People often ask me: why “Paesina”? The name sounds Italian, a little mysterious, and at first glance it says nothing about ceramics. And yet it tells almost everything about what I do in the studio. For this first article, I’m taking you back to the origin of the name, and of the brand.
A stone that draws landscapes
Pietra paesina, literally “image stone”, is a limestone found in Tuscany, around Florence. Once cut and polished, it reveals astonishing patterns: you seem to see hills, ruined cities, horizons, sometimes a sea. These images owe nothing to the human hand. They were formed by the slow flow of water and minerals through the rock.
These stones have fascinated collectors for centuries. They also fascinated Roger Caillois, the French writer and passionate lover of minerals, who devoted some beautiful pages to them in The Writing of Stones. For him, these landscapes were a kind of art before art, a beauty that nature creates on its own, without intention.
Pietra paesina. Source: Roger Caillois, La lecture des pierres, Atelier EXB
From stone to marbled clay
I discovered Roger Caillois’s work during my fine art studies, and it inspired my first series of ceramic sculptures. When I started working with terre mêlée (marbled clay, also known as neriage), I immediately recognised in it the poetry of the paesine. The principle: I layer and mix earthenware clays of different colours, then cut them into slabs. The pattern runs through the entire thickness of the piece. I guide the gesture, but I don’t control everything: part of the design belongs to the material and to chance. Just like in an image stone, each piece reveals a pattern that will never be repeated.
In fact, one step brings marbled clay and paesine together: sanding. Once the piece has dried, I sand away a thin layer of clay to remove the veil that blurs the pattern. The swirls then appear, a little like polishing a stone to reveal its design. That’s when the name Paesina took on its full meaning for me.
From sculptor to tableware maker
Before Paesina, there was sculpture. I discovered ceramics while studying at the Villa Arson art school in Nice, learning the techniques of modelling and mould-making. In 2020, I completed a professional training course at the École d’Art Céramique in Vallauris, followed by a year-long research and creation residency at the same school. Read more about my background.
Paesina was born in 2024, almost by accident, from a first order placed by my sister, Garance. Those first plates became the tableware set that bears her name, Garance, with its quatrefoil shape inspired by Gothic architecture. Then came Romeo, a set with simpler lines, designed for everyday use and now available in four clay blends: Riviera, Riviera Bianca, Terracotta and Opera.
I’m from Nice, and I’ve been living in Nîmes since 2022. It’s here, in my studio, that I shape every piece by hand, from the first clay blend to the firing. Alongside this, I continue my work as a sculptor: the two practices feed into each other.
A lovely nod
Shortly after choosing this name, I had the pleasure of seeing the Garance plates sold in the shop of the Villa Paloma in Monaco, during the exhibition “Paésine” by the artist Francisco Tropa. A coincidence that touched me deeply, and a confirmation that these stones continue to inspire artists.
What you’ll find on this blog
This blog is a studio notebook. I’ll be writing about marbled clay, the making process, firings, collections, custom orders and a few stories from the table. If you have any questions about a piece or the technique, feel free to get in touch: they often spark the best ideas for articles.