Home > About the Au Chat d'Argile workshop

About the Au Chat d'Argile workshop

The creator

My name is Aurore Declève.

My passion for pottery came from interior design studies (developing a living experience in an interior space) which I undertook for my own pleasure and to gain knowledge, quite simply!

To represent three-dimensional objects, I used polymer pastes and, as I explored how to increase the possibilities of creation as much in textures as in forms or in colors, I turned almost naturally to white clay, red clay ... and their limitless world.

I am still learning every day, this world is so vast and fascinating, the path is long, especially with the potter's wheel which is quite complex to handle - at the beginning - to obtain what you have imagined as well as the tools and materials needed.  

In everyday life, I worked in luxury hotel management, in the front office and climbed all the ladders, a lot of travel, meetings, I then moved to the hotel finance/accounting departments, which is the opposite of this creative world.

In November 2020: I left my job and my beautiful career, to devote myself 100% to pottery and ceramics, new challenges: to be my own boss, certified craftswoman recognized and especially to live from my art! In January 2021, I created my little start-up. In June 2021, I welcomed my first students and my fabulous story began!

My passions, besides pottery, are travelling far away, gastronomy/oenology, photography and my animals.

My creations are pure and zen, in the image of Japan, which inspires and amazes me. In the meantime, I have become a certified artisan.

Pottery, for me, is a haven of peace where my creativity, my imagination, my personality are free of all constraints.

It is a real pleasure every morning to wake up and pass on to my students this ancestral art

My assistant : Foster, my Chartreux, has gone to heaven. The logo of my studio is dedicated to him forever.

It is now, Omega, my black cat and his new little brother Pagaillou who, by their purrs and their love, encourage me in my creative work.

A little third, canine for the first time, will join us in January 2023.

aurore courses & workshops clay pottery

"Pottery is good for the body and mind, practice without moderation!"

clay pottery

The Workshop

I imagined and created this studio, alone, following my instinct and my desires. I wanted to create a small studio, greatly respectful of nature, eco-friendly and ethical, where you feel good as soon as you arrive.

We are in Waterloo in my grandparents' house that I rehabilitated a few years ago. I cherish this family atmosphere which is so good for us and which brings back so many beautiful memories as a child. I can still feel it!

I welcome you warmly and guide you step by step, at your own pace and in a good mood, in your discovery of pottery, on the wheel and/or in modelling or during the themed workshop you have chosen.

We keep it small: you are my guest!

Eco-friendly

Respect for nature, rainwater, clay recycling

Atmosphere

Inter-generational, warm, personalized

Ethics

Short circuit, Walloon clay

Simplicity

Flexible, responsive, clean forms

clay cup
atelier-a-theme-au-chat-d-argile

Au Chat d'Argile, a local workshop where the love of clay is transmitted, where you create objects that you love, where you develop your creativity in a good mood and where you feel good.

Fun fact

Pottery in a few figures

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The potter's wheel is 6000 years old, while the oldest ceramics discovered are more than 25,000 years old!
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The temperatures of maturation of ceramics are between 900 and 1350°C, it is as hot as molten lava!