I knew very little about Paris before the decision was made to move there.

Before I named this body of work AVANT, I realized that my previous collections were about different cultures that I had lived and worked in. The only way I could prepare myself for this déménage á Paris was to explore my own preconceptions of France through the interpretation of words,  and apply those towards the images I paint.

Painting has always been an endless over lapping of color, thought, image, idea, reflection, mistake, improvement, analysis and words. Without this pattern, the canvas seems almost naked. I create interpretations from words that inspire and move me. 

For a brief moment my imaginary life in Paris was perfect. I lived in a big cheap apartment, had a job, and moved through the city with style. That ended when my dream began to materialize. I was learning French (which doesn’t come easy) and I was looking at expensive apartments online. I was intimidated by the culture; I didn’t know its customs or its revolutionary history and I had never made a quiche. As a little girl, I remember learning to count up to ten, but I would always skip sept.  I knew my name was French and it was spelled the French way. I knew Cezanne was from Aix, that the most expensive stores were on the Champs Elysee, and that the Tour Eiffel was in Paris. I knew that the French drank lots of wine and ate lots of cheese (which I didn’t at all) and I had heard rumors that they didn’t like Americans. 

My fixed notions of France began to haunt me, and so I began my hunt. I searched endlessly for books and bought maps of Paris and France. I ate croissants, brie, and even made myself drink red wine. My spirits were lifted when a friend of mine gave me a book that eased my intimidation. All you need to be Impossibly French by Helena Frith Powell told stories of an English woman exploring the life quotidienne of women in Paris. What drew me in was the power that Powell expressed these French women had.  They united countries, sang, wrote, owned boutiques, walked with grace, left an unforgettable past, and still remain much present in French culture. 

My paintings began to evolve from ideas of colonial France towards a deeper understanding of a cosmopolitan lifestyle.  I began to discover for myself who these women and men were, these images of a France that I had never really even heard about. My avant feelings became a daily discovery through paint; the more I researched the more interesting the characters became.

Through the pages of history evolve the eight protagonists who now adorn this Avant collection.