According to the various classes I can welcome from 3 to 6 students. Therefore each student receives individual attention. Don’ t fear to have a go at it! Classes are student-oriented: You can start without any artistic know-how or any gift in drawing. I’m here to help and support you.

The training courses are opened to everyone, only two restrictions: to be at least nine years old and speack french.

At the end of the class you will have finished one or two illuminations, ready to be framed.
All material is provided, just bring a bagged lunch. You can also have lunch at nearby restaurants if you wish.

All styles can be studied: Celtic, Romanesque, gothic, Renaissance, Moroccan… It’s up to you!

The materials and techniques used to make the illuminations are genuinely traditional: you'll only work on parchment (the contemporary works with copper leaf on Nepalese paper are not considered illuminations). You will use 22 to 24 carat gold leaf on gesso or distemper (with a few exceptions on PVA glue for one day because of the make-ready time of the medieval techniques). Painting is done by a tempera process, i.e. pigments bound with egg yolk or by a distemper process, with a base of egg white, honey water and gum Arabic. Genuine illuminations require these processes to be used. So, do not register for classes given by some associations which will make you work on paper and gouache paint…

At the end of the class you will have finished one or two illuminations, ready to be framed.
All material is provided, just bring a bagged lunch. You can also have lunch at nearby restaurants if you wish. All classes start at 10 am.

Be carreful: all the training courses are given in French !

All the stages of making an illumination will be studied: copying the drawing on parchment (goat skin), applying the PVA base which will dry during lunch break, applying the 22-carat gold leaf and painting with natural pigments mixed with egg yolk OR egg white, gum Arabic and honey water (tempera), all this being done on an initial (Celtic or white vine style) or on a simple bestiary. There is therefore no specific pictorial difficulty, as work done on a single day is flat tint work.

Fee: € 105/person, material included
€ 45 down payment
4 persons minimum

Be carreful: all the training courses are given in French !

Same approach as for the one-day class but on a more elaborate pattern (Romanesque style initial with drapes, shades, friezes…). The first day is dedicated to the preparation of the parchment (buffing and burnishing on cardboard), to drawing and applying the glue. The second day is dedicated to applying gold leaf and paints.

Fee: € 175 /person, material included
€ 70 down payment
4 persons minimum

Be carreful: all the training courses are given in French !

This class concentrates on various gilding techniques. The participants make three 10X10 cm (3.9”X3.9”) miniature illuminations (for example, a series of bestiaries):

-One gilded with 23 and ¾ carat mineral gold powder.
-One with 22-carat gold leaf on gum ammoniac.
-One with gold leaf on traditional gesso (a mix of fish-based glue, white lead, honey water, slaked plaster, Armenian bole).

Painting is done according to two techniques of tempera: one with egg yolk, one with medieval distemper (filtered egg white, honey water and gum Arabic).

Fee: € 350 /person, material included
€ 110 down payment
3 persons minimum

Be carreful: all the training courses are given in French !

The participants are given a historical approach of the styles they use and progress through the following stages: preparing the parchment (goat skin, kidskin, or vellum, as they wish), modern as well as traditional methods of applying the base (with gum Ammoniac or traditional gesso, weather permitting), applying adhesive or loose 22-carat gold leaf, gold powder highlighting and tempera painting (egg yolk and medieval distemper). The students can also achieve two or three illuminations (initials or bestiaries) or a large one (a miniature or a 21 X 29.7 cm (8.2”X11.7”) frieze).

Fee:€ 450 / person, material included
€ 150 down payment
3 persons minimum

Samples of works done by students over one to three days.

See the students’ works at the end of each class on the News Update page..