Meet Juliette Froment

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Juliette Froment. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Juliette, thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Clay is seen as a natural material, especially on social medias where it kind has that image of something raw, that allows you to some kind of return to nature. And it actually isn’t completely natural most of the time.
I started ceramics using regular clay, that you can find in specialized stores and comes in lumps of 10kgs in plastic bags. It would be more accurate to call it ceramic paste, because it is a mix of clay and minerals to reach specific properties. And, let’s be honest, it works like magic ! It is very soft, plastic, easy to use and allows you to have predictable results every time. Which is a gem if you need to produce the same pieces.

Then I wondered where the clay I used came from and the supplier’s answer was that they were not able to tell me… Regarding the clay : it was just coming from diverse countries and the mineral powders they add to stabilize it, just as the materials I use for making glazes : they just didn’t want to tell… Supposingly, they are not proud of it !

This got stuck in my mind for quite a while, then I started to dig a bit more about how to have a more “natural” approach of ceramics and it crossed with my hiking passion : you can find clay in nature. But not only : rocks can provide silica, iron oxyde, feldpath and many other minerals that are usefull for glazing.

This is the path I am curruntly trying to take. I love it because it feels much more in harmony with my personnal values and gives a lot more meaning to what I am doing.
I am trading the ceramic paste for clay that comes from a french clay pit. When I come accross clay in nature I grab a bit to test it and see how it reacts when firing it. Rocks are also very fun to work with because they add a lot a surprise as well !
Of course this doesn’t make my ceramic pratice green or eco-friendly because it still implies to fire at almost 1300°C, I am still collecting materials from nature and all of it does have an impact.
But, my goal is to be able to tell my customers and students where the materials come from.

The bonus point is that is very fun to make tests and try to do what I can with what I find.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Lately I have been focusing on two different aspects of my job. At first, when I started my business the only income source was selling my creations. Then I started to give a few classes in my workshop and discovered that I really enjoyed it.
It really became as equally important to me as creating crafts. So this past yeat I have focused a lot on developping that side of my activity and gave it a lot of energy… which was definitely repayed back by my students’ joy of taking classes with me ! As I am doing everything on my own (I don’t have employees), it took me quite a lot of my time. So now, I am balancing with more production and creativity as my classes are now built and stable.

I have participated in my first ceramicists market two weeks ago, the succes of this event fulfilled my heart and I am ready for allowing myself to make more personnal crafts as I understood that it is welcomed by my customers.

Upcoming in the workshop is a Christmas sell of course, but it will happen during the “Nuit des Arts”, an event taking place in the city I work in : Roubaix. All the workshops a the third place I work in will be opened, and the 30 artists and makers we are will present our work !

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Before becoming a ceramicist I have studied marketing. Even if it wasn’t really pleasant all the time, it definitely helps me undestand how to run my business today. I know what I do well to sell and promote, and I also know what I don’t do ! I think having a bit more of knowledge on that matter helps me make better choices. Even if it is not perfect for various reasons (lack of time, hardware, or even interest for certain tasks….) at least I know what I could do to improve my business’ marketing and communication. This definitely makes me feel more secure and it is conforting feeling I have tools in my hands if needed.

Regarding peronnal qualities I guess it is important to be solid. Solid because it won’t work the second you are launching your business, so being strong in your head about why you do it is essential. Many times I felt tired, sad, having to deal with what I saw as failures… but I never doubt that being a ceramicist is what I want to be. This is something personnal of course, that builds inside, but it would not be the same without the never ending support of my family and friends. They never doubted my professionnal choice. Knowing they understand this without even having to explain it is very precious. And they surely helped me be solid during those tought moments. So surround yourself with loving and caring people !

Last but not least, I think what makes a huge difference and impact on my work is my curiosity for it. I just love to read about ceramics, visit museums, try new methods… It has been 6 years since I started ceramics and I can now see how being curious for it has shaped my today’s practice.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Being overwhelmed is part of running your own business I guess. At leats it is for me ! I think it is important to remember that it is normal and totally ok to feel overwhelmed sometimes. This job isn’t just a regular job to me, I give so much of myself and who I am that in all this that it makes me experience all those emotions strongly. Right now is a very good exemple of me being overwhelmed : I did not plan on such a success at my previous market, so now I have to produce last minute for the next one. It is the end of the year, Christmas period sure is a big part of my income so I put a lot of pressure on myself to have a beautiful booth at my next market. At the same time I don’t want this to lower the quality or the energy I give for my weekly classes. I still have a lot to do to communicate about these markets and took several extra students thinking I wouldn’t be producing… Plot twist : it didn’t go as planned.

To manage going through this month that promesses to be well filled, the first thing I did was to explore all the possibilities. Is it really necessary to produce last minute ? What exactly do I have in stock ? Can I find a way of poducing less ? What would happen if I didn’t craft more ? And so on… To really question the problem, understand what really matters and be able to prioritize. I like to use the Eisenhower Matrix to give me a global vision of what is important and urgent (and what is not and can wait !).
Then I make decisions with all the keys in hands. Last thing to do : go for it and apply those decisions ! To do so and to keep track I list precisely what tasks I have to complete.

As you have probably understood by now, after 6 years of ceramics I still feel overwhelmed from time to time. I am just softer on myself and I use the experience I have to set reachable goals, which helps tame the overwhelming feelings.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://juliettefroment.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliette_froment/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559199353940

Image Credits

Credits for the last two photos : Léa Gomboso
Credits for all the other pictures : Juliette Froment