The next chapter of my varied career path...Butcher, baker, candlestick maker...
What's next? Chefs jacket painter!
As I mentioned before I had nothing to wear to the ball...I mean the chef portrait exhibit opening at the James Beard House.. So I painted a Bragard chef's jacket to wear covered with portraits of said chefs!
Here's a back view with my favorite back views of the chefs.
I mentioned also that I wore 4 different jackets to Paul Bocuse award luncheon. Not all at once silly! I rotated them in the ladies room. A tall, dark, thin man came over and said he'd like to order a painted jacket.asked for his business card. He said he had none. I asked could he write his name on a piece of paper.. And he wrote -
George Duboeuf!
I did a special "Flower Label" jacket for a friend of his.
I did a special "Flower Label" jacket for a friend of his.
At the same Bocuse event another chef invited me for lunch at his Lyon hotel restaurant.There he served me my first and last whole black Perigord truffle en croute. After I finished his dish and assured him it was wonderful.. (what do I know of truffles, chocolate or otherwise) He informed me, 'Now you will paint me a chef's jacket. You have just eaten your payment!'Pas de choise / I had no choice..C'est la vieSometimes you just have to pay the piper for your dinner..
I got to know famed French chef, Roger Verge at that luncheon. He asked me to paint him a special jacket for his upcoming vegetable cookbook tour. Payment would be a stay at his fabulous French Riviera inn, Le Moulin de Mougins. I never got around to tasting that "truffle" and now he's no longer there.
Wendy Brandes at the Wall Street Journal did a little story on the jackets, "Michelangelo liked ceilings.
Diego Rivera preferred murals.
Carol Gillott goes for...chefs jackets."
I never ever worried what to wear to a ball or any foodie events I was shooting. I was a walking sandwich board for the jackets. Mothers liked the jackets for their graduating culinary school kids. Chefs liked them for special events. the chefs were just entering the celebrity arena at that time. I threw in this back view of the "pasta jacket" of a hilltown for all you returning sojourners from Italy! 
19 comments:
these are beautiful! and very creative.
Your creativity and talent has introduced you to so many fascinating people! It's fun to hear about your life's journey.
Ooopss!!
Carol,what a beautiful jackets...
Now I have to change my 10 wishes list,I have to delete one and include a cooking jacket painted by C.G.
Your painted jackets are beautiful! What fun! Thanks for visiting my blog. Laurie
Oh my...what a wonderful idea!...painted chef jackets! I think I might need one! :-)
Wow.... what a great idea. very exciting to see how your idea payed off.
bonjour carol,
These jackets are beautiful.
wow...wonderful idea...how fun the places art takes you...blessings, rebecca
These are FABULOUS and so fun! My sincerest compliments on your work :)
Nice jackets on your blog today
Caroline
I love those jackets so much I want to be a chef.
I had lunch at Le Moulin de Mougins when I was staying in Mougin it was delightful and by the way I would kill anyone who got bewtween me and that truffle. Is it as huge as it looks?
Such beautiful jackets!
Thank you so much for the hilltown image, very evocative, makes me want to go right back (we spent one weekend in such a hilltop village, in the Abruzzi region).
I imagine working with fabric paints must be a whole different from your usual paintings. That gentleman with the truffle doesn't seem very simpatico, you should have told him that one single truffle of course is only the ten percent down payment. Imagine somebody showing up and eating and then handing him whatever instead of money as payment (wonder how he pays the IRS *g*). :-(
MERISI !
I am in full agreement with you!
Of all the nerve of that chef!
But then I wouldn't have this funny story to tell you :)
He did at least give me his jacket to paint..I didn't have to go buy one. I guess Truffles are Tres Cher?
As far as the working with fabric paints they were pretty easy. But I tried to make a jacket recently and the paints have changed and it was disappointing :(
Go figure..
DI the Truffle was as big as a fist and if I had known you then I would have definitely saved it for you in my napkin, since it was wasted on me..
I'd frankly rather have some gelato..
THANKS EVERYONE for enjoying my stories of my wicked past :)
Le Moulin de Mougins! I was at his "secondary" restaurant a few weeks ago. Judging by it, I know you missed a treat there.
But so many other wonderful opportunities seized! I love the chefs jackets, what a brilliant thing.
Carol, great to hear from you! Love the blog and nice to see the jackets again.
Wendy
Carol,
How surreal. I am reading a book and where do you think they stayed??? At Le Moulin de Mougins! Too funny? Had you been there? I love your jackets. If I had occassion to be a chef...I would have you paint me one right now!!!!
What a great idea!
Carol, I never saw this post of yours until today. I knew you did these, but I never saw this. Fabulous.
What a great idea for jazzing up the traditional chef wear ... Let's face it, sometimes the traditional whites can get a little boring and this is great idea to liven things up a little in the kitchen!
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