He left the company in 1950 and travelled to the south of France where he met Pablo Picasso and worked at the Madoura Pottery in Valauris in 1950.

While unemployed, Carpay had written to John Allum, the Mayor of Auckland, New Zealand, asking for the name of a pottery where he could find work.

The intent of the "Specials Department" was to produce more upmarket works from Crown Lynn's existing commercial production-line wares.

The art equipment and resources of the school allowed him to develop his screen-printing techniques in the late 1950s and he began to work in fabric design and printing.

When a shipment of imported fabric was found to be faulty in the early 1970s the business was unable to survive, and he returned to design commissions.