The humanities and crafts of France. Meet the expert craftsmen in Dordogne who’re holding the custom of handmade pastels alive and make them the identical approach as once they equipped artists together with Degas.
Leonardo da Vinci was one of many first high-profile artists to advertise the usage of pastel within the 16th Century. The artwork type flourished within the eighteenth century, once more within the late nineteenth century and and has remained common ever since.
Pastels Girault in Dordogne, based in 1780, is the oldest handmade pastel producer on the earth nonetheless energetic in the present day. The famend French artist Maurice Quentin de la Tour, who labored primarily within the Rococo type throughout the 18th century was an early buyer. Edgar Degas used Girault sticks to create a tapestry of color, as did his pal, American artist Mary Cassatt. At present, the corporate has a world following which numbers a number of the finest pastel artists on the earth.
Pastels might be utilized with a free powder and in pencil type, however most frequently, immediately with a color stick, the speciality of Pastels Girault.
The humanities and crafts of France – the pastel makers
I met the present homeowners Karine and Stéphane Loiseau, the 9th era of the artisanal agency at their firm premises in Montignac-Lascaux. Karine, her husband and their two daughters moved their life from Paris to Montignac to tackle the enterprise in 2016 and proceed the household custom. Karine says “my nice, nice uncle purchased the corporate in 1927 and my uncle moved the corporate to Dordogne in 1998, near the Lascaux caves.” You’ll be able to’t assist however consider the truth that it’s right here the place artists created work utilizing a type of pastel within the well-known caves some 50,000 years in the past.
Stéphane spent 4 years mastering the craft, studying the normal abilities which have been handed down by means of the generations. Now he teaches others the strategies perfected over nearly 250 years.
Pastels Girault manufactures round 150,000 sticks per 12 months. They’re all handmade within the workshop utilizing ancestral secrets and techniques and authentic manufacturing strategies. This consists of the distinctive recipes for the completely different colors documented by Karine’s nice, nice uncle. Every part is a carefully guarded secret.
Making pastels the normal approach
The primary manufacturing stage entails weighing and mixing white clay, water and pigments sourced from the UK, France, and Germany. Some 300 completely different colors are produced, distinctive to Pastels Girault. Mixing a single color at a time, the combination is pressed right into a canvas vessel to take away the surplus water. It’s then labored by hand to type a particular texture, a key step that takes years of expertise. The paste is pressed right into a 150-year-old extruder machine, an enchanting piece of package that churns out lengthy sticks that are reduce to measurement – 63mm x 9mm. The variety of the color and the brand are stamped by hand onto every stick earlier than they’re air dried at room temperature for round three weeks.
The top outcome and high quality of the pastels is outstanding, neither too exhausting nor too comfortable. The medium is favoured by many artists as a result of it permits a spontaneous method when it’s drawn on textured paper and dries immediately guaranteeing there is no such thing as a change in color. Girault pastel sticks have a barely firmer consistency most, with very clean and dense outcomes when utilized to paper, and such is the variation of the pastels tones, you don’t want to combine the colors as you do with paint.
Awarded an EPV (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) label, which acknowledges dedication to excellence and the preservation of French artisanal heritage, Pastel Girault maintain workshops for artists annually. ‘We contemplate each pastel stick as a murals in itself,’ says Karine.
Uncover the total vary of Pastel Girault merchandise at their on-line retailer, www.pastelsgirault.com or go to their store in Montignac-Lascaux and, from 1 April annually, see their newest exhibition showcasing artworks signed by seasoned pastellists.
Jeremy Flint is an award-winning skilled photographer and author specialising in journey, panorama and placement pictures.
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