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The idea for Porcelaine Moderne was born during the design of an artistic project on romantic relationships.
The conclusion of this project was a set of ceramic sculptures illustrating the idea “Dildo is better than I do”.
The completion of this project at the Atelier Carbone in Marseille was the opportunity to create what would be the very first prototypes of Porcelaine Moderne.
Modeled by hand, these pieces illustrate words or texts already present in my contemporary works, on the program, a vase I buy myself flowers, a soap dish, two plates, a small bowl I don't do sugar and circles of towel.
The coins are white with gold text, created using the plate or stamping technique.
The sight of these finished pieces was a revelation for me who was pursuing the idea of creating objects, these pretty white and gold pieces could be my gateway to the world of decoration, a dream to which I had clung since so long.
It is November 2018, I have already left my job since January unofficially and June officially, I have finished the artistic project for which I left, I have already unrolled all the thread of what I want to do with my future small online concept store Paris Capitale de la Terre and above all I believe a lot in this project.
It will take me a year to find a ceramic kiln, a year where I continue to develop and attempt other conceptual and decorative projects. I don't have the budget for a new oven, I've already taken a first leap by leaving my job with just enough to cover my monthly expenses and almost zero money saved.
My investment capabilities are clearly limited... a first oven within my means passed me by, the girl kept me waiting for three months by telling me that she couldn't decide between the two buyers... before not to answer me at all!
January 2020, I finally decide to get serious about it, I work on the visual identity of my project and I make a list of objects that I would like to create, in this list, the mimosa forever plate, door holders slightly kinky soaps that I dream of selling at Fleux and the tassels from the introduction to happiness collection for the tree.
I decide to launch a kickstarter to finance my oven but it doesn't work at all apart from my uncle and my aunt no one pre-orders anything.. I'm clearly poorly prepared, I only have a few prototypes and a few drawings, I didn't work hard enough on my communications and I didn't look through my entire address book to collect money.
Despite everything, during this period, I found an oven within my budget, a price so low that today it would be hard to imagine €850 for an old 115 liter oven but which has hardly ever been used so new it costs €3000. It's my uncle who found the ad on the Facebook market place and who forwarded it to me, I responded straight away, she's a former Parisian who now lives in Brittany, she had bought the oven from her sculpture teacher but she was never able to use it because it was too complicated for her to install the three-phase.
In short, I answer first, I reserve the oven straight away and my father helps me organize the transport of the oven to his workshop in the South-West.
And there we are, it's the end of February 2020, it's the start of my first big entrepreneurial adventure. My eyes sting a little while writing these last words, which sting a little a lot because in August 2020, it's my last month of unemployment, and in September 2020, I'm going to receive my regular payments. taxes because I didn't readjust my rate for two years, the equivalent of a month at the employment center is pretty cool but after that it's the big jump again. I oscillate between excitement and resignation, I may have to give up my apron before even starting...
So I go down to my father's house just before confinement to get to know my oven that I love so much today, the guy still cooks 300 times a year since August 2021 I might as well tell you that these last two years it's a bit love of my life !
I'm making my first prototypes and I'm returning to Paris for confinement.. the first cooking will therefore wait a while.
But as soon as it is possible, I go back to the southwest and cook my pieces, apart from my artistic projects in Marseille and a year of pottery when I was 9 years old, I have no knowledge in this domain... I'll spare you the details because the result of my first enamel firing was catastrophic...
But I persevere, as they say in my family, finally as William of Orange said, it is not necessary to hope to undertake nor to succeed to persevere, my mother who supports me from time to time since I was started risk of seeing red when reading this, it's my father's motto but luckily it's there because I will be on the street without it because of payments at 45 days end of month and more...
So there you have it, in July 2020, I'm hiring a graphic design intern to help me make the catalog, yes I already know that I want to sell to boutiques, I really want to create a decoration brand, at the end of July, I I'm running my first workshop, "Dildo is better than I do" of course.. I'll let you imagine what it's about.. plus, I'm super shy...
In August 2020 I said to myself: “I have already done all the ideas I had drawn, what am I going to do now?”
And it's always like that, when you ask yourself and then, that the best ideas come and that's when I imagined flower bread.
At the end of September, I organize my first introduction to happiness workshop and make my first sale, October, we are confined again, I start advertising on Instagram and my phone starts going ding ding!!!!
November, Milk magazine reposted me on its Christmas list on its Instagram feed, I wasn't aware of it, I woke up with lots of extra subscribers and I didn't understand what was happening!
How many times I cried with joy during this adventure I can't tell you, I still have tears in my eyes just thinking about it.
December, a buyer from La Samaritaine sees the advertisement for my vases on Instagram, she says to herself, it would be nice for my parents for Christmas and in the end, she sends me a message because she thinks it would be nice for La Samaritaine !
A lot of hope for me and a lot of tears of joy, because I dreamed so much of breaking through as an object designer, especially with my thwarted career path.
The months pass, I put my oven back in Paris and it's the beginning of the pitfalls, for two months, I can't cook and I find myself without income, thank you Greg for your help without you I would have had to close down my workshop, Thanks to Sandrine from the l'Espace d'un Tour workshop on rue Falguière in the 15th. Without her, I would never have been able to cook the pending orders and the prototypes for La Samaritaine.
And finally, finally in August 2021, La Samaritaine confirms her order and offers to put one of my tassels in their limited edition Advent calendar.
The order is very reasonable but when you only do individuals it seems huge! Always looking for a place to produce and cook! At the same time I found a workshop at Intencity at Mairie de Clichy with three-phase and off we go!!
Hold on to your seat belts because this is my first order with payment 45 days from the end of the month and obviously I have zero money aside.. yes I'm laughing while writing this, it's 100% true and at the moment I deliver the tassels to them, they decide to quadruple the order, you have to have a strong heart, my mother came to help me, my friends came to help me. I worked every day for 4 months from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. and more.
It was crazy but one of my biggest dreams was finally going to come true.
Thanks to that I was able to do Maison & Objet, I still feel enormous joy at the success of the stand which was always full, even with two people it was difficult to find a minute to go eat.
It was crazy, it was really crazy, I was crying with joy all the time, the start of an incredible adventure, and yes what's more I met Fleux and Le Bon Marché on my stand, the two targets of my life 😉, so yes sometimes it's difficult, payments at 45 days at the end of the month especially when you have no back up it's too hot and it's clearly an emotional roller coaster and scarcity in terms of locker room and fridge, but I loved everything that this adventure brought me so much.
And even though I always feel like I take the angel's leap once or twice a year, there is always a small part of me that believes in it and thinks that there will always be a little surprise. in time to catch up at the last moment 😉
On this, I leave you with my favorite motto, finally that of the Shadocks... "The more it fails, the more chance we have that it will work ;) and you can always go and watch on www.pariscapitaledelaterre.fr everything that doesn't didn't work ;)