During this five-day workshop, artist Paulina Okurowska will share her fascination with Breton roofing slate by exploring its endless artistic possibilities. Participants will discover how to create diverse and powerful works by learning specific techniques for cutting and assembling slate.

The workshop will also cover working with relief and light, as well as the full range of blacks, grays, and luminous shades unique to antique slate.

By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

• Cut slate using mosaic nippers
• Create different patterns and visual rhythms in slate (opus, andamento)
• Glue the tesserae in relief
• Reveal and make use of the unique play of light inherent in slate
• Explore the artistic and aesthetic possibilities of recycled roofing slate

This workshop offers an immersive experience into the evocative and fascinating world of antique roofing slate. Participants will discover the unique qualities of this material: the delicacy of its fragments, its shifting reflections, its natural patinas, its traces of rust, and the rich variety of its shades of black and gray.

Through cutting and direct collage composition, each participant will explore different artistic approaches inspired by the unique forms of slate—sheets, strips, feathers, scales, or spikes—to create vibrant and expressive surfaces. The possibilities for combining these elements with other materials and colors will further expand the scope for creativity and experimentation.

Through a series of graphic, abstract, or figurative experiments, each participant will gradually develop a personal project, guided by their own sensibility and imagination.

Schedule

Day 1

Morning

• Presentation of the workshop, the course schedule, and theoretical introduction

Afternoon

• Presentation of examples and photographs; introduction to materials, adhesives, and tools

Day 2

Morning

• Cutting and composition of the first pieces

Afternoon

• Continuation of experiments

Day 3

Morning

• Editing and composition of new pieces

Afternoon

• Continuation of work

Day 4

Morning

• Finalizing samples and creating sketches for the personal project

Afternoon

• Cutting and composition of the personal project

Day 5

Morning

• Development of the personal project
• Tidying up the workshop

Paulina Okurowska

Born in 1981 in Poland, Paulina Okurowska moved to Paris in 1996. There, she studied applied arts at ENSAAMA Olivier de Serres, then fine arts at the Sorbonne, before settling in Nantes.

She then joined Atelier 67 and the Ateliers d’Art de France. In 2019, she was awarded a grant by the Fondation Banque Populaire, notably for her work with slate.

Now based in Morbihan, she has developed a practice focused on creating one-of-a-kind pieces, sculptures, and wall compositions. She is represented by the Parigobrac Gallery in Laguiole and the Métamorphose Gallery in Marbella, Spain.

• Classroom, multipurpose room, workshops with professional equipment
• Supply of materials
• Individual and collaborative work
• Workshop-based work
• Active participation and experimentation by participants are encouraged

• Group and personalized progress tracking, regular updates
• Self-assessment of technical skills
• Group presentation
• Attendance sheet for each half-day
• Certificate of completion issued by Campus MaNa