Julien Le Guen: From Bonsai to Ikebana, Crafting a Life in Ceramics

We’re thrilled to introduce you to Julien Le Guen—a ceramicist whose journey into clay began through a love of bonsai and evolved into a full-time life dedicated to handmade beauty and natural form. Based in the picturesque village of Sixt sur Aff in Brittany, Julien crafts both bonsai pots and ikebana containers from his lovingly restored home studio. His pieces are a testament to patience, experimentation, and a deep respect for the natural world.

In this interview, Julien shares how his early fascination with bonsai led to a lifelong journey with ceramics, what makes ikebana containers so creatively satisfying, and the deep joy he finds in glaze research—especially when working with natural materials like ash. His story is one of passion, risk, and resilience: leaving behind a salaried job to follow his calling, renovating a house into a creative sanctuary, and dreaming of one day firing a wood kiln for even more unique ceramic pieces.

Can you introduce yourself to our readers—where you’re based and how your journey with ceramics began?

I’m Julien LE GUEN. I live in Sixt sur Aff close to a famous little touristic town (La Gacilly) town of Yves Rocher cosmetics brand in Brittany. I am a potter specialising in bonsai pots and ikebana containers. From the beginning, my passion was bonsai. I began at 18 years old in 2005.

Quickly I realised that I wanted to make pots for my bonsai. I joined an Association in order to learn ceramics from 2009-2017 for two hours each week. I was getting married and as a gift for guests I wanted to offer a little cup. In one week I learnt to turn on a potter’s wheel. It was a great success.

In 2017 I opened my business but I kept a salaried job. In 2021/2022 I left with my wife and daughter to travel around the world. On our return, I decided to leave my salaried job. At the same time, an old house went on sale close to our house. We bought it and for one year we renovated it and I made (tried) pottery at the same time. At the beginning of 2024, the renovation was finished and now this house is my workshop studio. It’s really nice and has space and calm. I am living my better life! The financial result of my first full time year (2024) are beyond my expectations. We can have trust in the future!

You’ve practiced bonsai for many years. How has that long-term relationship with nature and form influenced your work in clay?

To make bonsai is a special activity. So unique! Because when you begin, normally it’s for the rest of your life. It’s not like – I’ll play football this year: then I will do painting…If you begin to have trees, you must learn to take care of them! Like if you have pets. But often an animal dies before you. After you are “free”.

Trees in bonsai live longer than humans (if you take care of them). In Japan, some of them are more than 1,000 years old! With bonsai activity, you live with nature. When it’s winter, you stay at home and take a rest, when it’s spring, you have more energy to do many things. In the summer, you take another rest and enjoy. Then with autumn, you store the energy and prepare for winter. Like in nature!

For ceramics, it’s like with nature – you must take time, step by step. Have more experiments, more success/more failure and take time to do a good job. Always try to understand what has happened (when it’s good and mainly when the results are bad) but try to progress all the time. It’s never finished (like with bonsai).

What drew you to focus on making ikebana vases as well as the bonsai containers? What do you like about ikebana?

It’s difficult to explain why I wanted to make bonsai pots. I grow bonsai and wanted to make a pot for my bonsai but why? That’s a good question and I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I find there is a sense and now, I think, I’ve found a sense of my life.

For ikebana, it’s coming later after meeting and speaking with some people who do ikebana. After discussion, I understand, bonsai pots and ikebana containers are very alike! Both come from Japan and both have almost the same rules. We search for sobriety and complementarity. Often both forms are really close.

There are three things that I prefer to make with ikebana containers: I can make tall pieces (not so with bonsai pots) and when you turn on the wheel, it’s a great pleasure to do that! We can make more fantasy in the shape. I think it’s more open on this side. We can make more in evident glaze. I love glaze!

What are the main differences between making a bonsai container and an ikebana container?

The main difference, I say, are the holes! In bonsai pots there are many holes for water and to attach trees. Not so in ikebana. Otherwise, as I said, I think there are more shapes possible in ikebana.

You’ve traveled extensively to meet potters around the world. Was there a moment or encounter during your travels that especially stayed with you?

Yes, I met a potter in the United States who makes bonsai pots like me and it was really interesting to meet another guy, far from my home, making the same thing. During my travels, I met potters on each continent and in different conditions. This art is so old that you can find ceramics from several thousands of years before. And now, you can continue to find people doing that everywhere and in all conditions! It’s incredible. Clay is magic!

