Pierre Bonnard: The Late Interiors

Bonnardian still life...ahem, original art, sold 5" x 7"

Yesterday PB reader Jeanne Long sent me

an interior watercolor she'd painted to show her obsession with blue and white...

Her "Bonnardian" painting reminded me that Pierre Bonnard:Late Interiors show had just opened at the Met...

So naturally I raced out the door to catch all the gorgeous luminous piles of persimmons...

And pomegranets lining the gallery walls. At least 8o pieces are on view in one of the best, richest exhibits I've seen in a long time.

Did you know Bonnard pinned his canvases to the wall and painted on them directly. They were mounted on stretchers later. But initially the walls were lined up with works in progress!

There are many preliminary sketches in the show...

Detail of “Dining Room Overlooking the Garden (The Breakfast Room),” 1930-31

I love his vertical table tops...

And there are plenty of his small daybook sketchbooks on view...

Like a visual diary...

And a digital display turning the pages...

This is one juicy exhibit!

I'll be back for more doses of Bonnard...

Maybe even today.

I was too late to buy the lush catalog yesterday.


BThere's an excellent slide show at the Times today on the show.
Don't miss it if you love Bonnard.
~
BON BONNARD!

A Blue Willow-aholic

Blue Willow-oholic,original art,5" x 7"

Well another obsession is taking hold it seems...

Was the seed planted with these over-the-top Blue Willow windows in Bergdorf's?

Yesterday I bought this BW cookie tin. fun no?

And these two cups + 3 dinner plates...ahem

Of course it's all meant to go with my new re-decorating theme of blue an white.

Naturally. Not a bad excuse as excuses go...

There was a ton of blue and white at the Musee de la Toile de Jouy...

And even more at the Bastille Brocante in October...

If only I could win the lottery...

Flo bleu...oh YUM!

I'm flirting with this doll's set of BW dishes...

Do I succumb or resist?

HELP!

How about these puppies?

Can you resist?

Blue macarons with a little help from the paint palette..

My name is Carol and I'm am a Blue Willow-aholic
~

BON BLEU!

Le Loir dans La Theiere

Le Loir dans La Theiere chocolat chaud, original art, 5" x 7"

A quick hop back to Paris for some serious comparative analysis on combo cafe/patisseries...

Dear Anne of MesVitrinesNYC took me to her favorite place, Le Loire dans la Theiere in theMarais at 3 rue de Rosiers, 75004.
It's rather dark and cosy and friendly inside...

In fact Le Loir dans le Theiere could easily be transplanted to Soho, NY in an instant. No fussy desserts. No ladies who lunch here. This is total casualness and a relaxed atmosphere.

Anne arrives and we decide to share...

Le Loir's fabulous Citron Meringue tarte. Racked with inappropriate fear, my photos are blurry. There really was no need.
It's very RELAXED here!

This citron tarte is so high it's served on it's side...sigh
Note the soup spoon you eat it with...

After we finished we passed by the dessert buffet for a closer look at the goodies.

The ardoise (blackboard) reports:
Apple cake with nuts and cinnamon
Tarte Bordalae
Apple crumble with salted butter
Diplomate creme anglaise
Figge tarte
chocolate pudding
cheese cake

And the lemon meringue tart or what's left of it...

There's no question if I go back I'll get the lemon meringue tarte again...

Research over.

~

BON MERCREDI!

La Bergamote NYC

La Bergamote Hot chocolate, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

More chasing around New York looking for that touch of France yesterday...

La Bergamote chocolat chaud, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

Especially since I got off early and quite nearby was...

One of New York's most "Frenchified" cafs - La Bergamote on 169th 9th Avenue.

That's what I've heard and the interior bears out it's reputation - banks and banks of pastry cases...

Plus a very over-the-top Frenchie mural...hmmm

These cases hold a vast array of gateaux...

And big glossy, fruity tartes..extremely glossy!

Plenty of small fruity tartes too...

The croissants do look like the REAL thing...

AND they have macarons...or a sort...a tad stale I have to say.

Still they are not bumpy or lumpy nor too big like some I've encountered in this town :(
Grrrrrrrrrrrr

A very nice Frenchie counter to pickup your drinks...

My order....

Growing up we thought to "Frenchify" something (well mainly lamb chops) was to stick a frill on it. But New York has this obsession with both the classic Parisien cafe + the classic patisserie and attempting to sandwich the two together.

