one of my favourite days . . .

one of my favourite days from my recent trip to paris

was organised by my lovely friend pia
( whose blog is particularly inspiring at the moment ! )

pia put me in touch with two of her
paris: made by hand artisans
michele and emmanuelle

michele sauvalle a wonderous glass artist,
took my sister and i on a beautiful walk,
wandering through the streets
of her paris suburb . . .
and taking us for lunch to the home,
studio and shop of her friend potter emmanuelle wittmannemmanuelle's studio was so inspiring
and continues to be as i pour over the photos i took . . .
there is something so raw and familiar
about emmanuelle's work,
her love of clay and the journey it has taken her on . . .
her work is a lot like her too, i think . . .
earthy . . . strong . . . brave . . . intelligent . . .
her artist statement says as much
just click the grey words to read the text in english

i felt so lucky to have had this day,
shared with my sister,
organised through a dear, dear friend,
where i met new ones . . .

on the back wall of emmanuelle's studio is a quote
( and i don't need to explain how i love quotes )
in french :
que serions nous sans le secours de tout ce qui n'est ?!
which means
( between emmanuelle and my conversation,
and a bit of internet searching )

what would we be without the aid of what is not
- paul valery

emmanuelle finds the quote so true for herself
in the process of being a potter . . .
so often it is the space,
and the unknown,
that drives the form to be . . .

pia has put some info up about workshops that
michele and emmanuelle are taking
info and links HERE