There is no summer without watching a sublime short film Du côté de la côte (1958) by Agnès Varda.

This cinematic gem is an indispensable part of my June ritual, and despite knowing it almost by heart, it never fails to mesmerize me with its hidden treasures - new details, stunning color and pattern combinations, and witty observations that unveil themselves with every viewing.

It makes me smile, it makes me dream, it gives so much inspiration.

Here are three illustrations I created une canicule nocturne to celebrate its beauty.

Ah, and this quote.

The carnival burns. The earth shakes. The sun goes mad. The water takes its shape. The carnival is dead, silence is golden. Silence as an answer to so many questions, to volcanoes, to swirls. Eden exists. It is a dawn. Eden exists, it is an island. Heaven was a beach, and a pine cone. But the nostalgia of Eden is a garden. (...)

These are fake Eves, fake Adams, fake Cupids, misleading Venuses, fake caves and fake nymphs. Reveries are shared, but not the garden. The fake Eden is not for us, neither is Eden.

And worse, the summer season comes to an end.

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

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“The heaviest of burdens crushes us, we sink beneath it, it pins us to the ground. But in love poetry of every age, the woman longs to be weighed down by the man's body. The heaviest of burdens is therefore simultaneously an image of life's most intense fulfillment. The heavier the burden, the closer our lives come to the earth, the more real and truthful they become. Conversely, the absolute absence of burden causes man to be lighter than air, to soar into heights, take leave of the earth and his earthly being, and become only half real, his movements as free as they are insignificant. What then shall we choose? Weight or lightness?” 

The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (1929-2023)

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Please meet Elisabeth Stuart (1596-1612), reine de Bohême who greets the guests of the exhibition Des cheveux et des poils at Musée des Arts Decoratifs in Paris.

This painting is one of my favs in the whole show. Nothing special at first sight, a typical portrait from the XVII century. But look closer, at Elisabeth's earring. Yes, it's a lock of hair - the lovelock!

In the late XVI and early XVII century England the lovelock was a fashionable way to display a lock of hair belonging to a loved one. The lock was worn as an earring, usually on the left side, where the heart is.

How cool is that?

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

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Today I spent some time with Serge Gainsbourg, looking at his manuscripts, his books, and even personal belongings such as iconic sunglasses or shoes.

There are a lot of Serge's songs I listen to at my studio but this one, even if it's very popular and commercial, always make me smile. I love the video, the young Jane, the seductive whispers... I just love everything about this song.

Btw. don't miss the exhibition Le mot exact at the Centre Pompidou, it's très charmante, comme SG lui même.

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

And here are some more pics from the exhibition.

Photos: Joanna Gniady

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Can't get enough of Matisse! The exhibition at Musée de l'Orangerie is a Must-see.

Inspired by his odalisques, I quickly created my own versions.

Sip, sketch some mustaches, and repeat - my Parisian game is strong.

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

Photos: Joanna Gniady

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Beautiful spring is here and to celebrate it I created this small drawing. Enjoy green leaves, blossoming trees, warm rain and first allergies... Achoo! And after all - keep an eye out for the wormy wonders!

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

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What I love about my job is that in most of the cases I can take my studio everywhere, like a snail its house.

So now I'm sitting by the Ocean, drawing the Ocean and listening to the Ocean(s).

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

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In the realm of artistic exploration, a delightful surprise awaited me today as I delved into the masterful works of the German painter, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. I stumbled upon Maskentanz (1928-29), a painting I've never seen before. Right away it made me think about my Ciklopo series. It's so perfect, how I wish I painted it, oh my!

Bisou bisou, Jo

Image source: Wikimedia

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Frida again in Paris. The last time I saw her paintings at Orangerie and, to be honest, I’m not a big fan of her art. I'm even scared of it.

But the exhibition at Palais Galliera is much different. 

Lots of Khalo’s personal things like dresses, jewelry, corsets, shoes or cosmetics. 

Very intimate and touching. 

What I love about Frida are her portraits with a cigarette. And this is my quick drawing, created in bed, during a wonderful Parisian grasse matinée.

Bisou bisou, Jo 🖤

Photos: Joanna Gniady

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Sketchbooks are like shoes - you can never have enough, and each one is perfect for a different occasion.

Bisou bisou, Jo

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Recently, during my customary ritual of reading old French newspapers, I stumbled upon some advertisements showcasing one of Paris' most renowned cabarets - Folies Bergère. These captivating finds ignited my imagination to such an extent that I felt compelled to recreate them through my own drawings. Whenever I pass by the stunning golden Art Deco facade of Folies, my mind drifts to thoughts of the delightful dancers and the wonderfully peculiar stage sets that adorned the shows of les années folles.

Oh, the sheer magic it would be to travel back in time and experience the splendor of those magnificent spectacles once again!

