Souffleuse de verre – The art of fire and volume

A fiery temperament. That’s how Valérie de Roquemaurel comes across. You can hear it in her voice, and recognize it in her often sandblasted and colored glass creations. Her work is both fragile and powerfully expressive. In her hands, once the glass has been heated, this transparent, malleable material is transformed. It seems to dance in hypnotic motion. This ability to metamorphose and take shape when the magic of fire works is what seduced Valérie. In 2004, I did an internship with a glassblower,” she recalls. It was a revelation! I followed that up with two years at a school to learn the trade.” It’s a very physical job, which she now practises in her workshop in Pomy, with a sure, seasoned touch.

At arm’s length
Making glass takes time, precision and strength. “People often imagine that it takes a lot of breath to work with glass,” explains Valérie. In fact, you need arms to lift the blowing rod and turn it with the weight of the glass at the end. And then, you have to imagine that it’s very hot in the workshop with three furnaces on continuously.” The first furnace, at 1,140 degrees, is where the work begins, housing up to 120 kilos of molten glass. Valérie draws in the glass with a blowing rod and, when its temperature reaches 900 degrees, gradually shapes it into the desired form by turning the rod while a second person blows. “The glass cools very quickly, so it has to be reheated regularly in another furnace fired to 1,350degrees before it can be blown,” she explains. Once the piece is finished, it is cooled in a third furnace at 500 degrees. In the meantime, Valérie may have coloured her creation by projecting pigments into the glass using the blowing rod. Later, she may also make sandblasted cuts or sandblasted ornaments using stencils. Valérie uses a wide range of decorative techniques to give her creations their distinctive character. The shine and smoothness of each piece comes at the end thanks to skilful hand polishing. With the renewed pleasure of discovering that, once again, the magic has worked.

IN FIGURES

2004

The year Valérie fell in love with the business after an internship that lasted 8 months instead of three weeks.

1’140

Temperature in degrees Celsius of the main furnace in which the glass pebbles are remelted

15

The number of hours required to fill the main furnace with glass pebbles

900

The ideal temperature in degrees Celcius for working glass

50

The diameter in centimetres of its largest chandelier piece

LEXICON

SLICING IRES
This glass-slicing tool comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. Valérie owns three pairs from Murano. She uses them to separate the glass from the blowing rod and open the pieces, even widening the diameter of the opening.

THE MOUILLETTE
This is a homemade tool that every glassblower must have. Made from wet newspaper, then compressed into a solid block, it holds the hot glass in one hand while the other hand sculpts it by turning the cane.

THE BLOWING CANE
Approximately 120 cm long, the blowing cane takes the form of a stainless steel tube with a refractory stainless steel end. As its name suggests, it is used to blow glass, and its diameter varies according to the size of the pieces you wish to create.

MAILLOCHES
These tools, which look like large wooden spoons placed in water, keep the glass at the optimum temperature for working. Thanks to the mallets, the craftswoman can cool the outside of the glass while keeping the inside warm.

Atelier Valérie de Roquemaurel
24, Chemin du Clon
CH 1405 Pomy
Tel. 078 910 45 15
www.valeriederoquemaurel.com