ARTI’VIEW by ARCHES® Charlotte Galloux and Quadrilaser, a successful collaboration
We have interviewed artist Charlotte Galloux and the Quadrilaser studio that produced the large inkjet prints of some of her pictures.
Charlotte Galloux, an artist with drawing in the blood
Charlotte Galloux – Studio
What techniques do you use?
My favourite techniques are ink drawing, watercolour and intaglio printmaking. I also rework drawings I’ve done by hand using DTP software to create new works intended for printing on a variety of different media.
© Charlotte Galloux
When I draw, I like to use Uni Pin Fineliner pens (black micro-pigment ink) with a very fine tip (0.03 or 0.05) on lightly textured paper. I work with several different pens that have already been used to varying degrees to create cloudy and airy effects. It’s the “organic” meeting of pen tip with paper that allows me to achieve such fine lines and the particular rendering.
© Charlotte Galloux – Cèdre de la Biche, Velin d’ARCHES® 300 gsm 120 x 80 cm
In a few words, how would you qualify your art?
Above all, my art is a living thing. It’s nature that inspires me. I try to pay tribute to nature and capture its soul. It’s a subtle play-off between perfectionism and letting go: I’m completely into the detail, fascinated by every curve, every poetic form that life can take, and yet at the same time it’s emotion that guides my hand. The same emotion, coloured of course by a whole palette of variations, which, I’m sure of it, come largely, but not only from: the earth, the stars, something collective, an energy… everyone can give it the name that speaks to them. But one thing is certain and that’s why the magic works, and that is that it goes beyond me: like for someone who’s looking at a tree or a cloud, they’ll be travelling into their inner world, and even beyond.
© Charlotte Galloux
What are the subjects that inspire you?
All the kingdoms of the natural world are what inspire me, both plants and animals. For me, science and art should be the best friends in the world because they both allow you to get within touching distance of the divine. I think that together, they could actually reach out and hold its hand.
© Charlotte Galloux
Trees communicate with each other, in particular via mycelial strands: the associations that result from the meeting of roots with these fungi allow for all sorts of fascinating exchanges and collaborations. I like to imagine myself as a sort of “artistic” strand that allows the trees I draw to communicate with the people looking at them.
© Charlotte Galloux – Chêne des Brosses, ARCHES® Aquarelle
In your opinion, who is the greatest artist of all time? Why?
It’s hard to choose just one, there are so many… But I have a great deal of admiration for engraver Pierre-Yves Trémois: his technique, the subjects he covers from the living world. And, in a different field, Mozart, because when he was composing he said he was “taking dictation”.
Tell us about a decisive moment in your career as an artist
When I started to make a living from my drawings, I got a commission for a picture of a cat from a woman who wanted a drawing of an Egyptian Mau. I really threw myself into drawing that cat in ink on rag paper, looking at hundreds of photos of the breed and around a hundred more photos of positions of cats. When I handed over the drawing to its future owner, she wept. That’s when I understood that that’s why I draw. Moving someone to tears is the most rewarding thing for an artist.
The other wonderful encounter I’ve had in my career, and, to be honest, the one that was decisive in getting it started, was with Roger Passeron. This masterly and erudite collector of prints and expert in print making and a well-known figure in this highly specialised field, was, as chance would have it, a friend of my family. One day, at a cocktail party, he invited me to his home, telling me with a mischievous look that a surprise had been waiting for me there since I was born. So I went to see him, very impatient as I knew what treasures were hidden away in his house. When I arrived, just before he took me through his collection of incredible prints, ranging from Dürer to Picasso and taking in the likes of Segonzac or Masson, he presented me with a paper folder carefully folded over a print under an overlay, on which, in fine handwriting, you could read the state and history of the work. It was a superb print by Mario Avati, “The Black Violin”. It was written in pencil by the artist himself: today 24 June 1980, for Charlotte. That’s the day I was born. AND I play the violin.
Later on I showed Roger my sketchbook, where I’d drawn a languid little Kate Moss. He liked it so much that I gave it to him. He had that mischievous look again, the one he would often have when he lit up in front of a beautiful print or when he was telling one of his incredible stories, such as when he met Dali, Chagall or Picasso. He was kind enough to compliment my drawing. It was him who gave me the push I needed to dare to embark on the adventure of art, drawing and print making.
© Charlotte Galloux
What was your first experience of ARCHES® paper?
