La Vie Creative

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Last week we shared the story of Djuna Barnes and you can’t have Djuna without the story of Natalie Barney,  Natalie was born in October 1876 in Dayton Ohio to a very wealthy family. Raised with an appreciation of art, music, and culture from a very young age they spent weekends in museums and author readings. 

One reading while in New York over the summer took a young Natalie and her mother to a bookshop to listen to Oscar Wilde.  While he was speaking a group of young boys began throwing candied cherries at Natalie. When Oscar saw this he picked her up and put her on his knee and read a story to her. Later in life, she would date Oscar’s niece. 

In 1887 she went to Paris for the first time with her mother who was chasing her dream of being an artist. It began her instant love affair with France and she would return four years later traveling all over Europe and finally settling in Paris. 

In Spain she met the red-headed beauty Eva Sikelianas and fell in love, She had known since she was 12 that she was a lesbian and vowed to live an out and normal life. Natalie had a rather open idea when it came to relationships. She always wanted to date more than one person at a time and wasn’t ever going to be devoted to just one person. 

One dramatic relationship after another some ending suddenly and some with dramatic shows of love before walking away. It became a right of passage for any lesbian in Paris to have spent some time in her bed but not to stay too long. 

Natalie left her mark on Paris with her salons that she held for over 60 years. Every expat  & artist that came through Paris visited her weekly salon from Colette, Rodin, Cocteau, Peggy Guggenheim, Gertrude Stein, and Hemingway to name a few. In 1909 she moved to a home at 20 Rue Jacob that came complete with a temple.  

The small Temple of Friendship with its Doric columns sat in the garden and if those columns could talk, they would have quite a story. Watching Colette dressed and performed as Mata Hari and the late-night parties with naked party goers. 

There is so much more to her life, sit back and listen to today’s newest episode all about her life. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

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Franco-American artist and photographer Kali Vermès started making terrariums to satisfy both her green thumb and creative impulses with one activity. The microcosms she creates, under the moniker, Grow Little, are carefully conceived tiny, verdant worlds.

Born in Paris, Kali grew up in an apartment filled with hanging plants. Her Russian photographer grandfather grew pear trees and tended a vegetable garden in his backyard in New Hampshire, and her Norman grandmother was a fervent gardener who always found the time to show off her magnificent plants. Kali began her career as a photographer and has worked with acclaimed artists such as Joel Sternfeld and Robert Wilson. 

Currently based in Montreuil, just outside of Paris, she curates little landscapes that bring a touch of green whimsy to the everyday. Kali Vermès creates lush, gently wild atmospheres, for renowned clients and high-end hotels including Hotel Amour, Hotel Grand Amour, Céline boutiques, Thierry Costes, the Cité de la Mode et du Design.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kalivermes/?hl=en
Website: http://www.growlittle.com/

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Djuna Barnes, the woman who mingled with the Lost Generation was born in 1892 in New York and would leave her mark in Paris. 

Born into a rather different family, her father had two wives and would later marry Djuna off to his second wife's brother. Shortly after her mother had too much she took her kids and left for New York. There Djuna began working as a writer for the New York Eagle. Not only was she a talented writer but also an illustrator who would draw pictures that accompanied each of her articles. 

In 1921 she arrived in Paris and settled in Saint Germain. She instantly mingled with the newly arriving American ex-pat group and the large group of lesbians that settled in Paris led by Natalie Barney, who will talk about next week. The two had a short affair, which was a right of passage for just about every lesbian that arrived in Paris. Their relationship was short but remained friends as long as Djuna lived in Paris. 

Involved with Thelma Wood while in Paris, the two had a volatile relationship that was very public resulting in arguments due to Thelma’s drinking. After it ended Djuna turned to drinking too much and also wrote The Nightwood based on their love affair and her best-known book. She began writing the book sitting in the Cafe de la Mairie across from Saint Sulpice where many other writers would do the same. 

When her drinking became too much, friend Peggy Guggenheim sent her to London and finally back to New York where she would spend time in an asylum. While there she decided to write a play about the dark dirty secrets of her family which didn’t please her family at all. She would spend the rest of her life alone and living like a recluse in her New York apartment and lived until she was 90 years old, dying just 6 days after her birthday June 18, 1982. 

Listen to the newest episode of La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec A Hemingway today. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

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BIOGRAPHY

International award-winning Artist Stephanie MacKenzie is a vibrant talent. Multiple layers,  brilliant colors, and intricate designs unite through storytelling and blended archetypes bringing lush dimensions to her work.   

ABSTRACT ART

Immerse yourself into a high saturated universe with Artist Stephanie Mackenzie. Intense color and vivid brushstrokes are created through movement while listening to a range of music. Mackenzie uses the vibration of sound to submerge herself into her self conscious and let her inner voice speak through each gestural movement. Using form, space, and color to communicate an infinite number of patterns. Expressing her ideas by creating a visual language through her contemporary Art. Dive into the labyrinth of Mackenzie’s inner existence.

