Lugarde · Cantal
À propos &
About.
A curious, creative and restless mind. Clay found me at fifty — and everything changed.
Studio & Atelier Créatif · Lugarde · Cantal · France
Who I am
A curious,
restless mind.
For as long as I can remember, I’ve been curious.
At two years old, I spent hours sitting on a step, watching a chrysalis swinging in the wind beneath a fold of railing. I had never seen one before.
I wanted to absorb every detail — its colours, its shape, its movement. That is my very first memory. And curiosity, my very first driving force.
Life took over, with all its constraints. And it wasn’t until I turned fifty that clay and I finally met.
What a meeting.
How I work
Slow making.
Thoughtful choices.
Sustainability and mindfulness are at the heart of my practice. I work with stoneware and porcelain from closer sources — simple or no glazes, oxides and mason stains for colour.
I recycle everything I can. Clay scraps are always reclaimed, cardboard repurposed, plastic kept to a minimum.
The studio is small, quiet, and filled with natural light. Away from the noise. Every piece is made with intention, care, and respect — and comes with a specific care note.
Thrown, built, or mixed techniques. Most pieces are one-off or part of tiny runs. Made with time and love, mostly by hand.
The work
Materials
Local & natural
Stoneware and porcelain from closer sources. Simple or no glazes. Oxides and mason stains for colour.
Process
Made by hand
Thrown, built, or mixed techniques. Most pieces are one-off or part of tiny runs. Made with time and love.
Care
Made to be used
Dishwasher safe on gentle cycles. Avoid thermal shock. Hand wash to keep surfaces bright. Every piece comes with a care note.
The project · Le projet
Yatoke is a ceramics studio set up in the former post office building of Lugarde, a village of 150 inhabitants in the Cantal. It is a project rooted in its territory, designed from the ground up to minimise its impact while honouring its mission: crafting beauty for ordinary days.
Materials & production
Clay is sourced directly from the producer, without intermediaries. The choice favours clays offering the strength of stoneware while firing at 1100°C rather than 1280°C — significantly reducing energy consumption with each firing, and making a real difference at the scale of a year’s production.
Packaging
Cardboard packaging is recovered and reused. Cutting offcuts replace plastic foam chips. Boxes are sealed with a paper band and natural glue — no stickers. Papers used for cards, gift tags, care notes or wrapping are, wherever possible, offcuts or salvaged materials. The aim is to reduce waste at every stage, redirecting materials that would otherwise be discarded.
Equipment & studio
Aprons come from resource centres or are made from salvaged fabric. Brushes, cups, tables, chairs, lighting — the studio is equipped primarily with second-hand materials. Buying new is the exception, not the rule.
The approach · La démarche
Yatoke settled in a village that had no cultural, craft or commercial offering. That choice is not incidental — it is central to the project. Yatoke is more than making beautiful objects. It is about having a positive impact on the place where it operates and on the territory that welcomes it.
Yatoke s’est installé dans un village qui n’avait aucune offre culturelle, artisanale ou commerciale. Ce choix n’est pas accessoire — il est au cœur du projet. Yatoke, c’est plus que faire de beaux objets. C’est avoir un impact positif sur l’endroit où il s’installe et sur le territoire qui l’accueille.
Yatoke is not a compensation project. It is a project built from the outset with these constraints as conditions, not options.
Yatoke n’est pas un projet de compensation. C’est un projet construit dès l’origine avec ces contraintes comme conditions, pas comme options.
A literary object
Po(e)ttery
Shed.
A cup. A word. A text accessible only to those who hold the object. Po(e)ttery Shed is a series of literary objects — each cup carries a title imprinted in the clay, and a QR code beneath it that opens a text written for that piece alone.
The texts are original, written in Portuguese, English or French. 100 words. The object and the literature meet only in your hands. Launching May 2026 — available in studio.