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Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Champagne Mumm Days


More past stories from 1994 of my days at Champagne Mumm thanks to the great kindness of Paul Bocuse. 
KS said...you've had the coolest jobs!

Paul Bocuse, Champagne Mumm's spokes person,
suggested I do some artwork for them and made introductions.
They gave me a test assignment: Come up with a big group drawing of tons of celebrities drinking Mumm that they could gift to all their employees.
Can you spot Kate Moss? And there's one of the Seagrams brothers embracing the big bottle. Please note everyone is holding their glass by the STEM. Never hold a champagne glass by the "bowl". You must not warm up the bubbles.

That group drawing led to a portrait promotion program. They thought I should paint the portraits directly onto the Mumm bottles?
I imagined a sea of Mumm jeroboams in my living room. The last minute I dreamed up the idea to print their label design on my watercolor paper and I ended up with just stacks of nice neatly printed Champagne labels
One of the perks of this career was I got to stay at the Mumm mansion in Reims.
 
The countryside in Champagne is magnificent and there's a new fast train from Paris that gets you there in an hour. Don't miss it!

I got to stay a week in Verzy at Veuve Clicquot's country estate.
It was just me and a refrigerator full of
jeroboams.
They said, "Help yourself" Right! :)
Someone did pop in to deliver petit dejeuner in the morning and the rest of the time I communed with the grapevines. They still use straw baskets to pick the grapes in Champagne.


There's a lot of partying in the Champagne Biz. These pourers are dressed up as old fashioned "cellar men". They used to turn the resting bottles.



They're fun to sketch... This is not me embracing the big bottle, that's my French boss at Mumm.

This is me partying at the Chelsea Arts Club Belle Epoche Ball held at London's Albert Hall... Well there is a Champagne bottle in the picture. We had to show up outfitted from Degas and Lautrec paintings. I chose a Degas dancer. 
Roger Terry, the club concierge, told me,
"If you add one more satin bow to that outfit, you'll look like a dog's dinner."
Don't you just love the Brits!


Pass the Bolly Sweetie Darling!
Thank you for reading Paris breakfast. If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward to a friend. Gift yourself and your friends Paris letters, maps and watercolors
Cheers.

15 comments:

  1. That's funny..I LOVE your dress:)I saw Kate:) What great fun..and again how wonderful you can look back..a fun way to relive such an exciting experience.
    Bravo:)

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    Replies
    1. It wasn't a dress. A wonderful pink paisley print chiffon skirt and some sort of top I rigged up plus peach ballerinas. What happens to these things? Gone with the wind...

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  2. Thank you for sharing your art career from the past. Its rare we get to know about an artist's background and provides very interesting and sometimes envious reading...but in a good way!

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  3. GwenEllyn3:45 PM

    Perfect pairing. Champagne is my drug of choice and yesterday was my birthday so I had some last night.

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  4. FloraBloom Gallery3:48 PM

    Great Memory Lanes!

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  5. You look beautiful!!!!

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  6. You have indeed had the coolest jobs and the most wonderful opportunities. How you have been blessed.
    I noticed in your second picture down with all the people holding their champagne glasses, you note that everyone is holding their glass by the stem (for good reason), but in fact, two of the ladies in the picture are holding their glass by the bowl: The lady to the far left of the picture (you can only see her hand) and the lady to the far right, right up front. Did you realize you had drawn them holding the bowl?

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    Replies
    1. There's a panda in there too.
      Did you find him?πŸ˜€

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  7. Chef Ann4:02 PM

    I just love all of your posts!

    You have created a dream life.

    Bravo! Well deserved!

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  8. French teacher in NE4:11 PM

    You have an extraordinary talent and your « Paris Breakfasts » are fascinating and instructive. My students and I really enjoy them a lot.

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  9. Beverly10:54 PM

    Fabulous posts from 1990's. So fun!!! What a grand life you are experiencing.
    Thank you for sharing these special posts. What a treat you are giving us all.

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  10. You have had all the coolest, bubbly jobs, dahlink! Love you dressed up Degas-style. Beautiful! Thinking of Lyon today and please say a prayer for me. What a most incredible chef and personality and to think of all of his disciples too, around the world.
    Love, love, love your painting of the macarons and Champagne.

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  11. Wonderful experiences, wonderful paintings....

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  12. Wow, the young you, you looked like an elegant movie star!!! Now you look like an older movie star!

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  13. Anonymous10:16 PM

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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