Some wonderful luck brought Ray and Jere to our Provence home and studio. Not only luck but also Ray's craving for working with clay, for experimenting, for sharing, even far from his own studio. This first encounter has been so inspiring ; I remember Jean-Nicolas saying "I only hope that this same passion for art and clay will still inhabit me when I get older".
Then it was our turn to come to Portland, once, twice. And certainly feel that we were somehow part of the family, part of the neighborhood, part of the city… even though living such a long way away. Just because of those many details that made us so alike, in everyday life as much as in our involvement in ceramics : the farmer's market, the Vespa ride to the French bakery, the garden and the hens, fixing things and improvising solutions.
There is a shared word for defining some of Ray's and Jean-Nicolas's work, whimsical (used as such in French for lack of equivalent word), which might well explain what was going on between those two. This cherished picture of Ray might also be another good clue.
Thank you Ray (and Jere) for making us feel so warmly welcome.
Viviane Hamon and Jean-Nicolas Gerard
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