Life after School
Following graduation, we offer ongoing technical guidance and support well beyond the initial 2-year contractual period to any alumni who wish to receive it. We have done so with great joy for decades!
Stepping out from the school’s nurturing environment into setting up a studio should never feel like a plunge into icy waters.
Our blended learning paths—combining distance learning and on-site training—provide an excellent stepping stone toward establishing an independent practice. This program fits seamlessly into the reality of starting or operating a ceramic studio.
Training Outcomes & Integration (2021–2023)
Overall Placement Rate: 79% within 6 months post-training.
Professional Studio Establishment Rate:
71% within 1 year post-training
79% within 2 years
86% within 3 years
From Training Vision to Studio Launch
Training at AGIR Céramique is deliberately designed to align with the economic and cultural realities of the ceramics profession, embodying the traditional concept of the Independent Artist-Artisan:
Independent through high-level mastery of the entire ceramic process.
Independent through a well-considered integration into the professional market.
Every journey begins with a vision—a project that is refined, developed, and tested against real-world practice throughout the training course.
Over more than 40 years, we have continuously adapted, refined, and enriched our selection process and project development models—including mandatory professional achievements—in response to societal and market developments.
The Artistic & Craft Action: Facilitation, Community & Wellbeing training is an integral part of the course, broadening students’ creative horizons while providing skills that can directly support their future income.
Providing a full overview of 40 years of training outcomes would be near impossible (some of our early graduates have already retired!).
Alumni Directory
Their studios & what training brought to their practice
Section under construction.
Are you an alumnus and would like to be included? Contact us.
Marie LEBRUN
Le Champ des Poteries - Studio Opened 2012 ("La poterie de Brémelin"), then 2026 ("Le Champ des Poteries") in IFFENDIC, Brittany (35)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2003–2005
"I am deeply committed to using local materials to reduce our dependence on large extractive industries.
I mainly throw bowls, cooking pots, and tajines, with clay sourced from Maine-et-Loire, the region where I grew up (La terre du Fuilet), to which I blend reclaimed local clays.
Having lived in Brittany for 20 years, I collect granite dust from local stonecutters to serve as the foundation for all my glazes.
I recently moved to Ille-et-Vilaine, where the bedrock carries a completely different energy than granite: purple slate (schiste pourpré). This landscape promises rich new discoveries in raw materials to process and experiment with—a true joy in my work.
As a trained social worker, teaching and community engagement are at the heart of my ceramics practice. I regularly lead workshops in various social care settings, businesses, nurseries, and nursing homes (EHPAD)...
What AGIR Céramique gave me:
Christian used to encourage us to wander through the causse, searching for a small boxwood branch to carve into our very first modeling tool. I still have mine! It’s my lucky charm, and I still use it every time before passing the cutting wire under my bowls on the wheel head. But he always reminded us: "Caution: a good traveler leaves no trace!"
With Christian and Ariane, I realized how ceramics connects us to both the infinitely small and the infinitely grand. I discovered the Eastern approach to wheel throwing—a true philosophy of the craft. I loved their openness to the world and the way they inspired us to travel. With them, I discovered fields as varied as physics and chemistry (which I hated as a child), Alexandra David-Néel, Shoji Hamada, Lucie Rie, and geology… I even went deep into underground caves with Christian and an archaeologist, following the traces of Neolithic water jars! That era continues to inspire my work today through the simplicity of its forms and its direct connection to daily life, which never cease to fascinate me."
Website: lechampdespoteries.fr
Instagram: @lechampdespoteries
Sara Baudry
Poterie Sara Baudry - Studio Opened 2024, located in Paris (75013) & Royan (17200)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2023 & 2026
"My background is in architecture, then theater, and pottery. A few years ago, between two theater residencies, I was back in Charente-Maritime. There, in the garage, a wheel and a kiln had been stored by an 80-year-old potter who had put her equipment away in her cellar two decades earlier to focus entirely on painting. Dominik Lavergne, happy to drop by and get her hands back in the clay with company, would come throw with me. Grounded in her own detailed teaching style, her answer to whatever question I asked was always, 'you feel it.'
Eventually, I looked for a training program and found Ariane Coissieux’s. I am still trying to 'feel it,' and I hope that quest never ends. But since then, I have learned precise gestures, ceramic history and technology, and everything needed to complement that growing desire with glaze making and research.
