Located in Aquitaine, in the West of France, Les Ateliers de Pomau have taken up residence in the heart of nature, in the middle of a large forest of century-old oaks, moss, and limestone. This calm and lively place is conducive to creations deeply rooted in this enchanting environment that surrounds them. It thus distills the mixture of the beautiful and the useful, the practical and the comfortable. ​ The main production of the Ateliers de Pomau is made up of hand-engraved stainless steel kitchen knives, know-how inherited from La Forge de Martinique. Compared to the past productions of the latter, today's production is once again unique: custom-made stainless steel blades made in France, on which we engrave patterns designed by us. The materials chosen for the handles are chosen in respect to their origin and their ecological responsibility. ​ We offer you, through the Ateliers de Pomau, an artisanal production mainly composed of knives, but around which will gravitate many other creations.
THE TEAM
At the heart of the Ateliers de Pomau, you will find Alexandra and Kéva, a couple of passionate craftsmen. ​
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Alexandra grew up there, completed high school studies in Visual Arts, then continued her University studies there. From an early age, she pursued her passion for artistic and artisanal creation and thus multiplied projects and discovery of different materials. Over the years, she will have developed, and learned to master, many techniques and manual faculties. Among her favorites : visual arts, textile work, creation of bath products, stage costumes and so much more... In short, a real jack-of-all-trades. ​ The project of the Pomau workshops finally allows her to transpose her hobby to the status of passion by which she now wishes to realize herself. If she could have known, in her snowy country, what was happening then on a small island, much further south, in the Caribbean...
Kéva, a Montrealer by training, is the other creator of the project. Born in Martinique, he took advantage of his studies to discover Quebec, where he trained in art and then assumed, for several years, various functions in the field of graphic design, cinema and, mainly, the arts. Wishing to devote himself to pure craftsmanship, he then left to train in France, in the Drôme, with a master blacksmith, specializing in the techniques of damascus steel. Kéva then returns to his native land and creates La Forge de Martinique. For three years, he will be the only cutlery blacksmith working on the island. It is over these years that La Forge de Martinique has developed from knives entirely hand-forged from recycled steel, to modern knives, engraved stainless steel blades, and hand-mounted handles. ​ Always in search of perfecting his art and knowledge, and in order to offer better quality and ever more creative products, Kéva closed the Forge de Martinique in 2017, and settled in Aquitaine to reflect on the next stage of his artisanal adventure.
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THE POMAU
WORKSHOP PHOENIX
Fourteen years ago, the Ateliers de Pomau team trained for the first time in an art workshop in the basement of a Montreal high school. Through many school projects, they develop the fruitful creative union that defines them. It was in 2007 that the phoenix embodied by our duo of craftsmen was seen for the first time, until the day when, such is its nature, the fire fell back to embers. One, eager to work with his hands, goes to forge in Martinique. The other, stingy with empirical knowledge, embarks on a long university cursus. ​ Our coals spark and crackle for several years between the wandering creative spirit of Alexandra and Kéva's smithy. Its existence is perceptible through a bond that pushes the two friends to see each other often during the years that follow and to exchange as passionately as ever about their past projects and their future endeavors. The co-creators thus developed each on their own for 10 years, until the day when they found themselves again for good. ​ A decision involving a transatlantic move for Alexandra is made without hesitation: they already know their potential as a team, they know what awaits them, and that from such special ashes, a flamboyant phoenix is ​​bound to be reborn. The Ateliers de Pomau were born. ​ The Pomau Workshops therefore represent this union of two fundamentally complementary people who, together, decided to build a world of their own, surrounded by art, beauty and craftsmanship. ​ We invite you to enter our imagination and our production, reflecting our appetite for the beautiful, the good and the useful.
