of what was going on in my life parallel to this business venture?

In History they prefer to pretend that characters in the play do not have a private life interfering with the grand history scheme. I think this attitude is fake. It gives a twist to reality. I don't agree with it.

Therefore I shall include facts and figures about my life outside my concern for the pottery studio.

13. Crafts

2006-11-05T11:08:00.000+01:00

I must qualify what I said in that interview about my interest for pottery. In fact I am keen on all crafts.

As a young married woman in Canberra, Australia, in the 60s I endeavoured to practice a few crafts. At the local technical college I took evening classes to get the basics on pottery. But I also bought myself a table loom and started weaving my own piece of woollen material. I also had an interest for basketry...

I don't know what became of that little loom I bought in 1968. It got stored under a house one day and I never found it again. But I had had time to weave a long piece of cloth, of pure Australian wool of course. Many years later I managed to cut it up and sew it into a long skirt. But, made of mad patterns and heavy woollen cloth I never wore it much. So that many more years later, I turned it into a rough looking jacket and took it sailing with me. I am wearing it on that newspaper cutting of a photograph taken in Auckland, NZ, in November 1997.

As for basketry I can only account for two things made with wicker. In 1965 living in Jerusalem I made a lamp shade. And another year somewhere else I made a small bread basket. I still talk about developing that interest... specially since my pottery students have asked me about it. Apparently there's a keen interest in wickerwork here in France at the moment.

12. A RADIO INTERVIEW (3)

2006-11-02T22:55:00.000+01:00

Here's the last part of an interview done in June 2002 by Radio France Bleu Berry. They kindly broadcasted it a number of times and then again a year later.

"HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN YOU HAVE AT THE SAME TIME?

Six at the most. I've planned it for 6. There's room for 3 wheels. At the moment I only have 2. You can see, in front of each wheel are 3 shelves. When you are ready to take a piece out of the wheel, you don't have to go far, you just place it in front of you on the shelf. There's one light for each potters wheel.

On the other side there's a 3m long concrete table, 1m per person, to beat and work the clay, if you want to do hand building. We're well set up.There's a 128 litre electric kiln. There's a set of shelves on wheels to be able to move them. There're here, they don't move much. They can take a lot of pots with shelves on each side.

YOU ARE WELL SET UP. IT WAS A FARM HERE FORMERLY.

Yes, that's right. As a kid I knew it as a farm.

THE VILLAGE OF ST CIVRAN WELCOMES PEOPLE TRAVELLING THROUGH IT.

yes, I'm lucky for that. All around here you find accommodation in farm stays (called 'gites') of all kinds. There's one 3km away in Chassingrimont. It used to be called 'the castle'. It is a very big mansion that belonged once to the lord of Chazelet. It has been transformed, I think they've been opened for the last 2 years, I'm not sure. It is now a 12 room accommodation unit. It is very pretty and above all quite affordable. It is a friendly place only 3km away. (...)

There are others places... in Sacierges. Plenty. You find bed-and-breakfast places too direcly with local families. And of course a 3 star hotel in Argenton which is splendid and that I recommend. That is top notch, lets say. There's also Luzeret...

TO FINISH OFF, FRANKIE, A WORD ABOUT YOUR WEBSITE.

Yes, the address is: stcivran-poterie.com
You will find several pages. The home page, a page for 'courses', one for 'accommodation', 'village' - under 'village' you will find how to get here from Paris for instance, and also details and four photos of the village. Then I don't remember, 'mail' where you can send me an e-mail, and a 'gallery'.

There's a virtual gallery. I'd like to make an appeal to the potters likely to listen to this, if they would allow me to take a photo of one of their pieces in order to put it in this virtual gallery together with their addresses. People tuning into the website from anywhere in France would say: I see, this is what local potters make in that area... I have one piece by Mr Ortega so far. I have the equipment and I put the photos on the net myself.