So now I explore—and as Ariane would say, 'it's a joy'—wheel-throwing stoneware shapes and formulating glazes, either from established recipes or harvested raw materials."
Instagram: @poterie_sara_baudry
Ghislaine Dupéroux
Atelier Ghislaine Dupéroux - Studio in progress in Andilly (95)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2026
"After experimenting with slab building, I rediscovered wheel throwing at AGIR Céramique. Through her teaching approach and expertise, Ariane guided me toward new explorations in my search for forms through wheel throwing, sometimes combining both techniques."
Laure Richard
Studio in progress: Saint-Jean-de-Buèges (34)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2026
"I've been passionate about ceramics since I was very young, and up until now, it has always held a small place in my life. Amidst my professional and personal life, it is waiting to take up more space. So, in the meantime, I learn along the way through the people I meet. Ariane’s world opened up a whole realm of possibilities for me and helped confirm my path. I am so excited to keep learning, keep creating, and become fully independent."
Claire Falconnet
Atelier Claire Falconnet - Studio Opened 2006, located in Entre-Deux (97414), Réunion Island
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2003–2004
"Learning my craft at AGIR Céramique gave me so much more than just a solid foundation to make a living. The passing on of knowledge, skill, and passion by Christian and Ariane Coissieux made me the potter I am today.
That is why, even after more than 20 years, my gratitude remains deep and untouched. Every day in my studio, I realize how fortunate I am to have received this heritage. Today, it is with that same rigor and love for the clay that I continue to shape my pieces."
Website: clairefalconnet.re
Instagram: @ade.falc
Mathilde Truffier Coutelard
My Pot'Art - Studio Opened 2026, located at Le Septentrion, Marcq-en-Barœul (Hauts-de-France)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2026
"I started my journey by taking a wheel-throwing course with Ariane. That experience made me want to push further and prepare for my CAP Wheel-Throwing qualification, which I was fortunate enough to complete through a blended learning program (combining distance and hands-on training) with Ariane.
Today, I pass on that passion by offering pottery classes—both year-round courses and single workshops—in wheel throwing and handbuilding.
My work is deeply inspired by nature. I am still actively exploring my artistic identity, and I love letting that search enrich my creations through my ongoing experiences and encounters."
Instagram: @my_pot_art
Website: mypotart.fr
Hélène Guers
Le Tour de la Terre - Studio in progress in Saint-Hippolyte-du-Fort (30)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2026
"I learned so much about wheel-throwing, firing, and glaze techniques with Ariane at AGIR Céramique. She brought the spirit of the clay to life for us with a playful, fairy-like energy—both gentle and demanding. Having never thrown on the wheel before this training, I keep practicing to bridge sculpture and pottery as I create within my dreamlike, storyteller's world."
Milena Piton de Vinck
Poterie du Loup - Studio Opened: 2012, located in Plateau des Petites Roches, Chartreuse (38660)
Training AGIR Céramique: 2010
"I learned everything from Ariane. I hold onto magical memories of that year spent in the Larzac, discovering the wonder of clay and fire by her side...
Opened my studio in 2012: three years of practice, followed by a pause, and then a fresh start in 2024. Now, there’s no stopping me!
I work with Saint-Amand stoneware, grogged black stoneware, and a touch of porcelain. I throw on the wheel and focus mainly on functional pottery, with a soft spot for larger pieces... I fire at high temperatures in a custom-built gas kiln created with friends, designed by Christian and Ariane Coissieux! My glazes are all mixed by hand using recipes developed by Ariane and Christian..."
Website: www.poterieduloup.com
Instagram: @milena_piton_de_vinck
Florence Reynaud
Caryatide Céramique - Studio located in Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (04110)
Wheel-Throwing Course at AGIR Céramique: January 2019
"Having never touched a wheel head before, it felt so easy because AGIR Céramique's technique is so gentle and clear.
It was a short course, but powerful enough that I could no longer live without wheel throwing. I never throw without Ariane's reflection in the mirror hanging at my wheel, whispering the balance of firmness and delicacy needed to find that unique symbiosis with the clay."
Instagram: @caryatide_ceramique
Jean-yves Saubiez
Studio Opened: 2026, located in Alès (30)
Training at AGIR Céramique: 2026
Shared studio & shop in progress in Alès (30), in collaboration with Ludivine: L'Atelier Céramique