My story with ARCHES® began with an order for a wallpaper company, Isidore Leroy. They wanted me to draw some trees for them, but on larger sheets of paper than I usually used. My paper supplier, an Italian artisan paper maker from Fabriano, did not make sheets big enough for this project. I had to order a large quantity and I only had three trees to draw. So I went to see different paper merchants, but without finding any satisfactory advice because my technique is mid-way between etching and drawing.
Fortunately, a coincidence saved the day: a friend who happens to be a lover of trees is also passionate about paper (he’s a gardener, but he went to fine art school – so yes, he had to be a friend!) brought me 3 large sheets of ARCHES® Aquarelle cold pressed paper, which turned out to be the perfect medium for technique. And the choice of this brand was, at the same time, the start of a wonderful encounter.
“Tilleul de Pégase” wallpaper from an original drawing by Charlotte Galloux
To create these wallpapers, the drawings had to be scanned to a very high quality, and few professionals have the technology required to do that. But by word of mouth, I heard about Quadrilaser, another pearl, which specialises in the reproduction of artworks. The scans they did were perfect, and we hit on the idea of printing them using the Digigraphie process. We chose ARCHES® paper, and by an amazing stroke of luck, the ARCHES® Marketing Director came by to see them and she saw the tree drawings that were being used for the reproduction. We met and, as it happened, I had just printed several etchings on Velin d’ARCHES® paper a few days earlier, at Ateliers Moret. A printer’s that she also happens to know well!
© Charlotte Galloux – Prints on Velin d’ARCHES® paper at Les Ateliers Moret
Les Ateliers Moret, Paris
The idea of an artistic collaboration arose straight away. But I like to believe it’s thanks to the trees and what they trigger. Not long after that, I received a commission for a drawing of a magnificent Lebanese cedar: this time I chose to use Velin d’ARCHES® in 120 x 80 cm sheets. This paper reacts divinely to the ink of my pens and allows for a great deal of finesse.
© Charlotte Galloux – “Cèdre de La Chesnaie”, a 2 x 1.50 m print on brushed aluminum from a drawing on ARCHES® Aquarelle paper
ARCHES® paper in one word?
Authenticity.
What are you currently working on?
The Lebanese cedar. And to continue with the magic of coincidence, the cedar in question is in the grounds of a château in Autrèche, the Château de Beaumarchais. And who once bought out the Arches paper mill? At this rate, it’s going to start looking suspicious!
Do you have any other projects on the go or planned?
Some exhibitions, some prints on innovative media for some real estate projects. I’m starting to produce interior and exterior design items: lamps, textiles, wallpapers, etc. I’m already doing this to order, but I’d like to put out my ideas in small collections, a bit like a sort of brand or studio. I’m also issuing some Digigraphie prints on ARCHES® paper with Quadrilaser. I’m also still working with brands that make porcelain and decorative objects.
FACEBOOK @CharlotteGallouxArt
INSTAGRAM @charlottegalloux
Quadrilaser, a studio specialised in the reproduction of artworks
Presentation of the studio:
Quadrilaser was created in 1985 and has a professional studio and photo lab for artists and photographers.
Our services range from digitisation, taking photos, processing and retouching images to printing on art paper, and especially on ARCHES® papers.
How long have you been working with the ARCHES® digital printing papers? Why did you choose them?
We have been working with Arches papers ever since they first brought out their special papers for micro-pigment inkjet printing. We have a long tradition of serving publishers, particularly with our skills as photo-engravers, and these media have allowed us to offer limited edition prints to all lovers of fine books and exceptional paper.
Tell us about how you came to work with Charlotte Galloux.
Charlotte Galloux, an outstanding artist, was looking to digitise her work in very high definition in order to have a high quality print that could be used to produce high-end wallpapers for Isidore Leroy. The high quality service we offer immediately met the requirements of Charlotte Galloux and her client.
© Charlotte Galloux – Digigraphie prints by Quadrilaser on ARCHES® BFK RIVES® paper from original drawings by Charlotte Galloux
What are you currently working on with Charlotte?
Her pictures are portraits of exceptional trees: oaks, cedars, chestnut tree…
The enlargements we produce give these trees the dimension they deserve.
Do you have any other projects on the go or planned?
ARCHES® papers open up perspectives for us to offer limited editions that will accompany offprints, in particular for books dedicated to authors use have used lithography or ancient reproduction techniques. We are also seeing a lot of demand from painters and watercolourists.
