Today, I am thrilled to share with you my very first guest post, written by La Contessa (or Elizabeth Kirkpatrick as she is known in everyday parlance) as part of this month’s By Invitation Only theme. Looking back, I can’t recall how she found my blog but I most certainly do know that she has been a faithful reader and friend since the beginning! She has always been incredibly supportive and kind to both Remi and myself…quite simply, she is an exceptional woman. Her recent adventure with the amazingly talented Carla Coulson is one of the most perfect examples of “being true” that I have ever seen. The story gives me goosebumps and so now, I turn Lost in Arles over to La Contessa…
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A little background on me–I have had a black and white photo taken of my sons and myself for the last 21 years for my husband for FATHER’S DAY. I had decided early on that I would stop when the boys became 21 because after that I wouldn’t be able to have them come home for the photo shoot the first of April, plus we would run out of wall space to hang the photos………So, I had the problem of deciding when to stop! When the first son was 21 or the second son!!! I chose the latter……………A few years have passed now with no photo and that was hard for me at first. Now, I have to come up with a gift for the Italian husband for Father’s Day! The beauty of the photo, he always knew what he was getting! A photo in black and white with a plain black frame to hang in his study. My idea then was to watch me age and watch the boys grow up!
I love to snap photos, mind you I have no idea what I am doing with the camera but I love to take snap shots! I found CARLA’s blog and became a subscriber………Her eye and detail always made my mouth drop. I ADORED HER STORY. Not happy with her life in AUSTRALIA, she decides to up and move to Florence, Italy enrolls in photography school, meets the man of her dreams and moves up to Paris.What a tale……….
So, as I said I am a subscriber and well she does these photo shoots with couples. Loved that idea but it would be difficult to get THE ITALIAN to FRANCE! So, I had a DREAM…………REALLY! I awoke one morning thinking okay I will take my SONS to PARIS! They both have FALL birthdays, they both have never been to PARIS, this will be the last HOORAH, before they head out into the world………..something I will cherish and hopefully they will too. We will have our photo taken by CARLA.
So,we met by the Medici fountain on a Tuesday at 5:00pm in the Luxembourg Gardens. We chatted, we indulged in a KIR ROYAL………..(MY FIRST! THANKS TO LOST IN ARLES!!) and made plans to meet later in the week for THE SHOOT! Carla arrives with VERO, the hair and make-up lady, with her rolling suitcase and goodies from a boulangeire. We began the day that will be one of the most EXQUISITE days of my life. Paris, my SONS, Chickens and the LOUVRE……………….
Thank ~ you CARLA for performing your magic with me and my boys! I HAVE MEMORIES……..FABULOUS MEMORIES. I cannot thank ~ you enough.XXX
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See? I told you it was amazing! But what is that you say? Chickens? The Louvre? Well, I do hope that you will brace yourself then take the hop over to Carla’s blog to see the a few of the finished portraits. They are…they are…as beautiful and inspirational as La Contessa herself!
To see Carla Coulson’s fantastic portraits of La Contessa and please just trust me, go:
To read Carla’s recent post “How to bring about true change” please click here.
According to La Contessa: “I do not have a blog…………I like to think of it as a blog but it’s NOT REALLY ’tis a website made by a man that made the comment section a NIGHTMARE!” Nonetheless, if you would like to see more of her world and travels, please visit http://vintagehenhouse.com/
Join the party! To read the guest posts of the international roster of wonderbloggers, please click here!
A big thank you to Elizabeth’s sons, Kristopher and Nicholas for the use of their “behind the scenes” photos, as well as to Véronique Marot, Carla’s brilliant hair and makeup artist, who took the top group shot.
And finally, un grand merci to La Contessa for being here and being true…
DO IT!You will not regret it!
xoxox
I saw the pictures of this shoot over at Carla's blog and yes, Madame la Contessa does seem quite an amazing lady! I rather wish I had been walking through the Tuileries and seen her with the chickens! Thank you for inviting her over
Sharon
xx
P.S. I'm also a great fan of Carla's work (I have all of her books….all sitting about five feet from this computer). What a nice start to the day (it's 5 a.m. here in North Carolina)…. to consider that Carla and I have both "done" La Contessa.
All we need now is for David Lebowitz ("The Sweet Life in Paris") or Dorie Greenspan ("Around My French Table") to create a new dessert and name it after Our Contessa.
—-david terry
Oh, how gloriously fun. I think Elizabeth is pretty-much a Force of Nature……in an Auntie Mame meets Diana Vreeland meets Mama Walton (Elizabeth DOES, after all, take good care of that husband and those sons of hers) sort of way.
I painted her this past Summer….a gift to her after she'd commissioned a portrait of her dog (predictably enough, to be given as a present to her husband…not for herself). go to:
http://www.davidterryart.com/2013/09/la-contessa-nel-suo-mondo/
As you'll read, I initially was a bit skeptical of the commission (Over the years, I've had more than anyone's fair share of suppposed "clients" who simply want you to participate in some self-indulgent, authentically lunatic delusion…..but, then, I live up the road from the state mental home, and my name/work/contact-information gets publicly bandied about). Well…I was the fool this time….Elizabeth and I corresponded several times (she's deeply amusing, I think) and even spoke on the telephone a couple of other times.
In short? I think she's just delightful. More importantly?…..she's genuinely invigorating. The most enjoyable part of an otherwise tough Summer for me was deciding to go ahead and paint (as a gift) her second dog and a portrait of her (also a gift). Suffice it to say that Elizabeth's own generous and lively spirit is infectious….the world would be a much-improved place if it had more folks like her in it.
Thanks for the good posting, Heather,
David Terry
http://www.davidterryart.com
Heather……..you are generous and brilliant……..and this is a great idea of this photographer.
I am trying to plan my trip to Paris with my daughter and granddaughter for a "shoot"!!
Penelope
Heather is right! This woman is a walking wonder! She visited me here a few months before this adventure…….I never heard a word about it! she is a "seize the moment" woman! she is enthusiastic,\; magical, lovely, funny…….and I have no more words to describe this woman!! She dropped from the skies!
I thought I was enthusiastic……..no. SHE IS MAGIC PERSONIFIED!!!!
That is my feeble attempt to describe her!
I spent two days with her! "My granny used to say……"LORD HAVE MERCY UPON MY SOUL!!!"
That is the closest I can do to describe her!
Are you kidding? The coat?? the dress? She sent me some towns where they came from……HUH??
NO WAY!
This should go viral…..be on the cover of Vogue…..and inspire everyone! No plastic surgery; no dying of hair…….an imagination…..meeting and finding another imagination…….and two so different sons…….to cooperate and have some fun!
I have never seen such a thing! (because there has never been such a thing!)
Love, love, love this shoot… and Carla and Elizabeth have excelled themselves… Beautiful people together… they wouldn't do it any other way… xv
Simply astonishing. La Contessa in red, her Father's Day gift every year , and her blog and Carla and her photos.
and before farewell-Billie Holiday.
Thank you Heather.
Hello Heather
Hello Heather,
A fascinating post and story. I love the Contessa's tradition of taking of photo each year for 21 years. She is very photogenic and a marvelous model. Carla's eye of course adds to the brilliance
Helen xx
Magnifique! We're going to Paris next May and I'm letting this whole idea roll around in my head….. do I have the courage (and the money?)… It looks like such an amazing keepsake – and so much fun for the Contessa and her "boys." I'm sure this is an experience they will never forget!