Ceramicists
François-Marie Billard
Trained under Brigitte Marionneaud, François-Marie Billard quickly deepened his practice through contact with the ceramicist Yoland Cazenove. This encounter marked a decisive turning point, notably through his discovery of stoneware, wood firing, and a more in-depth exploration of materials.
Influenced by the Japanese Raku tradition, as well as by several leading European ceramicists, he developed a personal approach centred on hand-building and low-temperature firing.
His work is grounded in the use of natural materials—clays, stones and oxides—which he selects and processes himself. Glazes, often reduced to powder, are applied in successive layers and combined with slips to create subtle effects of texture and colour.
Committed to a sensitive and experimental approach, he fully embraces unpredictability within his creative process. Firings, carried out in gas or wood kilns, require constant attention and contribute to the uniqueness of each piece. Smoking and re-firing further enrich tonal variations and surface effects.
His forms, primarily bowls and bottles, are conceived as balances between volume, line and thickness. Each work is unique, guided by the search for an overall harmony.
Some unique ceramic pieces representing bowls and curved bottles are exhibited at Galerie Saint-Roch.
Strongly influenced by the Raku technique, a quick firing manufacturing technique developed in Japan in the 16th century, ceramicists use a more solid chamotte stoneware because the stoneware has to withstand wide temperature variations.
