unique workshops in France to discover a little-known art

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On Saturday November 23, 2024, as part of the Meet at the workshopan event organized by the Métropole Rouen Normandie, the artistesindividuals or gathered in association, were invited to open the doors to their artistic universe to the public.

A good opportunity for the curious to discover little-known techniques in their territory.

Unique in France

In Saint-Aubin-lès-Elbeuf (Seine-Maritime), it is theassociation Peupl’art which opened its premises and offered introductory sessions to a little-known practice.

So little known, in fact, that the Saint-Aubin popular education structure is the alone in France to propose it: the art ofindustrial enamel.

And the association gives as much to art as to sustainable development: “We collect cooker lids from Envie (home appliance recycling integration company in Saint-Aubin, Editor’s note) and pot bases from enamellers industrial and, with this, we make sculpture and the paint artistic”, explains Patrice Bordron, president of the association, who discovered the discipline in 1973 during an exhibition when he was only in 5th grade.

The association was set up in 2011 and has a fifteen practitioners. The size of its premises would not allow it to accommodate many more people, but the structure works easily in schools and Rendez-vous at the workshop is another way of introducing this technique.

Cooking at 820°C

Moreover, there are around ten curious people painting a small enamel plaque, similar to those which bear the number of certain houses.

Once the pattern is finished, the plate is quickly put through a hairdryer then cooked for three minutes in the oven at 820°C. All you have to do is let it cool…

But it is also possible to use enamel to make cutouts and create sculptures, like these little stilt walkers or this dragon head which is used in Chinese New Year ceremonies.

I didn’t know the technique at all, it’s quite funny. Even when we’re not talented, we can do little things!

Be careful though: for this to work, you have to use a very special paint: a mixture of pulverized Pyrex (yes, the one with which gratin dishes are made), clays and metallic oxides which will make the color, to which we will add water to obtain a liquid base applicable to the enamel.

Not easy to find, therefore. But for those interested, the workshop is open every other Wednesday, at 42 rue de la Résistance, in Saint-Aubin.

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