the French association for artistic woodturning

Claudine Thiellet, a lady woodturner interviewed by E. Quignard :

Claudine Thiellet has been a woodturner in Dole (Jura) for four years. She and her husband live in a big house. They have set up the workshop in their garden among trees and flowers.
Its size is about 12 square meters, it is incredible !The first idea I had while coming in was :
"there is much space". Making big into small, finding happiness in daily small things are some qualities which appear from Claudine and her art. Her works have the particularity to make us dream...

Claudine Thiellet : So, shall we go ?

Emmanuel Quignard : Hello Claudine ! Of course, we already greet each other, since we've been discussing off line for a good while. That's my first interview, so it's a bit strange for me...

Claudine Thiellet : You'll see, it's not so hard.

EQ : You're used to it, with the TV and so on...

CT : You know, only local channel.

EQ : Well, you are a "tourneur". Actually, should I say "tourneur" or "tourneuse" ? *

CT : The wording doesn't matter. I'd prefer to express my femininity in my work rather than in the designation. I'm feeling feminist in the way women have rights to acquire, in the same way as men ; But I'm not waging war against men. In the turning world, I'm feeling treated on an equal footing.

EQ : So turners are not male chauvinist ?

CT : Personally, I don't have relationship problem with them. It might be due to the fact that we are so few women in the middle of so many men. With turners, I'm feeling as in a family, there is really a nice mutual aid spirit. That's what pushed me to adhere to AFTAB, as I did not feel like taking everything, without giving anything. There are so many things to defend in turning, that if one can contribute to improve things for the craft, let's do it.

EQ : The warmth that you can find in the turning world is as important for you than turning itself.

CT : Yes ! Of course ! It gives me energy. After a turning event, I feel recharged for weeks. It's so instructive. Confrontation with others is really stimulating, it put the clocks right, it teaches humility back too.

EQ : Do you really need that ?

CT : Oh yes ! We always need it. We have to learn all life long. When one told to Jacques Brel "you are an artist", he answered that this word didn't mean anything, at the beginning there was only a small amount of talent and then afterwards a lot of work.

EQ : Do you practice a lot ?

CT : Yes I do of course. There's no mystery, if you want to make progress, you need to practice. When a difficulty happens, you just go beyond it and after, you only feel like going over another one. At least, it works this way for me !

EQ : It's a nice philosophy.

CT : There is another thing that helps me a lot. It's the complicity of Serge, my husband. His continuous support, the sharing of tasks, his understanding of the long time I spend in the workshop. We were just talking about differences between men and women, one of them in turning is that we, as women, have not been always living in mechanics; in this domain, Serge is of great help for me.

EQ : Ah Serge, he falls into that when he was a child …

CT : Alone, I would have bought a lathe with immediate turning.

EQ : Let's talk a little bit about your pieces too. How did all this start ?

CT : I always liked creativity. For example when I was at school I was making rings with scrap metal and polished broken glass, that I sold to pals. I had a lot of success with that. I was also making my own clothes. My grandmother was dressmaker, my mother pianist, and they've passed the liking of expression on to us (my sisters and myself).

EQ : I would even say of artistic expression, even if I know you consider this as a coarse word …

CT : I don't feel myself as, ... er! ....you understand ?

EQ : Anyway, don't worry, nobody dies from mode sty… And how did you come to woodturning ??

CT : It came by necessity, I wanted to make a lamp stem for a gift. Then, I met a teacher (Gilbert Buffard). Saint Giron was a revelation too. It was my Puy Saint Martin. (Note from EQ : Puy Saint Martin than we can already consider as Mecca of turning. May Saint Martin bless us.)
When I heard of the tour of Richard Raffan, I …, I don't know how I felt (Claudine is looking at the ceiling). The shivers in the back, it's an inexpressible feeling. The sound of gouges too, when you hear tchi-tchi-tchi, when you rough the piece, just when it becomes round… Besides, it's still the same …

EQ : You are completely passionate, you got caught.

CT : It's a little bit like the call of the forest. (Claudine has a wide grin)

EQ : And the pieces, where do they come from ? To summarize in a rough shortcut, you were saying you just had to lie down in the deck chair with a cup of tea, and imaginary pieces start streaming in your head. Is that correct ?

CT : Yes, it happens roughly this way, I give myself 30 to 45 minutes of reflection, and pieces appear. It's even tiring at the end ; moreover, mainly exceptional therefore difficult to make pieces arise this way.

EQ : So you don't carry out all the pieces you imagine ?

CT : I don't imagine just turning; it can be pottery, cabinetmaking … As if I were in a museum, as if you switch on the projector, you see ? If I am disturbed, it doesn't work, I always need to space out.

EQ : Of course you are not disturbed, Claudine … And do you manage to make pieces approaching those from the dreams ?

CT : I can say yes, that's what I tend towards; sometimes, I just wait for the wood to make them.

EQ : So you are not guided by the wood, are you ?

CT : Yes, I am ! To some extend, it's a matter of harmony, of respect between the wood and myself. If you know how to treat it, it will let you do it, that's the way I feel it. But now, I tend more and more to find the piece of wood which corresponds to the piece I want to create.
Well, we were rather on the affective and emotional aspect in this interview. We won't have tackled technique..

EQ : Yes, and that's good. There are enough AFTABeans dealing with technical stuff. In turning and AFTAB, we are looking above all after emotion, aren't we ?

CT : That's what I find there. Friendship too ...

* Note from the translator: the word for turner (tourneur) could be feminized for woman (tourneuse), but it's not common.. This can't be translated in English.

Thanks to Claudine Thiellet and Emmanuel Quignard for this interview
and special thanks to Pascal Oudet for his translation ...
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