CLAIRE POUJOULA

Claire Poujoula

Cannes, FRANCE

“It's not because things are difficult that we don't try; it's because we don't try that they're difficult.” – Seneca

She was born in Toulouse, where she grew up in a family of women's shoe designers... It was in her grandfather's factory that she developed her senses... In contact with the workers who transformed a noble and living material, leather, which once passed through their skillful hands became a shoe, a piece of elegance. At the age of 10, her first pottery workshop was a revelation: she discovered the pleasure of creating with her hands, and experienced a fascinating material with infinite possibilities.

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Value in the details

Crafting with Fire: High-Temperature Clay

She exclusively works with "high-temperature" clay, like porcelain and stoneware, primarily using two techniques: stamping and casting.

Stamping involves shaping clay by hand or using a plaster mold. Casting uses liquid clay poured into a mold, dried after excess is removed.

After casting or stamping, pieces dry briefly and then fire at 980°C. They are sanded, glazed, and fired again at up to 1250°C on the same day. Each firing takes 2 days with gradual temperature changes.

She focuses on the second firing's temperature, crucial for achieving desired glazes.