Francoise Dufayard

Françoise Dufayard lives and works in Rennes, Brittany, France, where she makes ceramics using slipware techniques. She studied ceramics at the Ateliers de Fontblanche in Vitrolles in the late 1970s, after which she travelled extensively in Asia from 1981 to 1982. From 1983 to 1987 she worked with Gustave Tiffoche and then with Suzy Atkins. In 1988 she set up her own studio in Rennes, producing open platters, large dishes, big vases and witty teapots, all characterised by her distinctive use of slip decoration.

Dufayard works with a red Spanish earthenware clay fired to 1,120°C in a 500‑litre gas kiln. She has developed a highly personal interpretation of terre vernissée (slipware) that creates translucence and a painterly quality in her decoration, a rare effect in this medium. Her individual brushwork reflects influences from Eastern ceramics, informed by her visits to Nepal, India, Burma, Thailand, Japan, Korea, China, Uzbekistan, Tibet and Sri Lanka.

Since 1988, Dufayard’s work has been exhibited internationally in the UK, France, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, India, Ireland, Spain, Japan and Greece. Her pieces are held in public collections including the Musée national de céramique, Sèvres (France) and the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (UK).

Dufayard has been invited to lecture, demonstrate and lead residencies worldwide, including at the Sanskriti Museum in New Delhi, at Art in Action (UK), at the Aberystwyth International Ceramics Festival, and at Earth & Fire at Rufford Craft Centre. In 2006 she was awarded the Sotheby’s Prize at Potfest in the Park (UK).

Her work and techniques are featured in publications such as Firing Kilns by Benedict Brierley (Bloomsbury, 2014), Engobes et autres revêtements argileux en céramique by Wolf E. Matthes (France, 2011), and Techniques Using Slips by John Mathieson (A & C Black, 2010).