Sara & Egwin

Sara El Sayad and Egwin Van den heuvel are passionate potters and ceramics teachers who live and work between Belgium and Lebanon. In 2022 and after years of teaching in both countries, they founded Ceramics 306, their own pottery studio.

As ceramists, they work individually and also collaboratively on projects that range from unique collectible pieces showcasing their individual style to specialty tableware for niche restaurants. Raw and simple, yet unmistakably elegant, their work possesses an earthiness that reflects their commitment to preserving the nature and origins of the clay with which they work.

El Sayad was born in Beirut and studied Engineering, obtaining her degree from the American University of Beirut, before furthering her studies at RWTH Aachen in Germany, where she gained a Master’s. For several years, her studies were a major influence on her practice, manifested especially in the way that she loved her work to be ordered, organised and perfectly shaped, putting high value on shape and symmetry. 

From there, she went on to creating pieces in a practice she describes as “organized chaos”. Her method involves creating perfectly symmetric, highly precise pieces and then modifying them to create individual shapes and deformities far from the original perfect shape. This process, the organised chaos, uses emotion and sentiment at its core, as El Sayad explained: “The imperfection and modification come from the emotion of the moment and are determined by how I’m feeling then and there. Being rooted in that moment in time and accurately reflecting it makes the work perfectly imperfect.”

Born in Duffel, Belgium, Van den heuvel studied at both the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and Higher Pedagogical College in Lier to become a teacher. He taught French, History and Philosophy for several years and worked as a trainer for a medical device company, before a chance encounter when working in Dubai three years ago brought him into contact with the world of ceramics. “I stumbled into the ceramics scene, but from that very first second, I knew it was part of my DNA,” he explained. 

Today, Van den heuvel is based at the Ceramics 306 studio in Putte, Belgium, where he works on his own pieces and also teaches.

Different in scale and style from El Sayad’s ceramics, Van den heuvel’s individual work is usually large in size, due to his passion for what he describes as “throwing big”. Modern, symmetrical and neat, the ceramics are also noteworthy for their eye-catching glaze, which is a hallmark of his practice and gives them an aesthetically pleasing finish.

“I view every glaze as an individual exercise,” he explained. “It’s part of my love for experimenting more generally, whether that’s with colour and clay combinations, firing techniques or the glaze.”

While tableware is a key part of the Ceramics 306 offering, Van den heuvel has recently shifted his focus onto in-demand, primarily decorative pieces and collectibles, such as tall vases. This new direction has also led to an increase in the number of collaborative projects that he and El Sayad are working on under the Ceramics 306 banner.

Tuition remains a key part of their practice, with both ceramists holding several workshops and giving lessons to students at all levels of ability in both Belgium and Lebanon.