MIXED MEDIA ART

​The creation of each piece requires MacKenzie to draw on all her traditional art studies of drawing, painting, design, and sculpture, as well as her extensive computer skills. The process of producing each piece is complex. Models, costumes, lighting, set and storyboards are important elements in the early stages before digital technology is applied to create the final Arts. After being printed on canvas, MacKenzie’s original works are hand-embellished by adapting and using acrylic paint and gel mediums to create her multiple dimensional unique originals.

Her Art is gaining recognition & being collected on a global level & has been showcased for donation alongside His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, Sir Peter Blake CBE RDI, Pierce Brosnan OBE and Nick Park CBE for The Prince's Trust charity in London UK.  

​With three suitcases and her camera by her side, Mackenzie got a one-way ticket from Toronto to the largest hot spot for Art leaving her family and friends behind to pursue her dream. Now residing in Paris, France, Stephanie is working internationally. Her award-winning Art has been published, collected, and showcased globally.   

Website: https://www.stephanie-mackenzie.com/
Instagram: @stephaniemackenzieartist

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Amy Kupec Larue has been living, working and traveling in Europe for 30 years. Her passion for flowers, plants and the French Art de Vivre led her to a career that beautifully combines her wide knowledge, keen interests and vast experience with gardens.

Since 2005 she has been guiding individuals and groups including the Pacific Horticulture Society, the New York Botanical Garden and the Garden Club of America on tours through public and private gardens in Paris, Normandy, the Loire River Valley, the South of France and Tuscany. A true rose-lover, she has been a permanent jury member of the Bagatelle Rose Commission since 2009.

https://www.gardenguideparis.com/

Join Amy Next Wednesday, March 31st - the Hidden Gardens of Paris  

Online Offerings | Garden Guide Paris

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Berthe Weill was a French art dealer who played a vital role in the creation of the market for twentieth-century art with the manifestation of the Parisian Avant-Garde.

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Sonja Bajic is an illustrator and artist well known for her geographical maps, visual identity, and the search for the best in every day and every process. And illustrating that. Living and working in Paris, Sonja believes in sustainability and a better tomorrow and shows this in her work and through her educational activities.

She is the author of several books and projects dealing with the empowerment of women and minority groups. Her book What My Girlfriends Told Me was published in London in March 2018 (September Publishing), and then two books, co-authored by Sonja, were published in the Balkans. One is "about women who were progressive when it wasn't modern" - Kakva zenska (Kreativni centar, Belgrade) and the other is a book of poems and coloring book  - "Vezbanka za strah" (Kontrast izdavastvo, Belgrade).

Sonja’s last exhibition was in Paris in July 2020 where she exhibited her embroidery as part of a group exhibition at the Les Grands Voisins exhibition space. She has exhibited in Belgrade, Novi Sad and throughout Europe.

Some of Sonja’s most important clients are Elle, Harper's Bazaar, and History Group. The list is expanding daily.

In the online world, Sonja is known for her recognizable personalized maps of cities and places. Each of us walks on his own map and Sonja notices the beauty of those moments by looking at these personal maps. She also likes reminding you to go and check your breast. Because health is always in the first place. 

Links:

for personalized maps contact sonja directly on her instagram account!

www.sonjabajic.com

big map of paris

ceramic dishes

self-love print

sonja's cards collection

embroidery workshops

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The list of mistresses of the kings of France is long. For Louis XV, sandwiched between two of the most famous kings might be best known for his many lovers than for the man himself. 

After Madame de Pompadour who we have also talked about, Madame du Barry definitely left her mark on Versailles and a very young Marie Antoinette. Jeanne Bécu was born on August 19, 1743, in Vaucouleurs in the northeast of France. Her mother Anne Bécu who was known for her beauty and her father was unknown.  It is thought that her father could be a Franciscan monk, Jean-Jacques Baptiste de Vaubernier. Anne had worked as a seamstress at the local convent and could be where the scandalous act occurred. 

Finding a job as an apprentice to a hairdresser, Lametz who she also was in a relationship until she obtained all of his money and moved on. Later working in a perfume shop and as an assistant to a hatmaker, picking up one odd job after another until one day she met a man at a Paris casino. 

Jean-Baptiste du Barry owned a casino and also a brothel. He was instantly struck by her beauty and knew he must have her. The two became an item but he also convinced her to work as a prostitute and courtesan for him. She was instantly popular with the elite and men at court. Frequent trips to Versailles to see the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Duc de Choiseul who was a very loyal customer. In 1768, while leaving Versailles she was spotted by Louis XV who was still mourning the death of Madame de Pompadour, but the beautiful young lady intrigued him. 

Listen to the newest episode of La Vie Creative - Paris History Avec A Hemingway today. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

Support Claudine on Patreon and get more of Paris and all her stories and benefits like discounts on her tours, custom history and exclusive content  https://www.patreon.com/bleublonderouge

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Beowulf Sheehan is a New-York based photographer of figures in the arts and humanities. AUTHOR: The Portraits of Beowulf Sheehan, a collection of portraits of 200 writers from 35 countries with a foreword by Salman Rushdie, was published in 2018. THE AUTHOR PHOTO: Portrait Photographer Beowulf Sheehan on a Life Capturing Writers, a short film by Claire Ince and Ancil McKain, was an official selection of the 2020 Venice Institute of Contemporary Art Fine Arts Film Festival and 2020 On Art Film Festival.

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