Talbert Pipes Life in France Adventures Marché de Potiers 2004 The weather in 2004 was perfect Marché de Potiers 2004 Warning - LOTS of pictures, LONG download! Note: All pictures shown were taken with the express permission of the artisans whose work is displayed. To save myself some typing, here is the initial description copied from the 2003 show. It all still applies, except that this year we were lucky enough to get to visit the show on two days, and the weather was magnificent (as opposed to last year when it rained the whole weekend): Each year the town of Herbignac hosts the Marché de Potiers, a weekend-long exposition on the grounds of the Château de Ranrouët. This is our local castle ruin and specific pictures of it can be seen elsewhere on our site at Château de Ranrouët. We took the afternoon off and drove out to visit the show, and found it to be not at all what we had expected. First, it was huge - much larger than we'd been expecting from the size of this small town. Potters had come from all over - Brittany, England, Ile-de-France, Midi-Pyrénées, Normandy, Provence, and the Rhone-Alpes plus many other areas. Secondly, the quality of work on display was very impressive. In the US, events of this sort have a tendency to be mostly country-craft-kitsch, filled with bored elderly ladies selling tables full of black velvet paintings of Jesus framed in lacquered macaroni. This was altogether different - there was excellent artwork on display and the show was made up of full-time professional potters whose work spoke for itself. Having a genuine 900 year old castle in the background added loads of atmosphere and the whole thing came off like some sort of medieval fair and carnival market, with fascinating stuff everywhere and lots of bizarre pottery musical instruments in use - many strange ceramic horns and flutes. Children were running everywhere playing their wang-dooglers and flam-flimmers. This isn't going to be an "adventure" per se, since it's mercifully free of the sort of death-defying escapes and harrowing drama that used to accompany things as simple as a trip to the post office. What follows is mostly just a pictorial story of the show with a few comments here and there. We had music again this year, courtesy of the same fellow who made all the neat ceramic instruments last year. Herbignac has a two-year maximum on attending artists, meaning that they cannot come to the show for more than two years in a row (they must skip every third year). This is to keep the displays changing and varied. I find this odd, though, because in the US shows such as this are supported by their regular attendees, and visitors often look especially for the people they like year after year. We're left wondering who will provide the music next year! Marie-Christine Tirton offers a rustic style of pottery that was very attractive. She came from Nesmy, and one can see more of her work at her shop there at 7 rue de Lattre de Tassigny. We looked for our English friend Richard Dewar this year, but he couldn't make it and sent his daughter instead- Here is a secret for our game "Spot the English" - they wear these hats a LOT. I virtually never see a French person wearing a hat like this (though Marie-Christine Tirton breaks this rule handily in the picture above), and I have one myself. We haven't seen enough Americans here to judge if the same rule applies... This striking display was prominent as one entered the main courtyard. Our friend Sean Miller turned up again this year and we had a fun chat. Here he is looking devious next to a display of his cheerfully green pottery art. Note (ahem) the English hat. Folks interested in his pottery can see more at www.theceramicartist.com/SeanMiller, or contact him at his studio at 108 Dewsbury Road, London, NW10 1EP, 00.40(0)20.8208.0148 Americans - see the sort of bizarre phone numbers we have to cope with daily? :) Another bit of music via ceramics, courtesy of Jean Gérard of Alban. Someday, if we ever have any money, one of these would look marvelous in our upstairs hallway. These beautiful items were by Caroline Wagenaar and David Leroy-terquem. Some interesting semi-African artistry by the duo of Nùria Albà & Lluis Soler, whose work can be seen at their websites nuriaalba.com and lluissoler.com Emily and some cats say goodbye until next year's show!