Save the party date and find out what happened in Paris

 

“Travel is rich with learning opportunities, and the ultimate sourvenir is a broader perspective.”
― Rick Steves

 

Painting for two weeks at the NG Arts Creative Residency was a dream come true!

 

I’ll give you all the juicy details of my incredible month in France after you mark your calendar for the

Wild Cherry Halloween pARTy
October 26th, from 7pm till 11pm

Come celebrate with me, have a drink and a snack, and preview the work I created in France before the Studio Tour the following week. I’ll play a short set with my band, The Love Drops. A prize will be given for the best costume. It will be spooktacular. RSVP HERE for the rest of the info! It’s going to be so fun!

 

Sandra Charlap and I getting our drink on before our overnight flight to Paris.

 

Newark Airport was a great place to start my adventure and this epic tale. It’s a mere 20 minutes from my house. I headed out with the amazing artist Sandra Charlap to board our Premium Class French Bee flight to Paris. Oooh La La! I packed all my canvases in my large suitcase, with all my clothes nestled between them, popped in an Apple Airtag, and crossed my fingers that I’d see everything in Paris.

Arriving in Orly on Thursday, September 28th, went smoothly. Sandra and I, with the help of my longtime friend and show cohort, Andi Ipaktchi, spent the next four days buying paint, large paper, and some other art materials. We spent one afternoon visiting the Vuitton Foundation. We saw the most extraordinary Elseworth Kelley show and a smaller version of the Matisse show, “The Red Studio,” that I saw at MOMA last year. Sandra and I were on a mission and marched to the Sennelier shop, Chauvin, a Pearl Paint-esque art supply shop, and ultimately bought most of our materials at BVH, the giant French department store in Les Marais. You can buy your paint, canvas, wine, cheese, furniture, evening gowns, lingerie, makeup, and even stay the night with luxury accommodations in the penthouse hotel. The French are amazing.

Sandra and I spent a lovely evening on the left bank and stopped for a fantastic dinner with cocktails, oysters, shrimp, cockles, duck breast, roast chicken, wine, and so much fun. In fact, it was so magical and beautiful that I used the pictures I took that night at Les Antiquaires for all my inspiration at the artist residency. Here are a few of those pictures:

The High-speed train whisked us from Paris to Provence in two and a half hours to The NG Arts Creative Residency. Tucked away in a rural setting on private grounds, the Residency is a perfectly restored 17th-century olive mill steps from the picturesque village of Maussane. The homestead is enchanting, the studio is spacious and filled with possibilities, and the gardens are magical and inspiring. I just stepped into a Merchant Ivory film! Our lovely host, Nicky Ginsberg, filled the giant cook’s kitchen with a bounty of beautiful fruits and fresh vegetables. Gorgeous copper pots and terracotta bakeware were readily available for our cooking needs. We took short trips to the different markets and sampled the tastes and treasures of the region. The wine was flowing for lunch and dinner. I drank more delicious rosé that month than I had in my entire life! It was a total immersion in the wonders of Provence.  

The time spent painting was a joy. I was showing up to the easel with inspiration flowing like the wine at my previous meal, totally in the zone. Pushing myself to try something new, I accomplished what I had set out to do with relative ease. Although oysters are a magical, beautiful, and delicious delight, they offer some challenges when trying to capture them visually. After two weeks, I had figured it out.

Leaving the Residency I carried not only a new body of work but also a wealth of inspiration and newly forged relationships. This chapter of my artistic journey served as a reminder of the transformative power of art and community, encouraging me to embrace new challenges and opportunities ahead. I’m forever changed and endlessly grateful.

Tune in next time when I'll tell you all about my show!

Love,
Leslie

 

Want to conjure a world of possibilities and pearls of wisdom?

 
 

The oyster has taken what was at first an irritation and intrusion and uses it to enrich its value.”
― Susan C. Young

 
 

First stop in New Orleans was the Carousel Bar at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter. Andrew and I met up with my friend, Devra Dedeaux for cocktails and oysters.

 

This year is shaping up to be off-the-chart stupendous! My trip to New Orleans was sensational. I introduced NOLA to my boyfriend, Andrew, and we did everything and more. One of my favorite things about NOLA are the oysters. For over 30 years, I’ve been collecting oyster photos with a plan to create a series of Oyster paintings, and after this latest trip, I’m finally ready to start! I’m excited to focus on a subject I have loved and enjoyed for so long, which conjures a world of possibilities and magical transformation. After all, the world is your oyster, filled with pearls of wisdom. I will present the first oyster paintings at the Warren Court Art Walk on Mother’s Day weekend.

Click the button below and head to my events page to see all the fun things I’ve got coming up. Meet me at the opening of the Pierro Gallery show in April and the Chatham Library show in June. If you’re planning that trip to Europe, make sure you plan your visit to Paris around my two-woman show at the beautiful Gallery Roshana, mere steps off the Champs Elysees opening September 19th! Check out Andi Ipacktchi's work. She’s my cohort in Paris.

I’ll be attending the NG Artist Residency in Provence for two weeks before my Paris show. I’m thrilled to be going with my art buddy, Sandra Charlap. When I return from Paris I’ll be prepping for my Wild Cherry Art Halloween pARTy, and I’ll wrap up the year with our beloved Studio Tour SOMA. Go to my website now and get on my A-list to learn about all my events, times, and locations. Don’t miss any of the fun!

See you soon!
Love,
Leslie

 

Did you know, if you had fun you won?

