Nolwenn de Kergommeaux, a woman master glassmaker, at the Viaduc des arts

Nolwenn de Kergommeaux has set up her workshop "Au passeur de lumière" at the Viaduc des Arts. Her mastery of the art of stained glass allows her to excel in the restoration or creation of stained glass and to respond to the most atypical requests. She lives with passion this art which has always been able to renew itself and evolve with its time, its uses and its needs. In 2000, Nolwenn embarked on the adventure of creating her own company, where she anchored her values, including that of transmission, which is dear to her.


An inspired career

Nolwenn's youth was nourished by multiple trips, during which her eye for culture and art was sharpened. It is then naturally that she decides at 17 years old to go to confront herself 3 summers in a row, to the masonry with lime, the construction of old walls, the installation of laths and tiles on framework... in the building site of the Commanderie des Templiers in Coulommiers in Seine et Marne. Nolwenn flourished on these sites and was passionate about preserving heritage. Unfortunately, this was a time when men did not allow women to carry out these jobs.

As a committed woman, she left to help the elderly in Dublin with the Petits Frères des pauvres. This period did not quench the memories of handling tools and working with materials in the service of heritage. The light of stained glass fascinated her and she decided to train to become a master glass artist. She followed a professional training in the creation and restoration of stained glass windows in Paris. As her skills were revealed and her passion for the craft grew, at the end of her training, she joined two workshops: La Maison du Vitrail and France Vitrail. Ready to fly with her own wings, she created her workshop: "Au passeur de Lumière" in 2000, and moved three times before joining the Viaduc des Arts at the end of 2021.


A timeless profession

When you cross the threshold of Nolwenn's workshop, time freezes, you are caught between past, present and future, times that Nolwenn conjugates to perfection. Timeless, stained glass has evolved continuously through the ages and trends, until it has become an established part of the world of decoration.

In Roman times, coloured glass mosaics ("millefiori") were used to filter the light in thermal baths. Then the palette of the glass painter was enriched with new colours. Stained glass was then used in the Middle Ages for two purposes: the first to exploit the symbolism of light, and the second, more didactic, to instruct the faithful through the biblical scenes he depicted. The latter was a failure, as the faithful had difficulty interpreting the scenes due to the height of the stained glass windows and their small size.

At the time of the cathedrals, this art was extraordinarily popular in Europe, and the advances in architecture allowed it to grow in size and dare to create more audacious shapes and designs, giving rise to the monumental stained glass windows and rosettes that can be admired on many cathedrals.

It was during the Renaissance that stained-glass windows broke away from their religious destiny and entered civil life, with more realistic representations and more precise execution.
At the end of the 19th century, with the 'art nouveau' movement, stained glass once again became a living art form and entered our homes. Until today, it delights our interiors, in the form of lampshades, screens, or even partitions, inviting the light to penetrate discreetly.

Useful or simply ornamental, stained glass serves both the craft and takes its place in the field of art, this fine line, it has been able to refine it further by combining, as we sometimes say, the useful with the pleasurable, the pleasure of the eyes. This journey through time and through the ages is possible by pushing open the doors of Nolwenn's workshop.


A workshop of values and transmission

Created in 2000, Nolwenn's workshop now has 20 years of experience and no less than 6 people with complementary profiles and know-how. Confirmed or apprentices, they have all adopted the values of the workshop instilled by Nolwenn. These values are based on the demand for perfection through the team's know-how, but also through the knowledge of how to behave, which is acquired through a love of the job. Nolwenn pays particular attention to the fact that her clients can follow their project throughout the execution work. She will then carefully keep the archives of these projects, and a stock of multiple glasses, for about ten years, in order to be able to intervene quickly on any repair.

In addition to this meticulous service, Nolwenn has one area that is close to her heart: passing on her know-how. Passing on her knowledge, her gestures, so that this profession lasts, but also and above all the values that accompany it. It is not without emotion that she observes an apprentice integrate and appropriate the precision of a gesture. Transmission is at the heart of the craft trades, which, following the disappearance or rarefaction of certain trades, has won over people's consciousness. The masters of art, whose number of women is constantly increasing, are therefore committed to the adventure with their apprentices. Nolwenn de Kergommeaux illustrates this evolution with the opening of her beautiful workshop.

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