Explore textures, patterns and forms through porcelain pastillage and modeling.

Participants will discover porcelain modeling and pastillage techniques and create a textured sculptural piece. In ceramics, pastillage is a decorative technique in which ornamental elements are modeled separately and then attached in relief to the surface of a piece with slip.

The aim is to explore the possibilities offered by assembling individually shaped porcelain elements, then repeating and composing them on a surface. Each participant will be invited to imagine their own pattern and composition, creating a personal piece from simple forms.

Upon completion of the training, participants will be able to:

• Understand the principles of porcelain pastillage: making decorative elements, attaching and assembling them with slip
• Identify the main characteristics of porcelain and adapt their work to its modeling and drying constraints
• Model a simple form in porcelain
• Design and create a textured composition by combining porcelain elements, through a personal exploration of forms, reliefs and volumes

Over five days, participants will discover the possibilities of porcelain pastillage and create a textured sculptural piece.

They will learn to make porcelain elements, assemble them and arrange them on a surface to create different patterns and relief effects. Starting from simple forms and a wide range of references (plant, geometric, organic and mineral elements, seeds, leaves, petals, scales, fruit…), each participant will imagine their own composition.

The course alternates demonstrations with time for personal creation. Experiments on porcelain slabs will also make it possible to explore different forms and textures. The goal is for everyone to make the pastillage technique their own and develop a personal creation, not to reproduce Siqou Porcelain pieces.

Schedule

Day 1 – Discovery and basics

Afternoon

• Introductions: participants, the workshop and Cécile Fouillade’s work
• Presentation of porcelain and its main characteristics
• Discovering different textures and compositions through images and examples
• Introduction to the pastillage technique: making, handling, drying and attaching elements
• Making several porcelain slabs to be used for experiments the following day

Day 2 – Experiments and design

Morning and afternoon

• Experimenting on the porcelain slabs made the day before
• Exploring different forms of decorative elements: cut out, modeled, in relief or in the round
• Assembling and attaching elements on the slabs to test different compositions and textures
• Drawing: designing a personal piece to be made with the pastillage technique

Day 3 – Making and preparation

Morning and afternoon

• Modeling a simple, quick porcelain form to serve as the base for the decoration
• Making and preparing the porcelain decorative elements
• Thinking about the layout and composition of the patterns
• First assemblies on the base

Day 4 – Creating the piece

Morning and afternoon

• Continuing the pastillage work
• Working on variations and the arrangement of patterns
• Finishing touches and joins

Day 5 – Completion

Morning

• Completing the pieces
• Photo session of the finished work
• Review of the course and ideas for continuing to experiment afterwards
• Workshop cleanup

Cécile Fouillade is a professional ceramic artist who works under the name Siqou Porcelain. Based in the Vexin, near Paris, she has developed a sculptural world inspired by the polar regions, in which porcelain becomes skin and animal presence. Her delicate yet powerful works draw on the landscapes and wildlife of the Far North.

Her expeditions and maritime artist residencies in Greenland, Norway and Iceland between 2019 and 2023 marked a turning point in her career. Drawing on her observations, her encounters with Inuit communities in Greenland and with polar wildlife, and the sensations these landscapes evoked, she began exploring organic textures—fur, plumage, scales—which she recreates through meticulous porcelain assembly and pastillage.

In 2023, she was selected by the Tara Ocean Foundation for an artist residency aboard the scientific schooner Tara in the North Sea, during the Tara Europa mission. Sharing the daily life of the scientists and discovering their research in the marine environment marked the beginning of a reflection at the crossroads of art and science that continues to enrich her practice.

At the boundary between sculpture and material, her work explores the links between living beings, the animal world and the polar regions. Her work has received several awards, including the Prix Jeune Création Métiers d’Art from Ateliers d’Art de France in 2022 and the “Métamorphose” Prize at Ceramic Art Fair + Glass 2026.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Materials provided
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop work
• Active participation and experimentation of participants are encouraged

• Collective and personalized monitoring of work, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Collective feedback
• Half-day attendance sheet
• Certification of completion issued by Campus MaNa