Patrice and Sylviana Voelkel

It's freezing in Provence.  Seriously, I'm not kidding.  It's rainy and cold and windy and, did I mention cold?! The last I checked it's supposed to be sunny and warm in the South of France, at least from April on.  Well, not this week.

With only one day left in France and having already exceeded my pottery budget, I planned to spend today hiking.  But, as I mentioned, the weather did not cooperate.  So I did what seemed most logical: wine-tasting and shopping.  Lucky for me (and you!) I happened to drive by Poterie Voelkel and because it was pouring rain, I stopped.  Here's a shot of my little VW at their back door, as well as a photo of their interior yard... all so picturesque.

 I knocked on the front door of the house and met Patrice, who led me to the little store (below) and claimed he didn't speak English.  Not true.  He spoke and understood just enough English to charm me into buying quite a lot of his beautiful stoneware. 

 Patrice and his wife Sylviane work together.  They use black clay, but when it is fired it comes out looking just like the red clay we're more used to seeing.  Here's Sylviane, hard at work.

The Voelkels glaze their pieces with a variety of liquid-like colors, but I was especially attracted to the marbled blue and celadon, as well as a contemporary chalk white. These pieces are totally different from what I'm accustomed to buying, but I think they will make a great compliment for the more traditional pieces in the collection.

I had a great time in Patrice's store... the artwork was beautiful and the artist could not have been more humble or helpful.  Plus, it was a great distraction from the cold outside.

Tomorrow I leave Provence and head to Valencia, because you know, when it's cold and rainy in Southern France there's only one place to go, Southern Spain : ).   

Merci et au revoir!

Sylvie Duriez

Sylvie lives in the little town of Pertuis (which, when pronounced in French, reminds me of the sound a little bird makes), about 10 minutes north of Aix-En-Provence.  And what a beautiful 10 minutes... rolling green hills, rivers, and fields of yellow flowers (I have to find out what they are).  This is the Luberon, made famous by Peter Moyer's A Year in Provence, and I'm definitely going back for more today!

Sylvie and I met 3 years ago at a pottery market in Marseille.  I quickly fell in love with her work and have been hounding her for more ever since.  She told me I was the most persistent American she had come across.  Sylvie is an artist and not a business person... she does not want to worry about packing, shipping, or accepting credit cards and thus has refused to work with most people who have contacted her from afar.  Apparently, I'm the only one who took her refusal as an invitation to book a ticket and visit her in person. 

Sylvie lives upstairs from her workshop and small showroom.  It's not a lot of space, but she doesn't need much in that she's the sole member of this operation.  She throws each bowl, plate, and pitcher herself, fires them in her small kiln, and then graces each one with an original design.

First Sylvie dips the piece in a base glaze (her's has a yellow/greenish tint to it) and let's that dry.  She then uses a sharp needle to sketch her drawing on the piece.  She insists that she does not create a plan on paper first, nor does she copy a picture... she literally just goes to work with a needle, carving a very fine line through the base glaze.  Then she uses mineral-based colored glazes to create a soft, touchable watercolor effect.

I just could not get over the charm and personality imbued in each original design.  And as you can imagine, this led me to buy a lot!  I felt a connection with each piece and often thought of specific people that they reminded me of.  So I went a little crazy... I think she was sincerely excited for the business, although she did mention that she was going to have a lot of work to do now that I was taking away so many of her pieces!  I'm thrilled to add Sylvie's work to the Emilia Ceramics collection and can't wait to share it with all of you.