Pitchers and butterflies. Claudia Schiffer's plays for Vista Alegre and Bordallo Pinheiro

Drawing was the passion of every day. The studies told him little and was also a teenager who took the painting course at vista alegre's porcelain factory in the 1980s after passing the tests and the pre-apprentice category was created because he was not old enough to work. He also learned from Armando Pimentel, the last master of painting, and, after almost 40 years of experience, Margarida Oliveira says that one learns to die. "It's a very complex and very demanding job, I have the blessing of loving what I do, but it's not enough to have talent, it's years and years of practice," he says, while delicately painting two Ganesha elephants, on vista alegre's stand of europe's largest decorating fair and europe's lifestyle, the Maison et Objet in Paris. The highlight of the showcase are the glass jars signed by Claudia Shiffer, in the first collaboration with the centuries-old brand of which she is an admirer and collector.

But the spotlight, for now, belongs to the artisan —there is a wheel of foreigners around them. He boasts the surgical expertise of the brush and does not hide admiration for the Observer. "It's an extraordinary job, I didn't think everything would be hand painted," says an English teacher visiting the fair for the first time as she takes photographs of Indian porcelain deities. "Can you ask him how long it takes to paint this piece?" he shoots. It is about three to four days to be "perfect", replies the painter whose art has also been live and in color at fairs in Frankfurt and Milan. "This contact with people is very gratifying," he confesses, without hiding pride.

It is Margarida's first time at Maison et Objet, in the 25th edition, with the presence of 114 Portuguese companies, among almost 3,000 international brands, spread over kilometers and kilometers of exhibitors, on average 80,000 visitors. Portugal is the eighth most represented country in one of the most prestigious events in the decoration area, the ideal time to launch Cloudy Butterflies by Claudia Schiffer, the first collaboration of the old top model for Vista Alegre and Bordallo Pinheiro.

In observador.pt