The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Developing a Passion
Barbara Lormelle has deep roots in ceramics. However, at the start, she never thought that she, too, would be working and creating in clay. She notes her grandfather, who worked in an industrial ceramics factory that made objects like sinks, as her initial
spark of interest. Her parents collected ceramics and used handmade pieces on a daily basis. She credits her parents for her artistic development. Her father was a designer of objects in multiple mediums. Throughout her formative years, she was surrounded
by her parents’ ceramic collection of pieces from Digoin-Sarreguemines.
Lormelle graduated with two different degrees. A DEUG/license from the Institute of Theatrical Studies, Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, in set decoration (scenography) and a second master’s in science and techniques in photography from the University
Saint-Denis, Paris 8. She studied multimedia at the Gobelins School, located in Paris. With those degrees and licenses achieved, she went to work in multimedia freelancing for fifteen years. Her clients included Galeries Lafayette (department stores),
Orange (media and telephone tech company), and a dance company, Philippe Decouflé.
Lormelle was just at a point of reflecting on her future in multimedia projects, but she was not pleased with the direction of these projects. Lormelle explains that it was too restrictive and was going in a direction of less creativity. She started out
being able to design a project, then acted as the illustrator, photographer, and program designer. As her profession progressed, she was increasingly restricted artistically and creatively.
It was at that point she was seduced into ceramics after watching a documentary about artist Simone Perrotte, a French contemporary ceramic designer. She found the work of Perrotte beautifully designed and conceived. She was fascinated by how Perrotte
made her forms and the random, by-chance effects of the firing and glazing processes. She was hooked.
Shortly thereafter, in 2013, she went to school to learn about and be immersed in the world of ceramics. Lormelle saw that there were a multitude of possibilities in the world of ceramics. She studied with a well-known potter, Thierry Fouquet, who managed
a teaching studio, Chemins de Terre, in Montreuil, an area outside of Paris. She describes the schooling as intense and short (ten months). The studies included techniques of forming, refining, designing, clay preparation, decoration, firing methods,
and glazing.
After a year of concentrated studies in all aspects of ceramics, she felt ready to open her professional ceramic studio. Lormelle opened her Paris-based studio in 2015 after completing her studies in ceramics in 2014. The studio measures about 431 square
feet (40 m2) and has two rooms. One room contains a wheel, table, shelving, and her kiln. The other room is for glazing, with a sink, worktable, and a small kitchen area. She works every day and welcomes visitors by appointment.
The Foundation
Lormelle’s work is known for her simplicity in forms that accentuate the glazing techniques she has developed over the years. The quality of the forms, all wheel-thrown, have a solid and tranquil background, which allows her glazes to interact with
one another developing depth and horizon lines. She started using Limoges porcelain because of her love of the material and its translucency. She uses Black Southern Ice clay with grog for other works. She loves the translucency of the white clay,
which she feels carries her forms into a lightness of being, and allows for the glaze’s interaction. The work in the Black Southern Ice clay allows her to explore more complex and larger forms. She considers her forms functional and decorative.
During the glazing process, for all utilitarian ware, she starts by glazing the insides first. She uses latex resist to protect the bottoms, feet, and various other areas from having glaze. The day after, she glazes the outside. The pieces are dipped
halfway, and then the other half is dipped. The overlap of the glazes is the most interesting point for her, and one she chooses carefully in her compositions. When using tinted porcelain, she sands the pieces after the bisque firing so it is very
matte and soft to the touch. Wherever she does not want glaze, she uses latex.
Creating Depth and Interactions
As for glazing, blue is her inspiration, but Lormelle also loves black, green, and brown. She continually tests glazes to find the blues that suit her. She fires in an electric kiln, at 2282–2372°F (1250–1300°C). Glazes and layering
of glazes are her focus to get the depth and tint of color that she desires. In one series, Puzzle, Lormelle uses a porcelain engobe over the porcelain and then layers of glaze. These pieces are designed to let the beauty of the porcelain show through.
Like most people in ceramics, she loves the surprise of the transformation of the glazes in the kiln. Lormelle is intrigued by different textures, materials, and oppositions, such as matte and shiny. She makes all her own glazes, using books, but
also sites Glazy.org as a source. Having done a lot of overlapping glaze testing in school, she continues to discover various combinations that please her. The porcelain she uses
is not very absorbent, which is one reason why she glazes in stages and why she is always playing with the rhythm of her glazing to determine the correct coverage and overlap of the layered glazes.
