How did you discover the art of making trembleurs?
The trigger was an 18th century book by Charles Plumier. I wondered how one could make these pieces of extreme finesse without breaking them. It's like Russian roulette: the material can easily break, so the challenge is to go further and further, finer and finer.
What drives you on?
The research methodology behind it, having to develop the tools to create a pattern, and being able to reproduce it elsewhere and in other conditions. It's the passion for the trembleur, but it's also the complete approach of creating the necessary tools.
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What's special about making trembleurs?
It embodies skill, self-control and patience. When you start a piece, you have to work it almost continuously so that it doesn't distort; I work four to eight hours without interruption. The wood is still alive; you release a lot of tension when you work on it.
What are your sources of inspiration?
My signature has become stylised flowers. I am inspired by vegetation, like the pomegranate tree in front of my house. My eye observes all that surrounds me, and I draw it. I am fond of polyhedrons too, I rework them into prisms and use them as patterns.