Why set up the Vézanne workshop in Malicorne-sur-Sarthe?

It's a question I'm often asked . And every time, I smile, because the answer is deeply linked to my story, to that of my family, and to a place that has awakened a lasting passion in us.

It all started in June 2008.

My husband and I visited the workshops of one of the oldest art potteries in Malicorne-sur-Sarthe. It was a real aesthetic shock.

The workshop seemed suspended in time. The artisans worked in almost sacred silence, and everything exuded authenticity. We were amazed, moved, and speechless.

Photo credit: Maison Mouton Noir.

This visit was pivotal. It awakened in us an irresistible urge to create. With our artistic eyes, ideas flowed. The pottery factory opened its doors to us, and we immersed ourselves in this rich world, made of precise gestures, noble materials, and ancient stories.

For several years, we were immersed in this living heritage. We learned, observed, and experimented. The earthenware history of Malicorne-sur-Sarthe became our own. We acquired the skills, understood the techniques, and above all, we felt the soul of this place, of this village.

So it was only natural that we chose to settle here. We bought our house surrounded by the oldest workshops in the village. It's where Garance and Grégoire, our children, were born and are growing up. And it's also where the Vézanne workshop was born, in 2020.

Photo credit: Adèle J. Photographies.

This Vézanne project was therefore not born of chance.

It is the culmination of a life journey, an artistic approach, and an encounter with a place imbued with meaning. The Vézanne workshop is part of the living continuity of the earthenware history of Malicorne-sur-Sarthe, while bringing to it a contemporary, sensitive, and committed artistic expression.

Photo credit: Maison Mouton Noir.

Today, my workshop takes on its full meaning here in Malicorne-sur-Sarthe.

Between memory and creation, between transmission and innovation, it reflects who I am and what I wish to share . My mission: "to be a storyteller".