On my website there's also a page 'open house day'. I had a successful one on 24 March. It was on Palm Sunday, the weather was cold but sunny and we had a picnic outside. A folk dance group came to warm people up. It was very nice. Between 3 and 6pm a lot of people came to visit the studio and potters who had pieces on exhibition in the village hall sold their works. I'd like to have 2 in the year. The next one is planned for the 27, the last Sunday of October, on 27 Ocotber. That's it."

A few people told me they had heard me on the radio but strangely no one ever came to the studio because they had heard the interview.

11. A radio interview (2)

2006-11-02T01:39:00.000+01:00

YOU DON'T LIVE OF POTTERY

No, not of my production. I'd like to live of having hobby potters come here to practice. I'd like to have this going all year round. That's my big idea.

YOU HAVE YOUR OWN TECHNIQUE, YOUR OWN PERSONAL WAY. WE CAN SAY THAT.

Yes, I have, but I don't want to pass it on at all cost. My approach to people who come, who will come here, is to leave them free - guiding them of course. Someone who doesn't know how to 'center', I'll advise, for instance as for Stephanie, to have her wrists at right angle with her arms. To have maximum strength onto a heap of clay, you must have your wrists at right angle with your forearms and your forearms leaning on your legs. That way you have a lot of strength because you can push with your back actually. I told her just that and now, have a look, she's got two shelves full of pots.

WHERE DOES YOUR CLAY COME FROM?

I buy it at Ceradel in Limoges. My good luck is to live so close. It is an internationally known wholesaler and manufacturer. They make all sorts of things right down to the tiny specialised paint brush. It's one hour's drive from here. I just take my car and load.

In the Berry province, I don't have to create the image. It is a traditional area for pottery. Clay tiles... Many places are called 'Tuilerie' of this or that... the tile makers have gone but not so long ago it was a natural place for clay.

Moreover Limoges is world known for ceramics. Pottery and ceramics are first cousins.

YOUR POTS HERE IN THE STUDIO HAVE THE COLOUR OF CLAY. THEY ARE RAW. DO YOU PREFER TO KEEP THEM THAT WAY?

That's right. People throw a lot with stoneware coming from St Amand-en-Puisaye. That clay is black when raw and white when first fired. I find it colourless and odourless. I like the clay for itself. I like throwing with coloured clay, therefore I have yellow and red clay. Here in the studio at the moment I only have red one. It is earthenware, not stoneware, i.e. it is fired at a lower temperature. I fire earthenware at 1020°C for a bisque, whereas stoneware is fired at a much higher temperature.

YOU DON'T WORK WITH STONEWARE

No, because of its colour. It is for my own satisfaction. I love putting my hands into coloured clay. I insist. It is for my own satisfaction, for my own fun. I don't mean to produce quantities.

I look for traditional things but without meaning to reproduce tradition precisely. I don't make reproductions of old things. In Berry it was common to use clay pots. I still remember my grand-mother putting her green beans into stoneware jars stored in the cellar.

Handles, for instance in Berry, are stuck alongside the pot. They're not sticking out like ears. So I reproduce that. I put handles stuck on the edge of the pot. I have found a piece of decoration. Thinking to myself: what could I add as a typical decoration, so that it would be obviously from Berry. We have the owl, but I couldn't really stick owls on my pots. So, I've found an oak leaf and that's my prototype. I make clay oak leaves that I stick on the edge of my pots.

And here I have made the button of the lid completely as an oak leaf. It is a very small detail. It can be recognised as coming from Berry.

10. A RADIO INTERVIEW (1)

2006-10-29T22:26:00.000+01:00

In June 2002, I forgot how it came about, I was interviewed by a journalist for the local radio. There's a network of local radios called Radio France Bleu with a specific program for each province or region of the country. The local one here is called France Bleu Berry. Here's my translation of the transcript.

I was born here. I was born in Chazelet actually but I left France when I was 19 to go and see elsewhere, to travel around the planet. That's it, I'm back, I'm 58 now. It means I spent 40 years going around the planet. I lived mainly in the Pacific region, in Australia, New Zealand and New Caledonia.

