Le Don Du Fel gallery/studio
Le Don du Fel – French contemporary ceramics
The pottery centre Le Don du Fel is perched on a crest overlooking the Lot valley and commands sweeping views of the picturesque countryside of Aveyron. Architecturally, it’s an abstract array of five ochre coloured curvilinear cylinders that are juxtaposed against the gentle rolling green hills. Inside the complex, there is a contemporary ceramics gallery, facilities for lectures and workshops and a retail store for a diverse selection of quality ceramic arts. Located in close proximity to the village of Le Fel and about 11km from Entraygues Sur Truyere, the region features lush vineyards and scenery.
Up to 7 exhibitions are displayed each year featuring renown ceramicists such ae Claire Curneen, Emmanuel Peccatte, Peter Beard, Christiane Wilhelm and currently Cormac Boydell. Other high caliber artists like Spanish potter Teresa Girona, French potter Geoffroy Pascal, Geoff Shapiro and founder Suzy Atkins also have their designer ranges on display.
The Le Don du Fel centre has been evolving since the 70’s when Nigel and Suzy Atkin (UK & USA) put the project in motion, resurrecting the building from ruins. The utilitarian salt glaze wares of ‘Poterie du Don’ kitchenware products are also produced and sold from the site. “The whole mission here is not just to sell our own work, although that’s very important; it’s part of our identity, but really to show the best of European ceramics in a French context, which means people are constantly discovering things when they come here,” says Nigel. “We have a selection of artists. We work a lot with English-speaking artists, and we work a lot with Spanish artists. We are very proud to be recognized because we work for every taste and every budget, combining art and utility. We work for open-mindedness“
Situated in the central south of France, the nearest French city is Toulouse, approx a 2 hours drive. Below are some of the potters contributing to the extensive collection :-
Agnes His
Agnes His
Andreas Steinemann
Andreas Steinemann
Andreas Steinemann
Ann Goodfellow
Ann Goodfellow
Ann Goodfellow
Ann Van Hoey
Arshaf Hannah
The vessels of Hannah are an intensely poetic fusion of sensual curves and delicately defined edges that confer on each piece a statuesque majesty that is particularly convincing.
Arshaf Hannah
Arshaf Hannah
Athena Jahantigh
Athena Jahantigh
Athena Jahantigh
Bodil Manz
Bodil Manz
Zablocki Lopes
Zablocki Lopes
Brigitte Iemfre
Brigitte Iemfre
Brigitte Iemfre
Cormac Boydell
Stags and Cattle – Cormac Boydell
Leaving the Island – Cormac Boydell
Christian Pradier
Christian Pradier
Christian Pradier
Claude Champy
Claude Champy
Claude Champy
Claudi Casanovas
Claudi Casanovas
Claudi Casanovas
Suzy Atkins
Suzy Atkins
Suzy Atkins
Suzy Atkins
Le Don du Fel tablerware
Florence Pauliac
Florence Pauliac
Florence Pauliac
Florence Pauliac
Duncan Ayscough
Duncan Ayscough ceramic vessel
Duncan Ayscough
Duncan Ayscough
Teresa Girones
Depth of expression characterizes Teresa Girone’s figural sculptures and these two examples are no exception.
Teresa Girones
Teresa Girones
Elaine Peto
Elaine Peto
Michel Blanc
Michel Blanc
Johanna Hair
Johanna Hair
Johanna Hair
Johanna Hair
Jin Eui Kim, Sth, Korea
Jin Eui Kim plays with illusion and space, through the arrangements at varying intervals of bands of contrasting color.
Jin Eui Kim
Jin Eui Kim
Jeff Shapiro
Jeff Shapiro
Jeff Shapiro
Jeanne Opgenhaffen
Jeanne Opgenhaffen
Jeanne Opgenhaffen
Jean Francois Fouilhoux
Jean François Fouilhoux
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Jean Francois Fouilhoux
Joan Carrillo, Spain
Joan Carrillo
Joan Carrillo lustre ceramic bottle
Isabelle Leclerc
Isabelle Leclerc
Isabelle Leclerc
Henk Wolvers
By concentrating on the physical qualities of his chosen material and by using only the simplest techniques of fabrication, often pushed to their limits, he has composed, always with an immutable elegance, a highly personal hymn to lightness and translucency. Dutch artists Henk Wolvers elaborates a refreshing narrative for contemporary porcelain.
Henk Wolvers
Henk Wolvers
Enric Mestre
Enric Mestre
Enric Mestre
Emma Rodgers
Emma Rodgers
Geoffroy Pascal
Elke Sada
Elke Sada
Elke Sada
Jongjin Park
His sculptures surprise us by the improbable nature of their construction which clearly and radically extends the expressive potentialities of clay.
Jongjin Park
Jongjin Park
Lut Laleman
Lut Laleman
Lut Laleman
Maria Bosch
Catalan artist Maria Bosch creates superb big stoneware pots, half-way between jars and steles, whose profoundly mineral surfaces carry large areas of muted colour circumscribed by a looping web of dark lines.
Maria Bosch
Martin McWilliam
McWilliam forges his investigations, to further push his diverted containers into a spatial ballet where the outside, the inside and the immediate environment enter into a strong and accomplished reaction.
Martin McWilliam
Martin McWilliam
Martin McWilliam
Merri Wells
Merri Wells
Michal Fargo
Michal Fargo
Michal Fargo
Michal Fargo
Nicholas Lees
British ceramicist Nicholas Lees, through his flawless technical perfection, communicates a sensation of dematerialized lightness, which calls to mind trompe l’œil effects which are both dynamic and bright. His shapes overcome the archetypal form of the vase and become motion, perception and intangible uncertainty.
Nicholas Lees
Nicholas Lees
Nicholas Lees
Paul Philp
Paul Philp
Chantal Cesure
Chantal Cesure
Peter Beard
Peter Beard
Peter Beard
Peter Beard
Sangwoo Kim
Sangwoo Kim
Sangwoo Kim
Sangwoo Kim
Sara Moorhouse
Sara Moorhouse
Sara Moorhouse
Sara Moorhouse
Simon Griffiths
“My work primarily stems from direct observation of the subject I am portraying. The stylistic and constructional considerations are secondary to portraying the subject as honestly as I can. This is not to say that I strive to make my work realistic in the literal sense, instead I seek to capture and portray that sense of awareness that is present in all living things. I like to think that every one of my sculptures has some of the soul of the animal within it.”
Simon Griffiths
Simon Griffiths
Simon Griffiths
Simon Zsolt Jozsef, Hungry
” I don’t want to catch the forms but the process of forming. Not the fruit or the flower, which are always changing and growing but the growth and change itself, which will form the material.” says Joszef.
Simon Zsolt Jozsef
Simon Zsolt Jozsef
Steen Kepp
Steen Kepp
Steen Kepp
Steen Kepp
Susan Obyrne
Susan Obyrne
Susan Obyrne
Sylvian Meschia
Sylvian Meschia ceramic vessel – arabesque decoration
Sylvian Meschia
Sylvian Meschia
Wendy Lawrence
Wendy Lawrence
Wendy Lawrence
Wendy Lawrence
Wouter Dam
Wouter Dam
Wouter Dam
Yoshimi Futamura
Yoshimi Futamura
Yoshimi Futamura
Yoshimi Futamura
Yoshimi Futamura
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4 Comments
Amazing post thank you.
Hi. Yours is the best site I have seen about pottery. I am from Italy. I don’t know my English how it is . Ciao
Thanks and your English is pretty good.
C’est un très beau et intéressant endroit, j’aimerais le connaître dans ma prochaine visite en France