What do you find most rewarding about your work as a ceramicist? What keeps you coming back to the studio?

The thing that I find the most rewarding is when I receive a picture from a client with my pottery and with his creation (bonsai or ikebana). It’s a great pleasure to see that people take the time to share his creation with me complementing my creation, and when he is satisfied with the complementation, it’s my success! It’s not difficult to go back in my studio.

In my salaried job, I had no correct gratitude for my job, I think like a lot of people. I worked for a chief who I don’t appreciate, no gratitude and work for shareholders who you didn’t know and I found there was no sense to my working life. I was afraid to live my life like that and to wake up and find I was old! After some years of working in that way, I decided to make a change and take another direction in my life.

To progress, I worked after the day in my salaried job until late in the evening in my garden house. Sometimes it was 2 or 3 degrees and it is very cold for clay at this temperature. I made this “sacrifice” for several months. Now I have experimented and I’m satisfied with my ceramics job (even though I can do better, always).

Now I don’t have to take my car to work, just a walk for 30 seconds in a beautiful place. But I want to say it is not by chance. I work hard, and spend time and money to work for me now! Even if it’s not easy and I know I will not become a millionaire with this job – I am very happy to have made this choice and don’t want to change now.

Your interest in glaze chemistry and the use of natural materials like plant ash is fascinating. What excites you most about that research?

Glaze research is really exciting because when you do that, you know that you can find something that nobody has discovered before you! When I do research and open my kiln to see the results, I have an emotion that everyone knows and remembers. When you were young and opened gifts at Christmas, you are excited, then you open the present or the kiln and you are sad because your Dad offered you a book of conjugation/test of research is not interesting OR you are satisfied because in the present you find that your order/test of research is what you expected. Or you can open the present and find a surprise that you didn’t expect and you really like it/test of research is incredible, you didn’t know you could have this colour or this texture and you should continue with this to improve it and find another!

And it’s true, I use ash in my research. Not for all research but in the majority. Ash is incredible! In ash you find all chemical elements that you need to do glaze! Each ash is different if you use oak ash or apple tree ash. You can even have a different result if you use ash oak to live in limestone soil or acidic soil. There is no end! Moreover, I think and find ash gives life in glaze, the glaze is more unique and you can have some surprises (bad or good) and often you see some details in ash glaze that you don’t find in glazes made with industrial element.

Do you think your scientific background has influenced your approach to pottery in unexpected ways?

My scientific background has influenced my glaze research. You must have chemical knowledge to do research in this domain. You need to have rigor with all the test in order to analyse results, to hypothesize to improve the result, then reproduce results. For pottery, I don’t know. Maybe I like to understand how it works and make some experiment to progress. So yes, we can say I use this background also for clay.

Now that you’re working full-time as a ceramicist, what’s next? Are there any projects, techniques, or dreams you’re currently working toward

This year (2025) we want to finish outside renovation of the workshop studio. We want to undertake plantation and the sowing of grass outside and to renovate the barn and a well. Then I have another project for 2026. I want to build a wood kiln within the barn. Which potter wouldn’t want a wood kiln? I think it’s the dream of every potter! With the wood you can have other results for your ceramics – with fire, smoke, ash… you can do unique pieces! And I want to do that!

Where can our readers see more of your work or connect with you—online or in person?

I have a website (www.terrajade.com), where you can find more information about me, my glazes and pieces that I have made… there is also a webstore. It’s the occasion to explain how I work for custom made pieces. (In 2024, I mostly worked for custom made pieces and I enjoy that). Usually, a client is interested to realise a pot (often bonsai, but also ikebana). Usually, he wants a pot of specific dimensions. He tells me what glazes he wants and I realise 2, 3 or 4 pieces. I show him the results in real or by photos/video. Then he can buy one if he wants. If the results are not suitable for him, he doesn’t have to buy. There is no financial or moral commitment.
You can also follow me on Instagram (terrajade_fr) or Facebook (Terrajade). I have also a Youtube channel (TERRAJADE).

In my website you can also find where you can find me during an exhibition. Last year I was exhibiting in Belgium, Spain and everywhere in France!

And obviously I can welcome you at my workshop studio.

We hope you enjoy this inspiring and generous insight into Julien’s practice, his philosophy, and the beautiful life he’s shaping, one pot at a time.

Visit: www.terrajade.com
Follow: @terrajade_fr
Studio: 4, Noyal les Ruettes, 35550 Sixt sur Aff, France