By combining traditional craftsmanship and cutting-edge technologies, the craft sector has managed to build the conditions that allow it to become, today, the “First Business in France.”
From April 7 to April 10, the Nice Exhibition Palace will open its doors to it. For four days, the Chamber of Trades and Crafts 06 invites you to discover.
Many artisans from the department will show you their skills, and you will stay in admiration in front of their talent. As a preview, Nice-Première went to meet Agnès Jennepin, one of these artists who will have her stand in the aisles of this Exhibition Palace.
Nice-Première: With a nursing background, you set up your own mosaic workshop, what was the trigger?
Agnes Jennepin: I am 40 years old today, and I have been passionate about interior decoration for 10 years. As soon as I got the chance, I took courses in workshops. The idea of starting up was slowly germinating in my head, I needed to draw, to imagine, to create.
N-P: What are your creations?
A.J.: My creations are unique pieces: table tops, paintings, mirrors, frescoes, furniture…
N-P: Can you give us an estimate of the time it takes to create a mosaic?
A.J.: A faience mosaic painting requires about 80 hours of work.
N-P: What is your specialty, your little trick that makes your mosaic different from others?
A.J.: My creations are different because I do not work like a mosaicist but like a stained glass artist. My models are precise, designed in movement and color, each piece of the puzzle is then cut according to a template. I have developed a new process of glass mosaic embedded in stucco; the brilliance and movement of colored glass combine with the softness of pigmented stucco. This offers great freedom.
N-P: How do you work? Do you make custom orders, as per the client’s requests, or to your own taste?
A.J.: I mostly work on commission, according to the client’s tastes and the decoration of their interior. I listen carefully and then advise them, but the piece created must resemble them.
N-P: Every piece is unique, don’t you find it hard to part with them?
A.J.: Each piece requires a lot of investment, but if the client is thrilled, that’s the culmination.
N-P: What are your projects, your ambitions?
A.J.: I would like to create a glass mosaic fresco in a public place. The opalescent glass I use seems alive; it undulates with its veins, bringing additional relief. It makes you want to touch it.
N-P: What does this art mean to you?
A.J.: For me, this mosaic is a means of expression.
You can discover her creations on the website: [mosalinea.free.fr](https://mosalinea.free.fr/)
To view the list of exhibitors, click on this link: https://www.cm-alpesmaritimes.fr
