Muriel
Muriel has been a ceramist since 2014, after doing a year's training in the pottery of St Quentin, in the Gard.
Before that she did all her studies in the arts, including two years of graphic arts in Ottawa (Canada) and two years of styling/modelling and textile creation in Lyon.
She loves everything around arts and crafts, which is why all her pieces are carefully decorated by hand.
“My aim is to make the most beautiful and perfect pieces possible, and of course, to find "my" customers !!!”
Muriel (Terra Cremada)
Culture and travels
Inspiration
Muriel draws inspiration from pop culture: punk rock, zebra and leopard prints, skulls and tattoos...which all play a prominent role in her work.
She has also been greatly influenced by her trips to Mexico with its sugar skulls, Rwanda and its giraffes and elephants, Asia and its mythology: pandas, Maneki Neko cats.
"Bisbal" earthenware and white "Jasmin" earthenware.
The Terra Cremada Technique
Murial works with red "Bisbal" earthenware and white "Jasmin" earthenware.
She turns, models and then decorates the raw clay with 'engobes'. (Engobes are a kind of paint that she makes from white clay powder mixed with oxides or coloured pigments).
When the pieces are completely dry, she does a first firing known as "biscuit firing" (this is when the clay is fired) in her electric kiln at 980°C. (Earthenware is fired at a low temperature; if she were making stoneware or porcelain, she would have to fire at over 1000°C.) The firing lasts about 48 hours, with the temperature rising and falling very slowly.
After unglazing her pieces, she dips them in a basin of liquid transparent glaze. After drying, she fires again at 980° (for another 48 hours), unglazing at room temperature to avoid braiding. When they come out of the kiln, she varnishes the pieces and the colours come out brighter and darker and, most importantly, waterproof.
“I met Muriel at a market in Sète. She is very friendly with a unique style which is unusual for the South of France. If you are looking for something original yet practical I highly recommend her work.”
Natasha (Natif Creatif)
