As I said in my last blog I am 'la Beffana' or witch in Italy, having been born on January 6th instead in France it is Epiphany, the day of the 3 kings. I love to eat the Galette des Roix and was fortunate enough to be in Paris to eat one! They are made from pastry with a sort of sweet almond centre with a tiny ceramic king inside. We ate in this fairytale like breakfast room which is near Chez Paul in Rue du Lappe. Chez Paul is one of my favourite restaurants in Paris...where you can eat plenty of French food and not leave hungry! My 'soupe au cresson' and grilled sardines left me so full I had to forego pudding. The waitress in the photo is the blonde owners daughter.
Eating was not the only reason to be in Paris but to see David Hockney's FRESH FLOWERS EXHIBITION at the YSL/ Pierre Bergé Foundation. It was a strange experience to see all his work displayed on iphones and ipads. Somehow the images lacked depth but I loved the luminosity. So it is time to invest in new technology.
I was also thrilled also to meet a textile designer who hand paints on silk. She reminded me how in my early twenties I used to paint on fabric in Paris. I think this might be the start of my relaunching my textile ideas on fabric. Now I will try my hand at scarves again. I painted for Sabina Fay-Braxton who made short lengths for catwalk runways, in particular Ungaro. So now perhaps it is time to look at my Hungarian roots and see if any new textile inspiration will come from it.
Coming back to fresh flowers Luca, my husband gave me this gorgeous bunch of ranucolas. It was amazingly warm enough to work outside and so I did my first piece of work on our terrace this year, it's January after all!