Françoise Cholé

Françoise Cholé is a ceramist who works in Besançon. She is a singular ceramist: to begin with, there is the clay that she makes herself... Earths, sandstone and marl collected, harvested in Burgundy or closer to her studio in the Jura forests. After the pickings she will let them dry, crush them, then let them soak, wait again then mix, type… wrap. In this earth, various additions of degreasers also collected (granitic sands, schists, gneiss, pozzolan, marl, etc.) which will sometimes be biscuitized before being added to the earth. Then comes the time to give shape to this material, most often through containers, shaped in the palm of the hand or on a plate: bowls above all but also salad bowls,

pitchers, teapots, plates… And also through sculptural pieces where the earth gives way to more mineral matter, rocks and sand bound by earth and refractory concrete. To finish, engober, enamel, again marls scraped here and there constitute the raw materials of these coatings.

And finally bake...