Bisou bisou, Jo

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If you asked me to pick a favorite painter, this month it's unquestionably Edvard Munch. Well, he's always been one of my all-time favorites, sitting high on a long list of artistic legends. But right now, I'm completely obsessed by him, thanks to the incredible exhibition of his masterpieces at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Standing before his paintings, previously admired only through the pages of heavy art books, is an experience beyond words. I devoured every meticulous detail, each brushstroke and burst of color - those unexpected pops of purple scattered throughout - all while pondering his life, his loves, and his wild, decadent mood swings.

And later, in "my" Montmarte cafés I was reading his poetic journals, trying to get to know him even better, in even more intimate way.

Here is one beautiful excerpt, that made me immediately think about Two Human Beings (The Lonely Ones) - one of the most intense paintings at the exhibition.

Bisou bisou, Jo

I am giving her the light summer evening

soft beauty—over her I pour

the splendor of the vanishing sun

—over her hair—over her

face over her white dress—

shimmering gold—

I am placing her against the booming

blue of the sea—with the shore’s

bending snake-like lines—

In this manner she is leaving him

—who still comprehends nothing

but as in dreams feels

her drawing away

—He is standing amidst

blood red flowers—in the

deep blue clouds of evening—

He does not understand exactly

what is going on—

But even when she has disappeared

over the sea

he feels how a few

fine threads of her hair

are still fast in his

heart—it bleeds—and burns

like an everlasting open sore

(The Private Journals of Edvard Munch. We are flames which pour out of the earth.

Edited and translated by J. Gill Holland)

Photos: Joanna Gniady

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Parfois, au moment de disparaître dans les flots, le soleil lance sur l'océan une ultime et brève fulgurance: ce fameux rayon vert qui, d'après une légende écossaise, confère à ceux dont il a frappé les yeux le pouvoir de voir clair dans les sentiments et les coeurs.

(Sometimes, as it disappears beneath the waves, the sun sends one last, fleeting flash over the ocean: that famous green ray which, according to a Scottish legend, bestows upon those who have seen it the power to see clearly into the feelings and hearts of others).

Jules Verne, Le Rayon Vert

Eric Rohmer's films have a soothing effect on me, and I find myself particularly drawn to them during the summer months. I enjoy immersing myself in the subtle details of his storytelling.

Le Rayon Vert made me dream to see the green ray. I've never witnessed it in person so I just painted it. It's as simple as that.

Bisou, bisou, Jo

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Today I'd like to share with you some goosebumps.

I haven't told you yet, but I listen to songs over and over, en boucle. This one has been in my studio all the time this week.

Bisou bisou, Jo

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Today one more illustration from my favorite series Les Fleurs du Mal by Charles Baudelaire - The Giantess.

La Géante

Du temps que la Nature en sa verve puissante
Concevait chaque jour des enfants monstrueux,
J'eusse aimé vivre auprès d'une jeune géante,
Comme aux pieds d'une reine un chat voluptueux.

J'eusse aimé voir son corps fleurir avec son âme
Et grandir librement dans ses terribles jeux;
Deviner si son coeur couve une sombre flamme
Aux humides brouillards qui nagent dans ses yeux;

Parcourir à loisir ses magnifiques formes;
Ramper sur le versant de ses genoux énormes,
Et parfois en été, quand les soleils malsains,

Lasse, la font s'étendre à travers la campagne,
Dormir nonchalamment à l'ombre de ses seins,
Comme un hameau paisible au pied d'une montagne.

La Géante

From the time when Nature in her furious fancy
Conceived each day monstrosities obscene,
I had loved to live near a young Giantess of Necromancy,
Like a voluptuous cat before the knees of a Queen.

I had loved to see her body mix with her Soul's shame
And greaten in these terrible games of Vice,
And to divine if in her heart brooded a somber flame,
Before the moist sea-mists which swarm in her great eyes;

To wander over her huge forms — nature deforms us —
And to crawl over the slopes of her knees enormous,
And in summer when the unwholesome suns from the West's

Winds, weary, made her slumber hard by a fountain,
To sleep listlessly in the shadow of her superb breasts,
Like an hamlet that slumbers at the foot of a mountain.

— Arthur Symons, Baudelaire: Prose and Poetry (NY: Albert and Charles Boni, 1926)

Bisou bisou, Jo

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Today, I'm feeling funky and fashion-forward - I'm picturing myself rocking a hat made of shoe, sipping coffee from Oppenheim's furry cup, and chatting it up with Elsa Schiaparelli! Her exhibition at Musée des Arts Décoratifs blew my mind and I feel like taking a deep dive into the surreal world of her fashion with you.

Bisou bisou, Jo

Shocking ! Les mondes surréalistes d’Elsa Schiaparelli at The Musée des Arts Décoratifs in Paris is open till 22 January 2023.

Photos: Joanna Gniady

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