Today with our emphasis on food, when all enjoyment plays such a big role Valerie Casado has hit the nail on the head.  On a large heavy table in her studio she beats and kneads the red earth, rolls it out just like a dough and imprints it with patterns of the most delicate lace, pieces of jewellery and old buttons, Indian print models, bits of embroidery and cabbage leaves, sticks of parsley and buttercups. It all comes together to form an intriguing pattern, motive, decoration. She turns it into bowls and vessels drying them slowly and carefully in the free air. Twice within more than 10 hours they are put into the oven. In the end we have a white glazing which resembles enamel and which turns the fragile shards into precious, lasting ceramic bowls.  Through a long, careful procedure the achievement is earthenware of the finest kind before they are ready to contain the most wonderful culinary delicacies. They sprinkle a bit of fairy dust over a festively laid table and emphasis a few dishes of the feast.

Valerie Casado is whole-heartedly ceramicist and works following her intuition by letting her hands talk which she understands as a continuation of earth.  Earth has always influenced her life, by tending her gardens and harvesting the fruit of the trees.  One day she decided to take lessons at the cultural centre of Pernes-les-Fontaines and our future artist realised very quickly that her life was going to change drastically. This was back in 2003 and today she sends the things she creates to Paris, Madrid, London, New York, Tokyo ? and Hamburg.

Text & Photos copyright Schnuppe von Gwinner/ craft2eu