When you do find these two in Paris, it's a salon de the accompaning a patisserie like Angelina or Laduree or Carette, never a cafe.

Plus there's an aura of "ladies who lunch" to these Parisien tea rooms - quite proper and generally inhabited by the feminine gender + kiddies.
I shall continue my pursuit of the genuine article in NYC, but large clumps of hair are beginning to litter my studio :(

Meanwhile I suggest you take along Jamie Cahill's fun compendium of true Parisien delights to read when you drop into these faux French New York joints...ahem

~

BONNES PATISSERIES!

PetalBelle...

PetalBelle Hot Chocolate, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7"

I've been trying to visit "Frenchie" cafes every week in New York...

In this case PetalBelle is decidedly Belgian in Soho at 158 Sullivan Street...

Still you can almost see Belgium from France so...

And all the accoutraments are very frenchie to me...

I love the menu writing on the pastry case...

PetalBelle's specialty is the "Liege" waffle or gauffres a rather cakey waffle sold on every street corner back in Liege...

I loved these display still lifes....

So paintable...

There were some French-speaking customers nearby...

Still more perfect still life material....

Floor and chairs and tables get the PB "Frenchie" seal of approval...ahem

Atmosphere is EVERYTHING, though the lighting could be gentler in my opinion...

My order - Hot chocolate and the Liege gauffre...

You must bring a book to a place like this...

I brought the perfect book - Judith Jone's THE TENTH MUSE

Go on Amazon and read a few pages and you'll be hooked too. Particularly since they feature Judith's exciting youth spent in Paris...
But it's really about the evolution of taste in America (Judith edited Julia Childs, James Beard, Marion Cunningham and many great American cookbook authors). Mainly the Tenth Muse made me think about my own sense of taste...I must be more experimental!

BON LUNDI!

Vosges Haut Chocolat

Chocolate truffles, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

Yesterday I stopped in at the Soho boutique, Vosges Haut Chocolat for a look around on 132 Spring Street...

I had to paint this arresting poster at the entrance...

The shop is quite grand...


Chandeliers, marble counters, all in keeping with their elegant chocolates...


Hot chocolate or espresso too...


A customer came in and requested a "hatbox" full of chocolates...oh my

Vosges Haut Chocolat (that's pronounced vo-oh-cho-co-la) is especially famous for their wildly exotic flavors...

Their range of bars is vast: Chilli, bacon(!), mushroom (?), peanut butter

and the full range of cocoa percentages

I reccomment you get a whole library of bars for careful perusal and serious tastings...

They sent me this batch of bars (all sans chillis). I've been instantly converted to their "Deep Milk" Chocolate.

I can assure you I am NOT having chocolates for breakfast today as I write this post!

Absolutely NOT non non non..

~

BON CHOCOLAT!

A Passion for Blue and White

Bleu Willow, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

More on blue...blue and white...

Things are not moving along swiftly on my redecoration/transition from IKEA

To Frenchie toile-ness...

My living room is looking decidedly bedroomish...after all that is a bedspread thrown on my couch :(

I wish I'd gotten this lamp at Le musée de la toile...

Or better yet, for contrast, all of this china at Chateau Vaux de Vicomte gift shop.

These ginger pots would be a nice addition from a Parisien shop seen at night...

I love Susanne's Blue strawberry plates = perfect addition!

This Blue Willow teapot at Pearl River Department store on Broadway isn't too bad, a bit schlocky...ahem

I'd much rather have Carolyne Roehm picking out items for me...

Or next best have her gorgeous book for reference...

A Passion for Blue and White

Cheryl Maclachlan's Bringing it Home - France, tells me I should go for "mettre en relief".

A melange of contrasted of textures and patterns to "create depth of field by layering the foreground, center and background of a space - an interplay of textures on every plane and surface".

Now THAT'S French style!

If only I has something big, blue and impressive like this in my living room all my problems would be solved.

Your decorating tips are most welcome!

HELP!!!
~

BON BLEU!

At Last...

True blue, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7"

Last night did you happen to catch the First couple's...

first dance at the Neighborhood Ball?

Who needs Green power when we've got them?

~

BONNE JOURNEE!

BON(ne) INAUGURATION!