The last two years have been very busy, and Lormelle wishes to take some time to reflect on her work and its development. She fires in oxidation but longs to explore the effects of reduction firing. She glides between functional and decorative, always
interested in the luminosity of the porcelain and consistently seeking to discover glazes and their interaction. Her recent pieces demonstrate a new development of drawn lines.
Lormelle was surrounded by ceramics as a child, which she says helped her develop a sensitivity and sensibility of functional ceramics. Later, she found herself attracted to the mass-produced functional wares of Scandinavian and German designers. However,
she is most inspired by East Asian ceramics: specifically Korean and Japanese ceramics. The simplicity of her forms reflects these inspirations. Lormelle’s approach to decoration, as well as her forms, are inspired by nature: the colors of sand,
sky, minerals of the earth, shells, and the clay itself. She describes her inspirations as juxtapositions of abstract and precision of line and form. The intention is for each piece to be unique, pure in form, and simple in decoration. She describes
the constant search of “being loose,” gestures of grace that naturally occur, juxtaposed to the control over the forms and process.
There are numerous aspects of ceramics to be discovered. Lormelle considers herself a ceramicist, both an artist and a potter, balancing her work between the two categories. She is passionate about every step of the process. There are two main goals in
her life. One is to never be blasé or to settle, and to continue to grow, learn, and develop. The second goal is to have her work touch the viewer. Her work desires to be felt and handled, and in this light, I think she has achieved at least
this goal.
The Field of French Ceramics
When it comes to her customers, Lormelle spends additional time showing them the porcelain pieces to educate them about the skill required to create such pieces, though they are also welcome to view her other works. When asked about her position as an
artist in the world of ceramics in France, she says she doesn’t know her position but considers herself a ceramic artist. She was honored to exhibit in 2022 and 2023 at the Saint-Sulpice Céramique exhibition in Paris, France, an important
internationally renowned ceramic art exhibition. Lormelle was grateful to be recognized. This exhibition is attended by collectors, restaurants, buyers, and decorators.
the author Lauren Kearns is a professional ceramic artist, teacher, mentor, writer, and creator. She has assisted students of all ages and abilities in ceramics and continues to be an active and avid promoter of the ceramic arts.
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The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Developing a Passion
Barbara Lormelle has deep roots in ceramics. However, at the start, she never thought that she, too, would be working and creating in clay. She notes her grandfather, who worked in an industrial ceramics factory that made objects like sinks, as her initial spark of interest. Her parents collected ceramics and used handmade pieces on a daily basis. She credits her parents for her artistic development. Her father was a designer of objects in multiple mediums. Throughout her formative years, she was surrounded by her parents’ ceramic collection of pieces from Digoin-Sarreguemines.
Lormelle graduated with two different degrees. A DEUG/license from the Institute of Theatrical Studies, Sorbonne Nouvelle Paris 3, in set decoration (scenography) and a second master’s in science and techniques in photography from the University Saint-Denis, Paris 8. She studied multimedia at the Gobelins School, located in Paris. With those degrees and licenses achieved, she went to work in multimedia freelancing for fifteen years. Her clients included Galeries Lafayette (department stores), Orange (media and telephone tech company), and a dance company, Philippe Decouflé.
Lormelle was just at a point of reflecting on her future in multimedia projects, but she was not pleased with the direction of these projects. Lormelle explains that it was too restrictive and was going in a direction of less creativity. She started out being able to design a project, then acted as the illustrator, photographer, and program designer. As her profession progressed, she was increasingly restricted artistically and creatively.
It was at that point she was seduced into ceramics after watching a documentary about artist Simone Perrotte, a French contemporary ceramic designer. She found the work of Perrotte beautifully designed and conceived. She was fascinated by how Perrotte made her forms and the random, by-chance effects of the firing and glazing processes. She was hooked.
Shortly thereafter, in 2013, she went to school to learn about and be immersed in the world of ceramics. Lormelle saw that there were a multitude of possibilities in the world of ceramics. She studied with a well-known potter, Thierry Fouquet, who managed a teaching studio, Chemins de Terre, in Montreuil, an area outside of Paris. She describes the schooling as intense and short (ten months). The studies included techniques of forming, refining, designing, clay preparation, decoration, firing methods, and glazing.