Pottery... I've done it right through. At 20 I did a course somewhere. At 22 I did another I forgot where. It has always been my hobby, I've always done it in my spare time where ever I was.

At my age now I have been wanting to share this way of doing a hobby right through life. You never get to the end of it, it remains a hobby like going fishing. It's for fun.

YOU DID NOT ATTEND A PARTICULAR SCHOOL

No, not at all. I learnt whatever methods they had where I went and I compared them to other places where they did things another way. In the end I work now the way I see best for me.

For my students I do not want to be the guru saying something like: my way is the only way. I'd rather say: if you want to do it another way, that's alright with me.

In Australia where I lived for 12 years, as it is a country without much of a past, they are very much open to everything. They can't take refuge in the past by saying: that's the way we used to do it in the Middle Ages therefore we go on this way. They take different view from different sources. A fairly well known lady potter in Prissac told me just that. She recently travelled to Australia for a huge Open House event where potters from the whole world attended. They were sitting at their wheels, worked on it as people passed by and asked questions going from one artist to another. It is a fabulous 'melting pot' of potters ideas. You get out of it different from the way you came in.

IS CLAY WORKED THE SAME WAY?

Basics are the same. It's very physical, you know. You get your hands in it and you work with your whole body, not just the tip of your fingers. Like with play dough, but heavy. It's like play dough, or patisserie if you like, but with earth, clay. You have to beat it, work it. Some people like finding clay on the ground. A friend of mine not far from here actually goes around hunting for clay. She makes things with clay she's found on the ground. Not me. I start much further down the line. I drive to Limoges and I buy my clay from a wholesaler called Ceradel. I buy a tone worth of it in 10kg blocks. It keeps very well in my little clay cellar.

Everyone has a habit of doing things in a certain way and has a tendency to declare that it is the one and only way. I dislike such an attitude. True, people have different ways of making bread, say. It's a bit the same. Mrs Btown makes her bread this way and Mrs Smith that way. Everyone has a little secret. But overall we all work the same way.

YOU ARE SEFL-TAUGHT BUT YET YOU HAVE SOMEHOW GATHERED A COUPLE OF LITTLE IDEAS. YOUR KNOWLEDGE IS INTERNATIONAL NOW ANYWAY.

Sure but... yes sure but... I am not a professional. I haven't done a 5 year course in a school. I haven't got the practice. It remains a hobby. I just go fishing!

9. The studio's seal

2006-10-06T21:10:00.000+02:00

I used to sign my pots with a huge inscription dug into the clay stating 'St civran' and the year. Mentioning the year of make is to the attention of the future archaelogists of the 3rd millenium... I'm an anthropologist after all... and to the one day collectors of stuff made in this village.

In June 2002 a friend came to visit from Germany. He designed a proper seal that I liked. A brass one was ordered at a traditional seal maker in a town near Frankfurt and I received it later through the post.

Here are some of the pots made in 2002:

The new seal looks more professional than the old one.

The little funny jug is meant to keep ice cubes. It works well when you want to use the icy water from it.

A porous pot, perfect to keep the garlic dry.

This red pot plant holder has the studio's seal and Hadrien's mark H on it. It was thrown on the wheel in 2002 and glazed three years later.

8. HEADS AND HANDS

2006-10-04T16:07:00.000+02:00

The first customer to come and sit at one of the potters wheels at the St Civran workshop in June 2002 was Stephanie from Paris. She was a young woman engineer, a graduate of 'Polytechnique', and a young mother living in the French capital. Her job in a big administration involved a high degree of responsibility and a sustained use of her intellectual capacities.

But, albeit the accepted opinion that an intellectual person cannot be manual as well, she possessed a definite talent for ceramics. For this reason she was following night classes whenever she could.

In full rebellion against this wrong idea giving her withered hands because she was clever, she came to spend a whole week full time throwing on the wheel very nice looking pots.

Here's what she wrote about how I managed to: "...share a know-how without giving the impression of revealing a secret. What I also appreciated is the fact that you placed the pleasure of making before the need to acquire a technique to reach eventually the pleasure to master".

