I’m Cécile Mestelan, ceramicist, artist and poet from Biarritz. I grew up in my family’s workshop, where my love for making things by hand began. After studying at ECAL in Switzerland and discovering clay at Vista Alegre, I moved to Portugal in 2013. Lisbon’s pastel colours and shifting light made me want to stay.

Clay is a place of transformation for me, where emotion takes shape and a gesture becomes an act of care. The objects I create carry an intention, a story, sometimes a mantra, as though I were giving them a heart, a memory, a quiet soul. I look for forms that invite touch, colours that awaken something, and a presence that deepens as you live with a piece.

I call this Radical Romanticism: a way of bringing beauty into life and making room for its mystery. It begins with paying attention, to the curve of a vessel, the weight of a cup, the way light settles on a glaze. An object can be useful and still hold wonder. It can accompany a meal, anchor a room, or become something you treasure for reasons you can feel before you can explain.

From my São Bento studio in Lisbon, my work moves between one-of-a-kind sculptures, colourful tableware and objects for everyday living. Some pieces follow the freedom of my hands; others take shape through moulds and collaborations with artisans. Each carries the same desire: to make beauty part of the way we live, something we touch, use and share.

I also welcome people into the studio to discover clay for themselves. Through Caremics, where care meets clay, I invite them to slow down, listen to their senses and find pleasure in making. Creating objects and sharing this experience are expressions of the same wish: to nurture our connection to ourselves, to one another, and to the quiet mystery of being alive.⠋