Belle Epoque Pottery launched in 2013 as the ceramic business dream child of Camille Morin. First starting on the potter's wheel at age 14, Camille earned a BFA in Ceramics in 1998 from the University of Tennessee and continued education through work-study programs at the Penland and Arrowmont Schools of Craft.

She has worked in multiple studios in multiple roles since: ceramic instructor at the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston SC, Glaze Developer and Director at District Clay in Washington DC, Resident Artist at Starworks Center for Creative Enterprise in Star NC, & Resident Artist at Mars Hill University. Camille teaches workshops for her unique printmaking style imaging method and is head boss-lady of her own studio full time since 2019.

In 2024 Camille was accepted into the Southern Highland Craft Guild and is proud to be one of the newest members of this prestigious craft organization, which has been operating since 1930. The Guild is dedicated to a mission of cultivating the crafts and makers of the Southern Highlands for the purpose of shared resources, education, marketing, and conservation.

Camille incorporates nostalgic images into her work through the use of a photo-copy transfer method onto porcelain. Images are hand-inked and burnished onto the clay surface prior to drying, then fired in an electric kiln. Wheel-thrown, hand built, and slipcast forms are finished with an art nouveau-inspired palette of original glazes from recipes culled through decades of experience and testing. 

“Ceramics is a medium of endless expression and can convey beauty, humor, and history all within a functional object. Every decision a potter makes tells a story of their journey within the craft. My journey has led me to create objects which feel like heirlooms. I seek to connect the past with contemporary society through my use of imagery, contemporary and historical, lithographically printed on the clay surface and sometimes layered with vintage decals which provide connection to prior generations.

The images I collect, create, and print come from history’s back catalog of illustration and photography. The far future-reaching and lasting attributes of ceramics provides a time capsule with which to preserve and comment on the nature of craft and themes chosen for bodies of work. Through the process of burnishing images into the clay, I hope to imbue my work with references for us to contemplate within our present society, and to say something about how we are reflections of our shared history.”

Randomness is an inherent part of the process, making the results surprising and beautiful, sometimes difficult to replicate. The finished product is unique, a one of a kind heirloom: genuinely hand-made.