Juggling Act
Our First Week in Paris
It’s been a hectic first week, dear readers! Right before we left San Francisco for Paris, I accepted a full-time Photo Editor/Curator remote role for an exciting tech company. I wasn’t expecting to be working when we bought our plane tickets back in January. What this means is that I won’t have enough time to do all the things I wanted to do. So, I had to adjust my expectations and tweak our plans. Don’t get me wrong. I welcome the change! I’ve been unemployed for close to three years and I can’t tell you, what a relief it is to have income again. It’s tough making a living just on my collage art, photography, and writing alone. That’s the honest truth, dear readers. What seems to work for me is to create multiple income sources and to make sure my full-time job is aligned with my skills and values. So far, this new role is something I enjoy. Six years ago, it was all a pipe dream. I’ll write more about it in another post as there is an inspiring backstory to this long journey.
In the middle of the day during the week, Tina and I carve some time out from remote work. Pina is with us and we take her for daily walks. If it’s possible, we squeeze in an activity preferably something nearby and dog-friendly.
One of the things we prioritized this week was to see Coupé Collé, a group collage exhibition by nine collage artists: Gé Devos, Andrew Cojacaru, Corentin Sauvage, Laurence Briat, Isabelle Milkoff, Emily Geirnaert, Sylvain Solaro, Alain Zenatti and Petra Zehner. I found out about the show through Petra, the founder of Paris Collage Collective. Seeing the artworks in person was inspiring especially the analog collages. Cutting has not been my strong suit so I marveled at artists who possess that skill. The show covered a variety of styles from abstract, surreal to reinvented vintage portraits.There are so many possibilities and avenues to explore in the world of collaging! I loved it.
We also visited the Marché Serpette, Marché Paul Bert and Marche Vernaison located in Saint Ouen.
“Is it just because we’re in Paris that we are enjoying this?” Tina asked as we meandered down the alleyways.
“I’m sure it is! “ I replied.
Street art was everywhere! Tina took several pictures as inspiration references for an upcoming project at work. We were also discovering unlikely pairings and displays of every possible objects from trinkets, vintage objects, paintings, furniture, sculptures, light fixtures, you name it.The disparity was fascinating and it captured our attention at every turn.
Food shopping is also something we look forward to. There are two Naturalia stores within 5 minutes walking distance from each other. There, we purchase our plant-based and gluten-free provisions like grains, pasta, beans and legumes. On Rue de Levis, there are four fruits and vegetable stands. As plant-based eaters, that’s considered heaven in our book! Having access to such abundance literally around the corner from my brother’s apartment is something Tina and I are grateful for. Fridge space is limited so we go multiple times during the week and buy only what we need.
I’m afraid that’s it for now, dear readers. I am also a slow writer and as much as I would like to go into more details, time is simply not on my side. ’ll need to get ready soon to meet with my cousin and her boyfriend at the St. Germain district. Both GT and Tina are already dressed. I’m still in my sleep clothes!
I will be back next Sunday!
If you are an interested in collage art, please check out Collage Spamouflage!
How exciting! Congratulations, Stella. I can’t wait to hear how everything aligned for you to get this job. I especially like the collage with the 3D glasses.
Congratulations on the new role! And more importantly, congratulations on creating a life that aligns for you and embracing the not so perfect edges of that.
AND... it's so cool to know that you're also a plant-based eater! I grew up vegetarian in the Philippines, so as you can imagine I was the weird kid at school. My lunchbox would be filled with brown rice, vegetarian kare-kare and coconut bagoong (looking back - ingenious), and I would be bombarded with so many questions and I felt like an alien 😅.