The aptitude for manual work, the love of Nature, combined with the passion for wood, animate Georges Raillard as soon as he enters his small workshop. Encounter !
It is on the heights of Perrancey, in a skilfully and harmoniously landscaped green setting, conducive to creation, that Georges Raillard has lived for almost two decades. An environment thatit was created and designed from scratch with a precise idea in mind : give space to Nature.
There is a rocky pile, just a little further on a vast pool populated by dozens of goldfish and bordered by a vegetable garden. Climbing up a little, we see an imposing pile of branches, a refuge for small local fauna… all dotted with an impressive quantity of trees, mostly fruit treesgrafted and planted by the master of the house. Because at Georges Raillard, wood is king, it is found everywhere and especially in the small workshop where the dashing septuagenarian spends a good part of his time.
After the railway… the wood path
Born in Prauthoy, from a very large family working the land (named Le Quinze Boïa), Georges had to leave his siblings very early on, after college. “I went on an apprenticeship at the SNCF, at the Chambly training center, near Creil. Three years later, with a CAP as an adjuster, I was assigned to Saint-Dizier, to the workshop-store. An establishment which, in the 1970s, had around a thousand employees! We were one of five or six French sites to manufacture and repair equipment for the entire SNCF infrastructure. I spent my entire career there, rising through the ranks to end up as quality manager.”summarizes Georges.
As for his craze for canes and walking sticks, it was truly born just before leaving for a hike on the Camino de Santiago. “I wanted to have a stick to walk with, so I went to a wood where I found a piece of dogwood that looked like nothing, but which inspired me. I started working on it, sculpting it… and it’s been going on for twenty years,” s’amuse Georges.
Recovering dry wood, particularly during scouring, he then lets his mood of the moment speak, imagining a squirrel, a dog, a heron, a titmouse, a duck, an owl, an ibex… all in such natural postures that we imagine them ready to take flight or pounce on their prey. In fact, the shapes given by Nature nourish Georges' imagination.
But if we had to give a special mention to one of his pieces, it would undoubtedly go to the magnificent sculpture of Saint-Jacques displaying the famous shell dear to the pilgrims of Compostela.
Quite an art
Particularly functional because they are resistant creations. If dogwood remains its favorite speciesGeorges also works on others. “I find more and more dead junipers and boxwoods whose hearts are very hard and lend themselves well to making canes and walking sticks”. For several years, Georges also collects twists of ivy thatit transforms into surprising and original bedside lamps or floor lamps.
Magnificent pieces that Georges generally offers on craft markets during the holiday seasonas will be the case in the region on December 14 and 15 in Nogent. A great opportunity to meet him and above all to interact with a talented sculptor and a passionate admirer of Nature.
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