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Jacques Monneraud | Episode 944

Jacques Monneraud is a studio potter based in the south west region of France. Jacques’ wheel-thrown objects are mainly functional. Jacques has discovered ceramics a little over two years ago at the time of this post and has done everything to pursue the dream of becoming a ceramist ever since. Potters and neophytes can follow his journey on Instagram, where he documents his day by day evolution in the field.

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With your plan how much time did you dedicate to just developing the skills?

First, thank you very much for the kind words. Well, I figured okay, this is a job where a practice makes all the difference so I was just looking for the school that was providing the biggest amount of hours spent at the wheel and I made my choice with that in mind. I wanted to spend as much time at the wheel as I could and that was the first criteria for me.

When did you know it was time to start selling your work?

That’s a really, really good question because I feel like it’s really difficult to go from apologizing, you know, like, Okay, I am just a student. To: Okay I am a professional potter and this is my work and this is the price at which you should buy it.  So it is really, really complicated. I think that the circumstances played a great part in that because I have a friend who has a gallery in Bayonne and I figured it would be a shame for me not to grab this opportunity and try to develop a collection and show it to everybody in the real world. And I thought Okay, even if it’s not good enough, even if people don’t like it at least you will know what to improve and you will know what to do and you will be able to move forward from this moment.

Do you ever struggle with imposter syndrome?

Of course and I have listened to many of your episodes and I know that’s a subject that comes up quite often and I feel that as well, of course. Especially in this new career. I mean, when do you feel like a professional potter? Makes you legitimate? I don’t know. I guess that’s the demand. If people want to buy your stuff where ever you come from, what ever you did before that,  I don’t think it really counts.

I know that we need support and community. Who did you gather around as your support community

Yes, that’s really important. Right. My family. My girlfriend, Laura. They were really, really supportive. And of course my parents, they were a bit worried, you know, in their own way. to know if I would be able to earn a living our of this. Because I must add, I was doing great in advertising, it was okay, I had a steady paycheck and everything was on the right tracks so when you quite something that works people wonder. And when you tell them you want to do something that they don’t know about they just get scared and because they are scared it is hard for them, I guess, to make you feel like it’s okay and that it’s the right decision. And I have come to realize that sometimes people don’t support you just because they don’t see themselves being successful in this area. And just because they don’t see themselves there doesn’t mean I won’t succeed. But everyone around me told me to go for it and that I was going to be great and it was amazing. The ceramic community is so kind and that was really helping.

Has your path, your escape plan, has it gone according to plan?

Well, yes for the most part, yes, but I am not quite there yet. Because this is my full-time activity but it is not my full-time job right now because I don’t earn a living out of this. And I guess the plan will have worked once I have reached that point, where I can, you know, make a living out of ceramics. It’s something to sell a few pieces but it is another to last.

Book

The Life Before Us by Romain Gary 

Contact

Instagram: @jacquesmonneraud