Alpilles pottery - Lise Freychet

First of all, a family history with a great-grandfather who was a ‘malonier’ in the Var at Salernes, then in Marseille. So I've always had a taste for Provençal pottery and all the culture that goes with it. I'm deeply attached to my roots and my region. My life is here, and practising this modest craft is my unpretentious contribution to maintaining a centuries-old traditional activity.

To quote Daniel de Montmollin (potter): ‘There is no tradition except that which is passed on’, from his book Les Mains sur terre 2013.

So it's also a job of sharing. You receive and you give.

I did my apprenticeship over several years, devoting all my free time to it. I was able to acquire the technique, which is essential and necessary, but also to immerse myself in its philosophy through contact with my masters. These people taught me the basics, and shared with me their vision of this craft: take your time, because clay can't be rushed, combine the elements (earth, water, air and fire), develop your senses, study and copy the ancients, and yet be part of the modern world without falling into modism.

I, in turn, want to share with customers all the stages in the making of the objects they choose, by integrating the sales area into the heart of the workshop, listening to them and answering their questions. So when they take the object home, they will also have a story to tell, a bit of the soul of the workshop and of Provence. Each piece is unique, and they'll recognise the impact of the hand on the piece, in its little flaws that aren't flaws at all.

You'll find crockery, decorative objects, my funny characters, reproductions of old tiles and those of my own creation... Many worlds united by the same technique: Glazed Earth.

I'm lucky enough to have a job that I love - come and discover it!