My love story

A Life I Never Planned

My name is Luis, and for the last ten years I have devoted myself entirely to ceramics and painting.

Before that, I graduated in Psychology and Graphology and worked in both professions. I enjoyed helping people, but deep down I knew it wasn't the life I wanted to live forever. Life is too short to spend it doing something that only makes you half happy.

Across Canada

So one day I left everything behind and travelled to Canada.

I crossed the country from Vancouver Island to Quebec, but I wasn't searching for cities. I wanted to experience rural Canada—its forests, mountains and slower way of life. I longed for something completely different from everything I had known before.

I worked on ranches and farms in British Columbia, caring for horses, sheep, chickens, pigs and goats. My days were spent outdoors, surrounded by nature and animals, living a life that could not have been further from the office I had left behind.

And there, almost without realising it, I rediscovered a forgotten part of myself.

During my free time—which, surprisingly, there was plenty of—I began drawing the animals I saw every day. It was the return of a passion I had loved since childhood: drawing and painting.

The Baker from Sweden

Then something happened that I could never have predicted.

At one of the horse ranches where I was working, a Swedish woman named Klara was responsible for baking the bread and preparing the meals. One morning she found herself without any assistants and asked me to help.

"Klara," I laughed, "I'm a psychologist. I've never baked bread in my life."

She insisted.

So, at six o'clock the following morning, we were kneading dough and baking wholegrain bread together.

To everyone's surprise—including my own—I turned out to be rather good at it. Everyone complimented the bread I had made, and I discovered something unexpected: I genuinely loved creating with my hands.

Looking back, it may seem like an ordinary moment, but it changed something inside me.

It gave me the confidence to keep saying yes to experiences I had never imagined for myself, simply for the joy of learning and creating.

That curiosity eventually led me to ceramics.

A Lump of Clay

The first time I held clay in my hands, I was instantly reminded of those early mornings kneading bread in rural British Columbia. The sensation felt strangely familiar. Soft, alive and full of possibilities.

After six months of travelling, I returned to my hometown of Barcelona, on Spain's Mediterranean coast, determined to dedicate my life to art.

Looking back, perhaps it was inevitable.

Barcelona has inspired generations of artists. It was here that Pablo Picasso held his first major exhibition, where Antoni Gaudí found endless inspiration in nature, and where craftsmanship continues to be part of everyday life beneath the magical Mediterranean light.

I painted.

And one day, I discovered ceramics.

Love at First Sight

I fell in love.

"In your hands I feel loved and appreciated," the clay says to me.

"And with you, I feel fulfilled," I reply, looking at it with the eyes of someone in love.

That passion soon became my profession.

My sculptures were warmly received from the very beginning, and before long they were travelling far beyond my studio, finding homes all over the world—from California to Australia, and from Italy to England.

When Pain Changes You

Years of sculpting eventually took their toll on my back and neck. One day my physiotherapist looked at me and said,

"Luis, you can't spend all day working in the same position. It's terrible for your back."

I took his advice seriously. I invested in a height-adjustable workbench and began dividing my days between ceramics and acrylic painting.

Unexpectedly, the two disciplines began feeding one another. While I paint, my best ideas for new sculptures appear. And while I sculpt, new paintings begin to take shape.

Swimming, painting and a healthier way of working have allowed me to continue my love story with clay with the same enthusiasm I felt on the very first day.

The Studio Today

Today every sculpture is still made entirely by hand by me alone, without moulds or machines. Each piece is individually sculpted, painted and finished with meticulous attention to detail, making every creation unique and impossible to reproduce exactly.

Alongside my own collections, I also create bespoke commissions, including beloved pets, wedding cake toppers and sculptures designed to celebrate meaningful people, memories and moments.

Every piece leaves my studio carrying a small part of my own story.

Perhaps, one day, one of them will become part of yours.

Luis Miola

For custom orders:

miolaceramics@gmail.com

Miola Cramic