Portrait

Creating ceramics is, for Claire Fréchet, a way of life rather than, simply, a technique. Her searching soul, a certain rigor and her joyful complicity with the elements paved her way to a singular artistic path.

She was initiated within an indigenous community in Mexico to the art of “browning” earthenware. This pre-Columbian technique consists of polishing the clay with a thin agate stone before the first firing. A skill that requires delicacy and precision.

In Paris, she did research in materials and firings: she tested the finest earthenware, the purest pigments, the glaze and even the plants that could be used to keep the imprint of the fire …

She finally settled down in 2013 in a cave dwelling workshop, a beautifully converted cave near Chantilly, in a region rich in history … A perfect back-cloth for her timeless creation.

Each piece that is created in her workshop is part of a collection. All the ceramics are designed for utilitarian and decorative use.

The studio

A place ? … Let’s rather say : an experience … Claire Fréchet’s workshop is nestled in the limestone cliff. This is a beautifully restored cave dwelling house, part of a living heritage : an exceptional cave-dwelling village.

In Gouvieux (5 minutes from Chantilly, an hour from Paris), under the luminous rock (the famous limestone that was used to build Notre-Dame or the Louvre), Claire Fréchet invites you into her unique workshop.

The cave-dwelling workshop is open after a simple phone call …

Claire Fréchet invites you to discover and share her passion.

Let her guide you on a journey to the center of the earth, in the heart of a magical place, close to Chantilly and at just one hour from Paris, in a beautiful and luminous cave dweling workshop.

You can take your first steps or improve in the art of modeling, turning and decorating pottery in this enchanted place.Claire Fréchet regularly provides pottery courses and work groups for adults and children.

Claire Fréchet reveals her secrets to art lovers in privacy in her unusual workplace. 

Nearby

Creative week-end : “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with our neighbours : discover the cave dwelling accommodation Gîte la Troglo and the House of Parisian Stone.

Be our special guests for a creative and unique experience into the natural elements.

++ The association of Potters and Ceramists in Oise … 15 worshops in our region !

Pottery Classes

Touching clay means traveling in time, diving into oneself, but also exploring the volumes, shapes, and colors of the world.

The courses and work groups organized at the workshop take place throughout the year. They are for adults, children, and sometimes both, because creating with clay is a wonderful thing to share.

When finished, creations are fired, in order to leave a lasting trace.

Pottery Classes Schedule

Regular classes for Adults : Weekly courses for few people : modelling and turning. Beginners or Experience

Workshops for Adults : Almost once a month. Saturday all day + Sunday Morning. 7h30 with your hands into the clay … a week-end for intensive creation.

Workshops for Children : From 6 to 12 years old. 3 sessions that combine learning technical process and creative joy.

Claire Fréchet also offers creative birthdays : a child shares with his friends a creative afternoon. Claire Fréchet supervises the party … in an unforgettable place !

Tell us what your heart desires! Discovering workshops on measure (English spoken)..

Nearby

Creative week-end : “Journey to the Center of the Earth” with our neighbours : discover the cave dwelling accommodation Gîte la Troglo and the House of Parisian Stone.

Be our special guests for a creative and unique experience into the natural elements.

Collections

Claire Fréchet develops her creations in the field of collections. All are signed with the artist unique gestures. All are the result of her balance quest between simple and graceful forms and amazing textures.

Claire Fréchet also proposes made-to-measure creations within the scope of her collections.

Spaceberry : Spaceberries are harvested along an imaginary journey through Space-Time – elastic, dense, granular and smooth. Every sculpture tells over its textures and shapes the story of Matter that rolls up and down when energy goes through it. “To see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower / Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand / And Eternity in an hour” William Blake, Auguries of innocence

Aurora Mineralis : Vases of this collection are shapes on which sun is dawning. Polished, eroded surfaces evoke a skin caressed by the elements. Gold veins run through them.

Meteors : Spheres characterized by their intense softness and fired calligraphic decoration. The spirit of these vases is made of timeless lightness and heavenly roundness. Precious metal leaves adorn the shapes and contrast with the serenity of the subtle and voluptuous grey.

Albanegra : Sculptures and vases, bark or leather : forms and matters that turn a vase into a body which skin both tanned and burnished is covered by a sensual fur.

Exhibitions

Permanent exhbition

Claire Fréchet presents her ceramics in her amazing studio-boutique in Gouvieux, North of Paris (5 minuts from Chantilly castle, an one hour from Paris) open everyday, by appointment.  Call 00. 33. 6 16 99 33 06.

News here …

Hope to hear from you !

Each ceramic has a story … Would you like to imagine one with me ?

                                                                        Or you can write to me …

Atelier troglodyte de Gouvieux – 18 Impasse des Carrières – 60270 Gouvieux  (5 minutes from Chantilly)

email : contact@claire-frechet.com – tel: +33 6 16 99 33 06