HAPPY... BIRTHDAY Mr. President,

at the worlds biggest birthday party.

et

BONNE INAUGURATION!

Bears Again...

Bear Mom, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7"
I went out to see the Polar bears yesterday....
Bear eating a palmier, original watercolor, 5" x 7"
Up on Madison Avenue and 94th street...

Bear Balancing act, original watercolor, 5" x 7"
Well I had to go...
Photo by Bill Cunningham
Because Bill Cunningham in his Sunday Times story on the streets of New York said everyone was wearing winter whites!
Even though he missed our new first lady (to be)...
And even though he missed this polar bear coat I spotted a year ago in FOA Schwartz...
Just the mention of winter whites makes me remember this fab polar bear poster in the Paris Metro...

Getting back to why I went to see the bears yesterday...

Bill showed these amazing huge polar bears that appear annually in Linda Horn's Xmas windows...

So of course I had to venture out to see them didn't I?

So I could report back to y'all?

And as synchronicity would have it, don't you know PBS Nature Series last night featured Artic POLAR BEARS!!!

Did you know a polar bear's nose is better at sniffing out smells that a Blood hound?

And that the average polar bear weighs in at 1000 pounds, but her new born baby weighs only ONE pound?

Please new Pres-elect - lets not forget about saving the polar bears, among the thousand or so pressing issues you have on your to-do list!

BON LUNDI!

Ceci-Cela Patisserie

Ceci-Cela Pastries, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

Ah ha - Now for my long time favorite and truly "Frenchie" New York patisserie!

My petit dejeuner, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7

Ceci-Cela Patisserie at 55 Spring Street in Soho

This is not one of your fancy-shmancy patisseries with delusions of Parisien grandeur by the way.

Ceci-Cela Patisserie is quite unassuming...

Plastered on the front door is a reminder to get some Galette de Roi while you can...

Inside crowns and signs abound...

Et voila! La Galette des Roi!!!

AND you can buy a single slice too if you want! HA!

This sign in the front window is typical of what you see in most humble French corner pastry shops (but never in Pierre Herme's window - not necessary).

The interior is not the least bit glitzy, but Ceci-Cela has been around for 15 years producing the same reliable, everyday classic French goodies, and that's what counts!

And of course you can get an espresso or whatever to go with your pur beurre croissant...

Plus lots of luscious petit fours, all very glossy too....

Les eclairs bien sur...

And mini portions of langue du chat and madeleine...

My absolute favorite is Ceci-Cela's palmier pur beurre...

I did myself much bodily harm this morning dipping this into my chocolat chaud...

See the picture above Can you blame me?

~

BON Dimanche!

Boxed in...

One Laduree box, original watercolor,sold 5" x 7"

Have you been feeling "Boxed in" by the cold weather?

Two Laduree boxes, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7"

Well I have...

It is blankety-blank&*%$ COLD here!!!!

Like 18 degrees + the dastardly wind chill factor?

Fogettaboutit!

In my little 10' x 12' Boxy studio, it's fairly toasty...

But if I go out to the rest of the apartment,

it FEELS LIKE ALL THE WINDOWS ARE WIDE OPEN!!!!
FREEZING COLD!

My Friend in San Francisco, Annie, says all her windows ARE wide open!

It's like 80 degrees there!

What?
Oh and don't you know we got SNOW today!
Another reason to stay inside my little Box...ahem

Speaking of Boxes...since the apartment was painted, you know how you get these urges to throw out a ton of stuff? Well the thousand or so Boxes of miniatures...quite a few Boxes have landed on the street, making some finder very happy I hope...
Bye bye little Boxes!

Course I did keep a few...
Oh and yesterday I finally ventured out of my box to mail a bunch of watercolors
(THANK YOU PB readers!!) at the post office.

Don't you know I left them home sitting on my chair!?

Naturally I only realized while on the subway that my bag was rather light.

Quelle bird brain :(

I decided to reward myself with a slice from the new hot pizza joint, Artichoke Basille on 328 East 14th.
The Sicilian pizza was FABULOUS! But I spotted a stuffed artichoke and thought I'd bring it home for dinner.

I eat artichokes all the time...

( just clean, cut , sprinkle with a dash of Rice Vinegar and nuke for 3-5 minutes depending on size).

Of course it was delicious, but RICH!!! Too rich for me.

