Saint-Gilles

Paper, made by hand, sheet by sheet, step by step, with craftmanship passed down through the ages.

Taking the time to rediscover the materials; the Papeterie Saint-Gilles

Saint-Joseph-de-la-Rive, Charlevoix.

The sun beats down on the wooden schooners and the salt-tinged hay exposed by the tides. Hundred-year-old trees planted at the sides of the road (rue Félix Antoine Savard), named for the founder of the Papeterie Saint-Gilles, provide shade. Behind the big, green windows in the light-filled studio, the papermaker dips a frame into a tub. He fastens cotton fibres into the screen. Water, in which the paper fibre swam moments ago, drains with a sound that triggers a sense of relaxation.
And one does have to be relaxed for the action to be precise; one takes whatever time it takes. In this process, production is not based on any performance criteria. This process is all about craftmanship. Making this kind of paper is also a shared process; after all, the concept of the economuseum was born around this knowledge of craft and in this place, and then exported around the world, thanks to the Artisans at Work network that resulted from it.
Luck was hardly a factor, given that the paper factory is located in an old village school, that it was founded by a writer and a teacher… Education is still very much a part of its mission. The paper factory hosts groups of visitors, from schools and elsewhere. People who come here also learn the added value of something that is of high quality, made by hand, using traditional knowledge. Saint-Gilles paper is valuable. We can sense this in the way it feels, in its grain. Sometimes it is dusted with very small wildflower petals, genuine floral poetry upon which one's words can be placed or one's art can be created. Saint-Gilles paper has been inspiring artists for decades. In the store, you can buy silkscreened art made by well-known artists on St.-Gilles paper, as well as all the supplies necessary for learning how to make art oneself, and to rediscover this love of paper, of calligraphy, and of wax seals… All things about which the oldest of us are nostalgic, and about which the youngest of us are curious… And which, above all, do us good in a world full of the online and intangible!
The Papeterie Saint-Gilles is the kind of place where time slows down. You'll have to visit yourself, in season, and see the huge green press at work for yourself, and listen to Marianne as she talks about her love of paper as you search, looking to find the one sheet that speaks to you the most, the quill that fits most comfortably in your hand, breathe in the scent of the flowers in the courtyard and slow down…