Ah, another weekend, another {pretend} brunch with one of my favorite artists, at their favorite brunch spot! Today I’m visiting with my lovely friend, painter Samantha French, in Brooklyn at Cafe Ghia. Grab your coffee, and join us!

JC: hey samantha! so, what’s good here?

SF: i’m starting with a coffee and orange juice. they’ve got a killer waffle with seasonal toppings, so I’ll have that along with the fruit & yogurt with maple granola. Yum.

JC: ok, you had me at “killer waffle”- i’m in! so, who do you normally share your waffles with?

SF: you can usually find me at brunch with my boyfriend, aaron and our two dogs (if it’s nice enough to sit outside)

JC:  aaron is an amazing painter too! do you ever paint together, or do you have your own separate studios?

SF: he is! and he just opened a group show in NY last week.  we’ve always kept separate studios, but still frequently bounce ideas off each other – he’s my go to when i need help with a technical drawing issue or an honest critique. though we’ve never actually collaborated on anything, we’ve talked about it. our painting styles are pretty similar already so we’d probably do something out of the ordinary from our typical work, more experimental.

JC: you should! i’d love to see what you guys might come up with! so, what are you doing later? do you normally spend the weekend in the studio, or do you use saturday and sunday for other stuff?

SF: i love going to the studio on the weekends. it’s nice and quiet and seems like there is less pressure – but it really depends – if i spent all week in the studio, and don’t have anything pressing, i might just head home to relax – especially if I just ate that whole waffle by myself. plus trying to run any errands in NY on the weekends leads to chaos. i usually spend sunday evenings working on print orders that have come in over the weekend.

JC: what about swimming? do ever spend your free time swimming – without a camera!?

SF: you know, it has been a long time since i’ve left the camera at home while swimming. you never know when you’re going to need it, and i’d hate to miss an opportunity  – but I still enjoy it, so that’s all that matters.

JC: totally! i can’t believe i passed up a chance to go swimming with you in chattanooga. next time! thanks for {pretend} brunch sam… mmmm {pretend} waffles! delicious.

psst… some of Samantha’s new work ♥ …

See you next weekend for brunch in Tennessee with Hollie Chastain!