Barbara Pan de Soraluce, passionate about the arts and restoration, discovered her true passion: decorating Limoges porcelain and earthenware plates with a very personal style. She started out as a hobby, sharing it on Instagram, and thus “Los Platos de Pan” was born, which today enjoys great international demand from her workshop in Madrid.
How did “Los Platos de Pan” begin?
“Many years ago I enrolled in porcelain painting classes, without any expectations. I used to give away what I made to friends and family. At one point, my daughter said she felt sorry that there was no record of the pieces, which were getting better and better. She was the one who began to photograph them and who opened the Instagram account with the name. We had no idea we would grow so much.”
You studied Fine Arts in Ireland and restoration. How do those disciplines influence your style when painting tableware?
“I didn’t actually graduate in Fine Arts; I left Ireland before completing the degree. But everything I learned during those years stays with me and still influences me today. The way I use the brush and the nib comes from practice, repetition, technique. I approach drawing with attention to detail and small scale it resembles engravings more than watercolor and I integrate color as if restoring an old painting. It’s a delicate process that I wouldn’t be able to do without having internalized those fundamentals.”
How would you describe your technique to someone seeing it for the first time?
“I use a nib much more than a brush; my binder is much more aqueous than oily. I like the result to look like old watercolors and for the drawing to be very crisp. I focus on shading. My stroke is firm and fluid.”
What is your favourite material?
“When it comes to plates, I love stoneware, earthenware… the rough, the coarse. I like how the drawings look on those materials because they absorb the paint. Limoges is more delicate, finer and elegant, but I prefer to work on less smooth surfaces because they don’t slip they hold, and that helps with the brush.”
Is there something you would improve in your process?
“I should be more perfectionist. I tolerate mistakes too well and it’s not just about me but also about the client’s level of demand. That’s why I rely on my daughter; she doesn’t let anything slide and forces me to redo things.”
A mistake that became art?
“At the beginning, in the school where I learned, I showed a great inability to adapt to the rules…I didn’t submit to academic codes. I went my own way, did things my own pace, didn’t fully obey, and explored new avenues I found my own way. My teacher, Carmen Muñoz, was tremendously wise and detected that I shone outside of constraint. So instead of suppressing my chaos, she gave me wings and encouraged me to be myself. From that weakness emerged my greatest strength my plates are unique thanks to that.”
How does your environment (home, garden, materials) influence your creative process?
“I am like a sponge I absorb everything, and everything ends up influencing me unconsciously and is reflected in what I do. The world is an inexhaustible source of inspiration.”
A book you’ve enjoyed recently?
“The Gardener and Death, by Guergui Gospodínov.”
A place in the world you’d like to explore while wearing your friulans?
“Japan, I’ve never been. It’s a destination I still have to visit.”
How would you design your favorite Cayumas?
“I think I would incorporate one of my flowers, embroidered.”
