Matthieu Liévois

Potier-céramiste dPotter-ceramist for 40 years, specialist in the making of glazes, and founder of Creamik, the professional school of ceramics

Matthieu Lievois's biography

At the age of 20, after studying horticulture, a visceral desire to create with my hands allowed me to discover ceramics, through a municipal workshop in Grenoble. The workshop teacher encourages me to go further in my creative process. A year later, I am a professional training in the Paris region with two potters (Drillon and Vivien), then additional training in enamel research, with Pierre Lemaître. I moved to Charente in 1982 and, while producing utilitarian ceramics, refined my turning technique and undertook extensive research work on stoneware and porcelain enamels.

The alchemy that takes place by the heat of the oven fascinates me with each unloading. Like a cook in front of his stove, I mix the ingredients according to my impulses and let the fire work. Step by step, I end up with enamel textures and colors that I like. This work allows me to develop my own research technique, so I can quickly attain what I’m looking for.

In1989, I’m moving my studio to Bretagne, on the edge of the Gulf of Morbihan. For more than 20 years, I learned to understand the material I use, to love it, to respect it and to consider it as co-creator of the work.

In 2009, I feel the need to share and transmit what clay and fire have taught me, so that the technique is at the service of everyone’s expression.

After a serious arrangement of my workshop, l’école CREAMIK see the day.

Today, more than 260 people have taken my professional course.

Nickel ceramic piece with stick crystals

Vase with highly developed nickel crystals, fired in a gas kiln (flame marks in the underlayer)

Teapot with large nickel crystals, fired in an electric kiln. Each ring in the crystals represents a firing level.

Vase crystallized with copper, first fired in a gas kiln in oxidation (to develop the crystals), then fired again at 700°C in reduction to turn the copper from green to red.
Crystallized red is the most difficult color to achieve with glazes.

Matthieu Liévois’s Online Gallery

The ceramics of Matthieu Liévois are to be discovered in his online gallery