City of Muses

This week, my guest is hand weaver and textile designer Mathieu Le Traon. Mathieu discovered hand weaving only a few years ago, but he quickly fell in love with it, and decided to quit his prestigious career to pursue his artistry full-time. Mathieu’s work is extraordinary, not only because it’s beautiful, which it unequivocably is, but because he uses it as a means of storytelling, embedding code...

My guest this week is advertising and fine art photographer and visual artist Mattia Baldi. Originally from Rome, Mattia has lived all over the world, and currently splits his time between Paris, Milan and Bangkok. He opened his own photography studio in 2019, and has worked with clients like Colgate, Nokia, Pepsi, Shell, and Playboy. Mattia has published two photography books, “Casting - A Book A...

My guest this week is American multi-hypenate Emma Scherer. Emma is a dancer, singer, actress, and choreographer who moved to Paris 16 years ago and fell into the world of French musical theatre. (Don’t worry, we talk about it!) Since then, she’s performed in Paris’s most well-known theatres in productions like 42nd Street, Singin’ in the Rain, The Wizard of Oz, and The Producers. She’s a part of...

This week, I had the pleasure of speaking with Melanie Furtado. Melanie is a Canadian sculptor and art educator who won this year’s prestigious Médaille Bronze at the Salon des Artistes Français. She first grabbed my attention with her fantastic “Women: States of Being” series, in which she showcases naked women of diverse ages, races, and body types in states of quiet contemplation. She creates h...

For the Season Two premiere of City of Muses, I have the honor of speaking with internationally-renowned artist Yashua Klos. Yashua is an American who finds himself in Paris for his solo exhibit, “Building Our Being,” currently at the Zidoun-Bossuyt Gallery (through November 4th.) Yashua’s gorgeous, largescale pieces are created through a combination of his own woodblock printing techniques and co...

In the Season Finale for Season One of City of Muses, I’m joined by Sunny Buick. Sunny fell in love with tattoo artistry when she was 15 years old. In fact, that’s what brought her to Paris 20 years ago. Sunny’s style is bright, vibrant, daring, creative and feminist, and has grown to include drawing, painting, sculpture and performance art. In our conversation, Sunny shares the meaning behind Low...

Julia Palombe is a renowned dancer, singer, author, and performance artist. She began her career as a dancer, but it wasn’t until she also became a singer that her message became clear: love, desire and sexuality are crucial forms of freedom. In our conversation, Julia shares never-before-told stories about how her own sexuality surprised her, how she’s used it to liberate others, and why erotic l...

Orlando Louis calls himself an entertainer but, as a talented singer, dancer, model and actor, I’m just not sure that word is big enough. Orlando originated the roles of Scar and Mufasa in Paris’s Broadway version of The Lion King,” roles he still currently performs in Disneyland Paris. He created "The Brown Sugar Show," celebrating African-American music worldwide, as well as the soul funk musica...

My guest this week is illustrator, artist and mapmaker Sonja Bajic. Sonja believes that all maps are personal, and that every facet of life can be translated into a map. I’ve admired Sonja’s illustrations for years, with their blend of color, whimsy and humor, and am delighted to speak with her about how she first fell in love with mapmaking, how she collects memories for inspiration, and how Pari...

My guest this week is Carrie Chappell. Above all else, Carrie is a lover of language. She’s a poet, essayist, teacher, editor, and translator from Birmingham, Alabama. She’s published two books of poetry; one of which, Loving Tallulah Bankhead, she’ll read from today. Carrie’s poems have appeared in publications like Iron Horse Literary Review, Juke Joint, Nashville Review, and Redivider, and her...

My guest this week is New Yorker-turned-Parisienne Kasia Dietz. Kasia followed love to the City of Light and reinvented herself into a travel writer, handbag designer, and fashion guide who firmly believes that combining what you love with what you’re good at is the secret to success. Her writing has appeared in places like CN Traveller, Architectural Digest, BBC Travel, The Financial Times, Fodor...

My guest this week is painter, photographer, filmmaker, illustrator, and audiovisual artist Leslie McAllister, who also creates sound works and performance art pieces under the stage name Lesteria. Her artwork has been exhibited in Pittsburgh, Santa Fe, Toronto, Cairo, Berlin, and Paris, and her filmwork has been screened at the Santa Fe Film Festival and in the Short Film Corner at Cannes. Curren...

This week, i’m speaking with Jason Stoneking, an American writer, poet, and performance artist living in Paris. Jason’s love of the handwritten word blend with his keen perception to create two new mediums: written portrait sittings and bespoke books. Jason is also the creator of Paris Heretics, a creative label that conceives and produces projects, events, and contextual situations for artists an...

My guest this week is Cara Chapman. Cara has always been a dancer. That dancing has taken many forms, and she’s been a professional ballet dancer, showgirl, and aerialist for years, performing ballet in places like Lincoln Center in NY, and the Opera National de Paris, aerialism at the Cirque d’Hiver, and Club Med, and working as a showgirl in Las Vegas and Macau. To discover how her love of dance...

For this very first episode of City of Muses, Jennifer is joined by Alison Grace Koehler. Alison is a stained glass artist and poet who will occasionally combine these art forms into live performances and video pieces. She’s an American expat currently living in Paris who’s authored a book of poetry titled Stained Glass Poetry, and she’s created an album named Stained Glass Arrangements coming soo...