Don't you know I had dreams a UPS guy was insisting on delivering gigantic Boxes to my apartment, while I tried to explain I had not ordered them!

Now what does that mean pray tell???
I await your astute dream analysis...

Here's a couple of chocolate Parisien Boxes I wouldn't mind getting delivered..

HOW COLD IS IT WHERE YOU LIVE?

~
BON CLIMAT!

Angelina on my mind...

Angelina Chocolat Chaud, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

I was looking for something else...

Angelina Hot chocolate, original watercolor, 5" x 7"

When I came across an old stack of photos from ANGELINA'S Paris...

Sigh...

I didn't even get there last trip!

Quelle dommage...

I will make up for it next time believe you me...

IN SPADES!

Be sure and get to Angelina early...at least by 10 AM

Who wants to stand on line?

And on Mondays they sometimes have free Elle magazines for your perusal...YUM

The petit dejeuner table...looks like a Dutch still life to moi...

Waiting for the chocolat chaud to arrive...oh help!

ENFIN!
dive in!!!

So good...

ALL GONE!

~

BON PETIT DEJEUNER!

A Nice Cuppa...

A cuppa Angelina, original watercolor,sold 5" x 7"

It's been a while since I touched on my cup obsession...

Or Angelina for that matter....

A cuppa tea, original watercolor, sold 5" x 7"

Glass teapots have been left in the dust too...dommage :(

As a serious cupaholic this is quite remiss on my part...ahem

I will have to work overtime to catch up on lost cup obsessions...

Not to forget former obsessions with "mini" cups!

Remember the days when everything had to miniature or forgetaboutit!

And that includes MINI rings and bracelets!!!

One cup I havn't forgotten about, even in this freezing cold weather is a nice cuppa green tea ice cream = YUM!
~
BON MARDI!

Time for Dessert...

Chocolat framboise, J-P Hevin, original watercolor on Etsy, sold 5" x 7"

Time for more Paris desserts, this one by Jean-Paul Hevin.

Eclair-shaped macaron raspberry sandwich cookies from Aux Désirs de Manon in the Marais...

And a distant cousin resides in Fontainebleau....

At FAUCHON a cake with faux macarons...

In the 13th at Ommis Patissier a plenitude of fraises...

Mini fraisier petit fours....

A sliced fraisier at Aux Désirs de Manon....

How about a whole pear/poire tarte anyone?

A must stop at Laduree..?

And a hot chocolate to go with that break-the-post-holiday-regime-piece-of-cake?

~

BON PETIT FOURS!

DEMEL

Demel Hot Schokolade, watercolor on Etsy, sold 5" x 7"

This has been a week of afternoon teas or rather hot chocolates...

Yesterday I finally hit DEMEL'S at the Plaza Hotel, New York...
Demel petit fours, watercolor on Etsy, 5" x 7"

A plethora of goodies await you...

This is Demel's corner on the mezzanine...
It's really quite small, cosy and intimate.

There were Europeans on either side of me...

There's a nice bar too - casual and convivial...

Loads of DEMEL goodies to buy too...
Like these divinely wrapped candied violets...
Langues de chat - Chocolate shaped as cats tongues...

~
"Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons."
Ruth Ann Schabacker
Certainly plenty of chocolate bars... And chocolate gateaux up the whazoo...
Chocolate bundts...

I got this mini Sacher Tort petit four..mitt schlag (whipped creme) of course ~ luscious.
And pink whatsits too - I want to paint these...

Photo by Merisi...

I'll be returning to DEMEL/NYC but

For much more on DEMEL/Vienna please visit Merisi!!!

~

Bonne Week-End!

Dousoeur de Paris

French Macaron Tree, watercolor on Etsy, sold 5" x 7"

On Monday Judy Tillinger of magpiesbeads sent me lovely photos of a brand new French pastry shop in New York...

Called, Dousoeur de Paris at 652 10th Avenue near 46th Street...

French Tea Tray, watercolor on Etsy, 5" x 7"

Dousoeur can mean sweetness or two sisters and in this case it's owned by two Parisian twin sisters, Corine Fina and Diane Cepeda.

Photo by Judy Tillinger
I dragged myself out in the rain yesterday for a looksee...

And wouldn't you know the New York Times beat me to it and wrote about them yesterday!

HUMPH

Dousoeur de Paris Photo by Judy Tillinger
Very Frenchie indeed....

