PORTRAITS
ART CRAFTSMEN IN NOUVELLE AQUITAINE
When you visit a region like Nouvelle Aquitaine and you are interested in its culture and history , it is also interesting to meet its craftsmen , often located in radiant and authentic little towns of character, who harmoniously accompany their know-how and who take pleasure , in addition to the presentation of their personalized made-to-measure products ,to welcome you there to show you around their workshops and
boutiques alongside the discovery of their often ancestral traditions.
Our beautiful provinces are also places conducive to creativity where men and women live who are passionate about
the craftsmen that I met and who shared with me their love of a job well done, mixed with traditions and values conso-
lidated by time.These meetings require programming because the availability of these talented artists is always planned
according to their activities and their opening hours to the public but spend a morning or afternoon in an art workshop
is always enriching in addition to the discovery of numerous achievements as diverse as each other which are the
affirmed expression of this French art of living that the whole world envies us. Whether it is tapestry, cabinetmaking or
silk painting from pottery and enamels to the making of curtains and cushions, the activities of craftsmen in
NOUVELLE
AQUITAINE are multiple and diverse and always carried out in a personalized framework that we often calls for the
secret of tailor-made. My journey begins in the heart of the region in the CREUSE to join
AUBUSSON , a beautiful and
rebellious city which is home to there
International Tapestry City in parallel with its referencing and
of
its know-how to
the cultural and intangible heritage of humanity by UNESCO
or Nadia PETKOVIC welcomes me weaver since 2014 and
creator of The Atelier De La Lune.
"After artistic training at Art School in Nantes followed by 6 years of teaching visual
arts, I trained as a weaver in 2010/2011 and it was a revelation because, in addition to my passion for creating and producing custom-made works, I appreciate the work and the treatment of colors and shapes on textiles,wool or fabric
with applications as varied as those found on embroidery,costumes or even tapestry like this was the case with the
work on wool for the creation of the Miyazaki tapestries in the International Tapestry City of AUBUSSON.Being a
craftsman also means, to a certain extent, being the guardian of the memory of ancestral traditions that we maintain
in the making of our products that i would also be happy to present to the public at the Braquenié Tapestries Factory
in Aubusson as part of the European Heritage Days on September 21 and 22,2024
" Nadia Petkovic tells me with a big
smile while showing me one of her latest works. Heading to the north of the region and the department of
HAUTE
VIENNE
to join LE DORAT a great city of character with a rich heritage,home to notably one of the most beautiful
Roman churches in France to meet the team of Art Soph Créa Workshop who,in addition to their main activity which
is pottery, provide additional artistic services such as manga and oil pastel drawing and engraving on polystyrene in
parallel with pottery classes for children and adults.
"Installed since January 2010 after obtaining a certificate in
artistic trades at Longchamp in Cote D'Or, I realized products that are always personalized and of different sizes in
good balance with the ranges and the particularities desired by our customers who appreciate our know-how and our
work because our often unitary achievements require skill, precision and quality in the finishes." Sophie Lamberton,
founder of the Workshops, tells me while presenting her latest creations placed on a piece of raw wood furniture
near the entrance to the workshops.radiant
An Environment Conducive to Creativity
Scattered and localized on the
13 departments that make up the Region, integrating a balance between cities and
territories,crafts and their players in NOUVELLE AQUITAINE also collaborate with different organizations, regional and
national stakeholders, including
The National Institute of Arts and Crafts, the Art Workshops of France,the Chambers
of trades and crafts, the network of towns and crafts in parallel also with a close collaboration with the REGIONAL
COUNCIL OF THE NOUVELLE AQUITAINE REGION
in the context of the management, assistance and implementation of their projects. Personal motivations and passion are always very strong when we listen to and question these men and women , often between 2 sticks, tints , shaping or cutting and whatching a craftsman working in his workshop is
always enjoyable because you learn a lot of things while observing the meticulousness of their hands which shape, cut
and adjust the "Handmade" poducts very often embellished with big smiles expressing all the satisfaction of a job well
done as i would see in the village of SAINT LEON SUR VEZERE in Dordogne in the PIQOLI boutique where I am welcomed around a coffee on wooden stools by Olivier Picquart and Nathalie Gannet
“As a trained wood carver, a friend who was a cutler one day told me "stolen" a piece of mammoth ivory that was so small that i could only make
a piece of jewelry out of it and it is like this is how my love at first sight with ivory and mammoth began."Olivier Piquart
tells me."We were previously settled in Creuse before settling in Périgord Noir in March 2015 and I take care of the
shop while Olivier makes the custom products in the workshop"
Nathalie tells me while drinking her coffee while
Olivier invites me to follow him to his workshop.
»I also use elk and reindeer antlers, some horns,black oak from the
peat bogs and my tools consist of woodworking tools such as saws and gouges,jewelry and cutlery tools allowing for
careful finishing because each piece produced is then subject to a polishing without using any varnish.I make a lot of
pendants which are, besides my favorite jewel , also a mirror for the one who wears it as well as for the one who
observes it"
Olivier Picquart tells me. In addition to the products by Olivier Picquart and Nathalie Gannet, the boutique
also presents works created by local crastsmen such as knives, leather goods, ceramics and wood and which is part of a
promotional approach and art crafstmen in order to promote “Made In France” and its legendary quality appreciated in
particular by customers foreigners who come from Europe but also from the United States, Australia and many other
countries who make these craftsmen of art the guardians of our heritage in good balance with the
cultural wealth of the
region
NOUVELLE AQUITAINE
that we find in its radiant and authentic little towns of character which also participate in an environment conducive to creativity with a tourist potential that we never tire of visiting as there is so much things
to discover in these authentic cities where history, culture and the art of living are constantly combined.
Report: Gabriel PAGE
Photos Credit: Gabriel PAGE / Atelier De La Lune / Art Soph Crea / City of Le Dorat
