portrait Françoise Jeffrey
photo by Mila van Calcar
About Françoise jeffrey

how I started ceramics

During my sabbatical in 2020, I took ceramics classes. As a freelance copywriter juggling deadlines, I needed more time to let go and grieve after losing my mother the year before. Holding onto clay helped me do just that.

My mother sent me to art school when I was a little girl—that’s when I first fell in love with clay. Many years later, during my sabbatical, I felt the urge to reconnect with something that once made me so happy. And of course, it was clay. Just as I started my classes, the pandemic hit, and they were canceled. But oddly enough, that turned out to be a blessing. Suddenly, I had all the time in the world to work with clay at home—and I fell in love all over again. For good, this time.

Grateful & honored
I started posting my work on Instagram and noticed that others liked what I made. Not long after, I was invited to exhibit at 1000 Vases during Paris Design Week. That’s when it first dawned on me—I could actually sell my work. It felt like everything was finally falling into place. So, it didn’t take me long to swap copywriting for ceramics completely.

I’m incredibly grateful that people appreciate my work, that my objects find their way into beautiful homes all over the world. All because I trusted the process—the process of grieving and exploring.

My promise
In a way, my mother didn’t just send me to ceramics classes as a child—she sent me back 40+ years later. That’s why I honor her with every piece I make. Not just to keep her strong spirit alive, but to keep the promise I made to her just before she died.