Cécile Delanoë

Ateliers Noë

Glass painter

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©Cecile Delanoe

Working in tandem with glass

Cécile grew up in her father’s glass making workshop
She came back to glass painting after a first career path
She restores pieces as well as creating her own

Although she spent her childhood in her father's glass painting workshop, Cécile Delanoë started her career path as a costume designer for theatre. It was later in life that she came back to the craft that had been part of her life since the beginning. Her work is split between restorations and original creations which gives her the possibility of exploring new techniques and the different reactions of glass. "Craftsmanship is a collaborative experience between the craftsperson and the material," she says. Cécile's sources of inspiration are numerous, from water-related elements such as oceans and seas, to human beings in their physicality and emotions.

Interview

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Was your craft an obvious choice to you?: I do not think I chose it, it came to me naturally. I have always been involved in this work, which until recently was my father's means of expression. The decision to make my mark and to give myself the right to practise this profession came late.
What is your favourite part in your work?: Glass is an element with which we have to collaborate. It has its own characteristics and flaws and we have to take them into account to get what we want. I see craftsmanship as a symbiosis between the material and the person.
What techniques do you use?: Apart from my hands, the machine I use the most is the melting furnace. I like to experiment, to test, to understand how different glass types react at different temperatures.
How can we safeguard glass painting?: Although there are always young people who are interested in this craft, the precarious nature of the profession makes it difficult to practise today. It is vital for society as a whole to value manual work and give it back its worth, as the craft's continued existence depends on it.

Cécile Delanoë is an expert artisan: she began her career in 1999