Arts and crafts of France pastel making

The arts and crafts of France. Meet the skilled craftsmen in Dordogne who are keeping the tradition of handmade pastels alive and make them the same way as when they supplied artists including Degas.

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the first high-profile artists to promote the use of pastel in the 16^th Century. The art form flourished in the eighteenth century, again in the late nineteenth century and and has remained popular ever since.

Pastels Girault in Dordogne, founded in 1780, is the oldest handmade pastel manufacturer in the world still active today. The renowned French artist Maurice Quentin de la Tour, who worked primarily in the Rococo style during the 18^th century was an early customer. Edgar Degas used Girault sticks to create a tapestry of colour, as did his friend, American artist Mary Cassatt. Today, the company has a global following which numbers some of the best pastel artists in the world.

Pastels can be applied with a loose powder and in pencil form, but most often, directly with a colour stick, the speciality of Pastels Girault.

The arts and crafts of France – the pastel makers

I met the current owners Karine and Stéphane Loiseau, the 9^th generation of the artisanal firm at their company premises in Montignac-Lascaux. Karine, her husband and their two daughters moved their life from Paris to Montignac to take on the business in 2016 and continue the family tradition. Karine says “my great, great uncle bought the company in 1927 and my uncle moved the company to Dordogne in 1998, close to the Lascaux caves.” You can’t help but think of the fact that it’s here where artists created paintings using a form of pastel in the famous caves some 50,000 years ago.

Stéphane spent four years mastering the craft, learning the traditional skills which have been passed down through the generations. Now he teaches others the methods perfected over almost 250 years.

Pastels Girault manufactures around 150,000 sticks per year. They are all handmade in the workshop using ancestral secrets and original manufacturing methods. This includes the unique recipes for the different colours documented by Karine’s great, great uncle. Everything is a closely guarded secret.

Making pastels the traditional way

The first production stage involves weighing and mixing white clay, water and pigments sourced from the UK, France, and Germany. Some 300 different colours are produced, unique to Pastels Girault. Mixing a single colour at a time, the mixture is pressed into a canvas vessel to remove the excess water. It is then worked by hand to form a specific texture, a key step that takes years of experience. The paste is pressed into a 150-year-old extruder machine, a fascinating piece of kit that churns out long sticks which are cut to size – 63mm x 9mm. The number of the colour and the logo are stamped by hand onto each stick before they are air dried at room temperature for around three weeks.

The end result and quality of the pastels is exceptional, neither too hard nor too soft. The medium is favoured by many artists because it allows a spontaneous approach when it’s drawn on textured paper and dries instantly ensuring there is no change in colour. Girault pastel sticks have a slightly firmer consistency most, with very smooth and dense results when applied to paper, and such is the variation of the pastels tones, you do not need to mix the colours as you do with paint.

Awarded an EPV (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant) label, which recognizes dedication to excellence and the preservation of French artisanal heritage, Pastel Girault hold workshops for artists each year. ‘We consider every pastel stick as a work of art in itself,’ says Karine.

Discover the full range of Pastel Girault products at their online store, www.pastelsgirault.com or visit their shop in Montignac-Lascaux and, from 1 April each year, see their latest exhibition showcasing artworks signed by seasoned pastellists.

Jeremy Flint is an award-winning professional photographer and writer specialising in travel, landscape and location photography.