They even have King Cake, but you have to buy the whole thing...
And they have macarons too, but you have to order ahead.

No singles yet...And they have Buche de Noel!

That you can buy a single slice of - see the far left.

Religiouses too...

And other goodies...

I had my old favorite,a tiny tarte citron. I can never pass it up for anything... And a hot chocolate. Fun and very Frenchie.

I had dreams I was in Laduree last night eating an ice cream cone!

Laduree does not have ice cream or chocolate chip cookies.

But dreams will do that to you...

~
BONNE JOURNEE!!!

For the birds...

<

Baroque bluebird, watercolor on Etsy, sold 5" x 7"

Since I've started blogging almost 3 years ago all sorts of new obsessions have developed....

One of them is birds, since they're so much fun to draw...

Rococo bird, watercolor on Etsy,sold 5" x 7"

Plus they make the perfect companion to macarons...

And you do see birds everywhere, like on these plates at ANTHROPOLOGIE...

This Chrismas ostrich decorating Bendels is not a good example really....

But this diamond-adorned Peacock at Harry Winstons certainly is.

I went to the Met research library to look at Rococo drawings and found this bird caricature of a printseller by Jean-Charles Delafosse...

My doodle...

I keep finding myself buying bird-related items like these Victorian die cuts

on Etsy from The Seasonal Cottage.

This bird-adorned Marie-Antoinette desk calendar from Digital Paperie occasionally lets out a chirp...

I found this vintage birdguide on Etsy too...

And promptly lost it amidst the apartment painting.

I'm hoping it will let out some chirps so I can find it again....

Last year's bird aquisitions are still in residence, very busily chirping away...

As for real birds, I bought myself a present =

A big bag of birdseed to feed the sparrows on my way to the pool.

So far they are not yet greeting me with open wings.

Hopefully by springtime...

~

BONNE OISEAUX!

Au Chat Bleu Paris

This is one of those occasions when you're running from one Metro stop to another...

And you just happen to spot an adorable chocolate shop...

You have no time to run inside, so you snap a bunch of pictures....

Hoping to come back and sample the goodies at a later date...

Of course you promptly forget about it until you get home

and peruse your Paris photos at leisure and wish you had...

Au Bleu Chat is quite a traditional French bonbon shop, around since 1912,

with no aspirations to high-end percentage % chocolate, just plain good fun.

This is where you get to be a kid again and drool over the windows...

Faire du lèche-vitrine

And study the lengthy detailed descriptions of each bonbon...YUM!
Of course being a French chocolate shop, they must have jam(confiture)!
Probably tea too is sold...
Just as a reminder...

Shall we all meet here next time?

Au Chat Bleu 85, bd Haussmann 75008 Paris

A la prochaine?

And is there such a thing as a blue cat?

Of course there is. A Russian blue

He just happens to be residing in a New York shop window at the moment...

~

BONNE JOURNEE!

La Galette des Rois

La Galette des Rois ,watercolor on Etsy,sold 5.5" x 7.5

Just when you thought the plethora of excessive eating was over...

La Galette des Rois ,watercolor on Etsy, 5.5" x 7.5

Along come the King Cake or La Galette des Rois for Epiphany

Here is Laduree's La Galette des Rois...somehow the paper crown always looks a bit askew to me...
The general idea is that since the Middle Ages, Epiphany is celebrated on the 12th night after Christmas (January 6th) with a special 12th night cake- this is when the three kings finally show up bearing gifts. So the cake hides a "gift" too, or a favor or feves. It used to be a bean, symbolizing fertility, but things have moved on and now we have porcelaine charms...
A PB reader wrote me and asked if I knew where she could get some of Laduree's Epifany darling charms. The only place I know is via AirFrance's ticket office. Unless you live in Japan...

Of course Pierre Herme does a magnificent Galette des Rois, though I've never tasted any of these....

His much coveted charm this year is a little heart....

The idea is some lucky eater at the table gets the little charm in their slice of galette. Then they get to wear the paper crown for the evening, so you really can't taste King Cake alone.

Gerard Mulot has this splendid gateaux on offer...

Patisseriere Sadaharu Aoki takes a different twist on the traditional shape of the French gateaux, making his squarish and filled with green tea paste not the usual almond flavor.

You can vicariously see them all here, unless you live in Paris....
BONNE EPIPHANIE!