Magali Avignon

I grew up surrounded by Provence's ancient stones and implements typical to the region. It means that I am particularly sensitive to the marks of time's passage and age-old traditions. Every location I work on is already filled with the memory of a sweet summer night or an evening by the fire. As my imagination roams and I conjure up these hundreds of different past lives, one of these slightly old-fashioned scenes will attract me and I'll try to recreate it. I remain as faithful as possible to the place, but I also add my slightly romanticised vision of it. I try to come up with a decor that my nearest and dearest and the people who come to stay with me would love, full of happiness and unforgettable memories.

Each house has to be a personal favourite. It's always an authentic, welcoming and soothing place. This collection also reflects my desire to convey the spirit of Provence through its various traditional habitats. Whether it's a couple's getaway in midwinter to the Atelier de Saignon, clambering to the top of a rock in a 10th century chapel, enjoying village life in Saumane, discovering the true essence of Marseille... The sun shines down on Provence all year round from the "garrique" scrubland to the cliff-walled inlets known as "calanques". I'd like to encourage those who love the south to holiday in Provence in any season. I also accommodate artists in residence every year in Saignon in partnership with Margaux Derhy who created "Le Cercle de l'Art", a magnificent project that supports female artistic creation.

I was looking for lighting fixtures that reflected the authentic spirit of my southern homes. I ended up designing them myself. An initial limited series of the "Lisette & her sisters" collection was crafted by Franca Atelier in mixed clay and this year, I gave Marion Graux carte blanche to create 48 pieces in glazed stoneware.
Since then, we have developed a permanent collection. Sensual and often in a very natural form, it is the true reflection of my country roots, with its simple, timeless shapes. 
Each model is handcrafted in Provence and showcases all the know-how and historic techniques of our region, such as terracotta thrown on the wheel, stamped mixed clay, enamelled stoneware, etc. These are precious objects that should be passed down to perpetuate the knowledge of our savoir-faire. I'm passionate about this creative process and I am constantly learning from craftspeople.

My family used to grow Chasselas, a grape for making table wine whose healing benefits made Sorgues, my home region, prosperous as well as culturally rich. Our farmhouse was always full of grape pickers and farm workers, who were accommodated and fed by my grandmother Lisette. Later on, my mother ran it as a B&B for hitchhikers. They both passed on this culture of southern hospitality to me and I perpetuate it in turn. Enamoura is my way of paying tribute to them.

My mother's farmhouse, the abandoned dry-stone huts in the middle of the country of my childhood or the architectural work of Cesar Manrique in Lanzarote. I let myself be guided by the authentic architectural elements that I find on site, I never throw anything away, I reincorporate all of it. My grandfather used to make a bench with two stones and a plank he'd get from the shed. I think I work in the same way... When it comes to the heterogeneous choice of items, I am guided by what I manage to dig up in the region. I'm constantly drawn to flea markets.

Encounters with others are the core of my creative process. I work by instinct – often by my gut – and like any good southern girl, I am all about simplicity and spontaneity. The artisans who have been with me since the beginning are getting more and more involved with me every month. As for the artists, their trust in me is my driving force. They've welcomed me into their studio, often making room in their busy production schedule. I try to recognise their work and expertise as much as possible. I've also been fortunate to have had some wonderful holidaymakers who have supported the many facets of the Enamoura project from the beginning.

Enamoura reflects a certain way of life on holiday in the south, with a certain atmosphere and emotions. Everything's possible, I've still got hundreds of dreams and loads of things I want to do, like renovating a cottage by the calanques, finding a sheepfold somewhere, designing lounge chairs, etc. But for the moment, we're going to build on our collection of artisanal lighting, so we've got something for every use case. And we're also organising things so we can meet the demands of the architects who are increasingly asking us to work on some wonderful hotel or restaurant projects with a southern spirit. We have also established our assembly workshop and a pop-up that we open by appointment in the Marseille house.

Through the way it showcases local crafts, through supporting female artists and shining a light continually on the wealth of local traditions, Enamoura has lots of points in common with Sessùn Alma. I am therefore very happy to usher in the first Enamoura X Sessùn Alma collaboration with the arrival of a unique series with three designs of glazed stoneware pendant lights. This series will be available exclusively at Sessùn Alma, along with a few models from our permanent collection in Ivory grog stoneware. It's a meaningful collaboration for me as the art route is relatively new to me.