After a year of concentrated studies in all aspects of ceramics, she felt ready to open her professional ceramic studio. Lormelle opened her Paris-based studio in 2015 after completing her studies in ceramics in 2014. The studio measures about 431 square feet (40 m2) and has two rooms. One room contains a wheel, table, shelving, and her kiln. The other room is for glazing, with a sink, worktable, and a small kitchen area. She works every day and welcomes visitors by appointment.
The Foundation
Lormelle’s work is known for her simplicity in forms that accentuate the glazing techniques she has developed over the years. The quality of the forms, all wheel-thrown, have a solid and tranquil background, which allows her glazes to interact with one another developing depth and horizon lines. She started using Limoges porcelain because of her love of the material and its translucency. She uses Black Southern Ice clay with grog for other works. She loves the translucency of the white clay, which she feels carries her forms into a lightness of being, and allows for the glaze’s interaction. The work in the Black Southern Ice clay allows her to explore more complex and larger forms. She considers her forms functional and decorative.
During the glazing process, for all utilitarian ware, she starts by glazing the insides first. She uses latex resist to protect the bottoms, feet, and various other areas from having glaze. The day after, she glazes the outside. The pieces are dipped halfway, and then the other half is dipped. The overlap of the glazes is the most interesting point for her, and one she chooses carefully in her compositions. When using tinted porcelain, she sands the pieces after the bisque firing so it is very matte and soft to the touch. Wherever she does not want glaze, she uses latex.
Creating Depth and Interactions
As for glazing, blue is her inspiration, but Lormelle also loves black, green, and brown. She continually tests glazes to find the blues that suit her. She fires in an electric kiln, at 2282–2372°F (1250–1300°C). Glazes and layering of glazes are her focus to get the depth and tint of color that she desires. In one series, Puzzle, Lormelle uses a porcelain engobe over the porcelain and then layers of glaze. These pieces are designed to let the beauty of the porcelain show through. Like most people in ceramics, she loves the surprise of the transformation of the glazes in the kiln. Lormelle is intrigued by different textures, materials, and oppositions, such as matte and shiny. She makes all her own glazes, using books, but also sites Glazy.org as a source. Having done a lot of overlapping glaze testing in school, she continues to discover various combinations that please her. The porcelain she uses is not very absorbent, which is one reason why she glazes in stages and why she is always playing with the rhythm of her glazing to determine the correct coverage and overlap of the layered glazes.
The last two years have been very busy, and Lormelle wishes to take some time to reflect on her work and its development. She fires in oxidation but longs to explore the effects of reduction firing. She glides between functional and decorative, always interested in the luminosity of the porcelain and consistently seeking to discover glazes and their interaction. Her recent pieces demonstrate a new development of drawn lines.
Lormelle was surrounded by ceramics as a child, which she says helped her develop a sensitivity and sensibility of functional ceramics. Later, she found herself attracted to the mass-produced functional wares of Scandinavian and German designers. However, she is most inspired by East Asian ceramics: specifically Korean and Japanese ceramics. The simplicity of her forms reflects these inspirations. Lormelle’s approach to decoration, as well as her forms, are inspired by nature: the colors of sand, sky, minerals of the earth, shells, and the clay itself. She describes her inspirations as juxtapositions of abstract and precision of line and form. The intention is for each piece to be unique, pure in form, and simple in decoration. She describes the constant search of “being loose,” gestures of grace that naturally occur, juxtaposed to the control over the forms and process.
There are numerous aspects of ceramics to be discovered. Lormelle considers herself a ceramicist, both an artist and a potter, balancing her work between the two categories. She is passionate about every step of the process. There are two main goals in her life. One is to never be blasé or to settle, and to continue to grow, learn, and develop. The second goal is to have her work touch the viewer. Her work desires to be felt and handled, and in this light, I think she has achieved at least this goal.
The Field of French Ceramics
When it comes to her customers, Lormelle spends additional time showing them the porcelain pieces to educate them about the skill required to create such pieces, though they are also welcome to view her other works. When asked about her position as an artist in the world of ceramics in France, she says she doesn’t know her position but considers herself a ceramic artist. She was honored to exhibit in 2022 and 2023 at the Saint-Sulpice Céramique exhibition in Paris, France, an important internationally renowned ceramic art exhibition. Lormelle was grateful to be recognized. This exhibition is attended by collectors, restaurants, buyers, and decorators.
the author Lauren Kearns is a professional ceramic artist, teacher, mentor, writer, and creator. She has assisted students of all ages and abilities in ceramics and continues to be an active and avid promoter of the ceramic arts.
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