Professional artist woodturner and carver
Born in 1986, in France, Coralie grew up surrounded by the smell and contact of wood thanks to a father who was passionate about carpentry. Her sensitivity to wood craftsmanship grew as she discovered different skills from around the world. Her latent passion for wood became obvious to her in 2016 when by chance, she first came into contact with a woodturned walnut bowl, which opened her up to the art of woodturning.
During her various travel experiences, she exchanged with some of the international turners who inspire her, such as Alain Mailland, Rolly Munro, Robbie Graham, Neil Turner, Ulf Janssen, as much by the beauty and creativity of their works as by their philosophies of life.
She decided to become a professional turner and, in 2018-2019, attended the long training course at the ESCOULEN woodturning school in the south of France, from which she graduated with the commendation of the exam jury.
She recently set up her workshop in the south- west of France. She is energetically involved with the development of local and national AFTAB projects, and continues to learn from those who inspire her.
She took part in her first Fine Crafts Fair with Fragments #1 et #3, and is now moving towards international events as the European fine crafts fair résonance[s] – Strasbourg, France in 2024, or the next International Fine Crafts Fair Révélations at the Grand Palais – Paris in May 2025. Follow her calendar or contact her to suscribe her newsletter.
She is committed to the dynamism and development of local and national projects within the Association Française pour le Tournage d’Art sur Bois (AFTAB), and continues to learn from those who inspire her.
She’s a member of Ateliers d’Art de France and currently vice-president of AFTAB.
Artistic Approach
Attentive to the quality of a detail, the harmony of shapes and finishes, Coralie likes to work with finesse and precision, letting herself be carried away by the elegance of a curve, the fluidity of a gesture. She likes to follow where the material and the movement take her, welcoming with pleasure the constraints of the wood with which she plays with as part of the creative process.
Coralie Saramago creates unique pieces fashioned from one same piece of wood. Noble and alive, wood becomes the holder of a mission: to transmit to the public what is dearest to her, what the artist wishes to nourish and share in this world: wonder, love and emotion.
To create her work, Coralie Saramago combines a wide range of skills, combining woodturning and woodcarving techniques with other complementary techniques such as steam bending, sandblasting and various kinds of coloring.
Coralie strives to enhance wood in its natural form, bringing out its texture, underlining its particularities and properties, specific to each species, highlighting its singularity, its imperfections.
Her wish is to make objects to touch, to smell, to caress, to pamper, to contemplate, to enjoy…
Coralie likes to play with the combination of textures and materials, and to add playfulness to art, by creating living turned sculptures that can be arranged as you wish.
Click here to learn more about Coralie’s inspiration