7. A guest potter

2006-10-04T11:50:00.000+02:00

I didn't feel confident to open up to the public on my own. After all I'm only a hobby potter, a Sunday potter as I call it, and there's a huge difference between professionals and amateurs, the latter being a rather derogatory adjective in the public eye.

So, I had been looking around for a 'proper' potter to work with me. At a refresher crash course in the South West of France in september 2001 I had met a lady ceramist who was interested in my venture. She wanted to get closer to Paris but when she came to visit, she didn't like the village and the area at all. With her I visited a pottery studio in a nearby town and she suggested I asked that potter.

Eventually he came to work in my newly set up studio for an hourly fee. He worked there for about a month and then got bored with it. Also I couldn't really afford paying him any more as I hadn't had any customers yet.

My very first visitors were members of my Belgian family. Isa sat at the wheel and, tutored by my guest potter in residence, she made two beer mugs... That really launched my studio into business!

6. OPEN HOUSE

2006-10-03T22:39:00.000+02:00

My pottery studio was officially registered as from 1 January 2002. I had a website running and workmen in the building. With the idea to attract people for the Easter holiday I decided to have an open house day on the last week-end of March.

A few hundred 'invitation' cards came out of the printer. I distributed them with my car and my son's help within a radius of about 20 km, delivering one card in each letter box in remote hamlets and villages. I also put up posters in strategic spots and with local shops and supermarkets. The usual.

The 'mairie' (townhall) of St Civran let me have the community hall for free as well as tables and benches. The plan was to have a grand barbecue outside in front of the pottery studio with a tarpaulin bar stand. It worked alright given the fair weather on that day of early spring 2002. The community hall was used to have an exhibit of pottery and ceramics from various potters.

As a feature I hired a Berry traditional dance group called 'Les Treteaux du Pont Vieux'. See: a similar group. They performed all afternoon in the streets of the village in traditional costume. They invited people to join in their dances and that was quite a success. A disc jockey standing on the village square with a microphone made the whole show sound like it was a major event!

And it actually brought quite a number of people curious to see what this new pottery studio was about. A few of them tried their hands on the borrowed potter's wheel with some dark spare clay. Centering 1Kg of clay is not such an easy game... Here a young guild carpenter is trying his skill in front of other visitors watching on.

5. Registering at the Chamber of Trades

2006-10-03T17:53:00.000+02:00

In order to start work in my pottery studio I had to be registered as a business of some sort.

The Chamber of Trades in Chateauroux (the prefecture town of my area) put me down as a potter, i.e. a craftman or a craftwwoman making clay pots. I tried to explain that my plan was to have hobby potters coming to work for their own purpose. That would have been 'teaching' pottery and I didn't want to be registered as a teacher. So I left it to that and I was then issued a long ID number. I also had to attend an obligatory 4 day course, in November 2001 prior to opening my business, within the Chamber of Trades building. It meant travelling 50km to attend.

The group of people attending the 'business opening course' at the same time as me was wide ranging, from a mechanic to a builder. Some were old hands in their business who had to attend for some administrative reason. The teacher was a bored lady who didn't seem to have started a business ever in her life.

I don't remember what I 'learnt' in that course, except that the paper work and administrative side of running a business was going to be time consuming and depressing... and it was. There was no joy! No spur! No enthusiasm of any kind. And we were well warned that a great deal of the money we would earn (if we did) would be used to pay 'charges' of all sorts, social charges, taxes, and what not.

A number of people from banks or accountancy agencies came to explain their role in a business venture. At the end of each hour we were issued a pile of printed sheets with diagrams and things. I weighed the whole pile at the end of the course: it came up to 3 kilograms.

I was downright bewildered.

4. CREATING A WEBSITE

2006-10-02T21:23:00.000+02:00

While getting work done on the old barn to turn it into a pottery studio, I spent time in October 2001 figuring out a website. It was going to be the only way to get people to know about my venture and to invite them to come.

