The bold inky brushwork seen across the surfaces of this bowl is central to Catherine Vanier’s practice. Energetic cross-hatched cobalt lines and green detailed roundels move diagonally across the interior and a cobalt pattern circles the exterior.

Vanier lives and works in rural France and the patterns of the natural world are an inspiration for her designs. In the 1994 Vanier moved from making lead-glazed earthenware, an example of which we see here, fired using an electric kiln to focus on reduction fired stoneware, using gas and wood fired kilns (see 50755). [1] She says this shift prevented her brushwork ‘floating between the body of the pot and the glaze’. [2] Vanier’s practice also encompasses ink drawings (see 50797). These also take inspiration from the rhythms of nature and are imbued with the same instinctive approach to mark making as her ceramics.

Sim Panaser, July 2020

[1] La Potière, dir. Andrea Serafini (Ruth Films, 1996), documentary film, <https://vimeo.com/ondemand/lapotiere> [accessed 30 July 2020]

[2] Lucie Brisson, ‘Exquisite Strokes’, Ceramics Monthly, (November 2015) <https://ceramicartsnetwork.org/ceramics-monthly/ceramic-art-and-artists/functional-pottery/catherine-vanier-lucie-brisson/#> [accessed 30 July 2020]