 

“Having fun is not a diversion from a successful life; it is the pathway to it.”
— Martha N. Beck

 

Start the year with a splash of Wild Cherry Art. You’ve already won, because it’s fun!

 

Happy New Year! 2024 is looking brighter than ever. We are already heading out of the darkness and back into the light. Day by day, we get a few more minutes of sunshine. I hope your holidays were filled with love and laughter, and now you're all refreshed and revved up for a spectacular year!

 

Here I’m having brunch at Antoine’s, the oldest family-run business in the United States, nestled in the French Quarter. If you haven’t been, you need to eat here. Before you go to NOLA, hit me up and I’ll give you a list for everything!

 

I've got plans to head back to New Orleans in January. You know it's one of my all-time favorite cities. The magic of NOLA is palpable. Visiting the Big Easy always feels like a recharge. Meet me there, and we'll get oysters! I'll gather more inspo for paintings and new original music. It's effortless to be excited and inspired by the incredible southern hospitality mixed with decadent food, fantastic live music everywhere, steamy weather, go cups, European architecture, fascinating history, and bars that never close. It's SO fun!

 

Let’s have more fun this year! In 2023 I had lotsa fun at a wooden shoe factory in Holland.

 

That's my word for the year—FUN! If it doesn't feel a smidge fun, I have difficulty even getting started. I believe fun is the secret sauce that helps us accomplish more, with ease and joy. So maybe when you're feeling stuck this year, try a more playful approach to your challenges. A childlike perspective can restore wonder to your problems and hope for the outcome. Don't forget—"If you had fun, you won!"

If you need more ways to add fun to your life, visit me in the studio, and I'll help you get the party started!

Wishing you and yours an abundance of blissful blessings and loads of fun in 2024.

Love,
Leslie
xo

 

Want to walk on a glacier, see an active volcano, and float in a geothermal bath?

 
 

“A good friend listens to your adventures. Your best friend makes them with you.”
—Unknown

 
 
 

I just flew in from Iceland, and boy, are my arms tired! I had a spectacular trip with my bestie, Leah. 💖 Earth Day was Saturday, April 22nd, and I’ reflected on how Iceland forever changed my relationship with Earth. The beauty, majesty, and the power of our planet was more palpable than anywhere I'd ever been before. There's a backdrop of panoramic snow-capped volcanoes, mountains, waterfalls, thermal pools, and glaciers in the distance, with otherworldly lava fields sprawling as far as the eye can see toward the fierce ocean. The energy and life force on the third rock from the sun was powerfully present. It was like being on Earth long before it evolved into this lush, dense planet we currently inhabit. 

 
 

We had a Northern Lights Tour reservation with our Guide, Thor, on the night we arrived. Unfortunately, the forecast called for clouds. So we asked Thor if we could move our adventure to the following night. When we had clear skies and, according to Thor, perfect conditions for Aurora Borealis sightings! We were only about 40 minutes outside Reykjavik when Thor pulled over and announced, "There it is!" And I was like, "What, that cloud?" He insisted that this was it and if we were lucky, it would get bigger, brighter, and have movement and possibly colors. And if it really "blooms," it could ultimately converge across the entire sky in a swirling vortex above our heads. And guess what? That's precisely what happened. 

The blurry pictures of the Northern Lights are from my Iphone. The beautiful clear images were taken by Thor.

The next day we got up and headed out before daybreak to catch a bus that would take us on an all-day adventure on the south coast. The farthest destination was Glacier Lagoon and Diamond Beach. A delightful Icelandic curmudgeon barista overheard us talking about our upcoming adventure and told us, "The real name of the lagoon is Jökulsárlón and the beach is Breiðamerkursandur, which no one can say. Then a travel agent marketed them as Diamond Beach and Glacier Lagoon, and now they take busloads of people out there every day." Well, it was fabulous! We got our diamonds, glaciers, lava fields, waterfalls, snow angels, icebergs, black beaches, yummy seafood soup, and a few tree jokes from our delightful guide Mia. I had some Brenevin-the Icelandic "health tonic." at our lunch stop in Vik. It was a magical day.

We spent our last few days in Iceland at Silica Hotel on The Blue Lagoon. It was worth every penny! The hotel pool was essentially the Blue Lagoon. We still went over to the proper lagoon and had in-water-floating massages. While basking in the heavenly milky geothermal bath, we enjoyed three facemasks—Exfoliating Lava, deep cleansing Silica, and nourishing Moss Algae. We had a glass or two of Cava while floating around, surrounded by steam, sky, lava formations, and mountains. We went to both restaurants, Michelin-starred Moss one night and Lava the next. Moss was excellent, but Lava gets our stars! 

 
 

The marketing says The Blue Lagoon is one of the 25 wonders of the world. I'm still trying to find that list! But it's definitely on my Top Ten list. We loved it so much that we went back on our stop-over, flying home. We stayed at the Northern Lights Inn for one night, and, low and behold; we saw the Aurora Borealis again! The NLI offers a wake-up call if the Lights show up overnight, and of course, they did! 

I'm excited to return to my art studio with fresh eyes, new experiences, and magnificent inspiration. I am grateful for my adventures and all the beautiful souls I connected with along the way. Life is so precious, and every moment is a gift. I'll be at my easel painting colorful, inspired acrylic paintings. If there is anything in particular, you'd like to see me paint, let me know! Come over, see the new work in the studio, and I'll tell you more about Iceland. I wanna go back in the summer!

Love,
Leslie

MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE WARREN COURT ART WALK—JUNE 3RD & 4TH!