I enjoyed doing that! I designed a few pages and then turned to a professional to launch it on the web. The difficulty was to find someone. Either there were terribly expensive professionals, or a long list of various names of would-be webmasters. Eventually I found a leaflet advertising such services on a local bar zinc top. I thought if a guy made the effort to come all the way to this bar to advertise for his web services, he must be believing in what he was doing. It turned out to be a webmaster from Orleans, the capital city of the Centre Region, who was trying to expand. His website, DataNet, is now hosting a number of local portals like Indre.net where one can find info in French on the area.

My site was called stcivran-poterie dot com

3. Fitting the workshop

2006-10-01T21:22:00.000+02:00

The area available was about 70m2. I decided to have a 3 meter long work bench of smooth concrete. It enables 3 people to work handbuilding at the same time. I also had a back door put in to a very small courtyard where to sit at tea break. And of course the electricity had to be installed to accomodate a professional kiln and a couple of potters wheels.

The meter had to provide for a three phase 380 volts power. As there was no electricity in that barn before, it was fairly easy to install it as required. I had it done allowing for 3 potters wheels although I only bought 2. It left room for expanding!

Water had to be brought in from the kitchen of the house some 20m away and a tap installed on a sink. As the whole building had to have a new drainage, I had a sceptic tank installed. The road had to be cut open to allow for the workshop drainage to join in with another system across the road.

The kiln I bought from a ceramics wholesaler in France called Ceradel, had been made in England by Pottery Crafts in Stoke-on-Trent. It had been delivered to me and left outside the studio until one day when a kind carpenter volunteered to help me with it. He used his machine with a telescopic arm to lift it and place it inside the studio nicely. I owe him a big favor.

2. THE PROJECT

2006-10-01T12:41:00.000+02:00

When I came back in 2000 to my native village in the middle of France , my intention was to develop some activity to get people to come and visit the area from the outside world.

I wanted to use an old barn I owned as a 'backpackers' hostel to induce travelling young people to visit the village. It meant a lot of renovations to the building and thus a permit to do so. After a while, due to rampant antagonism and a lot of blue print, I realized that it was not going to be possible.

In 2001 I bought a house with a smaller barn in St Civran, another village in the same province of Berry. I spent what I received from my mother's inheritance to turn it into a pottery studio. The idea remained to attract people to the area.

The studio was geared for six people working at a time, either handbuilding or throwing on the wheel. The problem remained the accomodation of those people likely to come and wanting to stay a week or so. Locally there are what is called 'gites', a French version of the Bed 'n Breakfast system. However, I haven't found I could rely on this kind of accomodation as I need it. I need to be able to offer a 'package' deal to hobby potters, a stay of, say, a week or 10 days with access to the studio and accomodation inclusive.

To this day, accomodation of visiting potters remains a problem.

1. Hand Work

2006-09-26T13:57:00.000+02:00

Who said that hand work was not as noble as brain work?

Whoever declared that hands have less value than brains?

The most beautiful human achievements until this day have been made with bare hands.

Cathedrals, with bare hands. Pyramids too. Christopher Columbus' caravels were built with bare hands. And so were Captain Cook's vessels. Your wedding cake was made with bare hands. And the breams in the ocean are caught with bare hands. The potter, the mechanic, the surgeon, the hairdresser and the others...

All of them get their hands dirty to create our world, to shape our planet on a daily basis. Naturally, some of these manual tasks are dirty and repetitive. Degrading even. But there are intellectual tasks too that are repetitive and dumb. We slowly get rid of them through the ages by inventing machines. Should we deplore this?

This world of ours being in constant mutation, it may be a good idea to see the positive side of change. Less repetitive tasks means more time for creative work. A word to the wise! Let's turn off our TV sets... ! And let's pass on to our kids the thousand and one thing we know how to make with our hands.

Past the kindergarten years where we get our toddlers to fumble with play dow and stick bits of paper together, there's no longer time in our schools and colleges for 'hand works'. The mere phrase with these two words together makes everyone pull a face. Our school leavers have their heads full and their hands, withered. It isn't very sensible, is it?