The Exchange

America and France have a love hate

Relationship. We love them, they hate us. 

Not!!!  But what is true is that the French love us and most of what we do and invent. We, love them and everything French. We love their parfums, their

Facial serums, their cheeses, their foie gras, their body lotions, their B&B's in the most unexpected places and the list goes on and on. Oh, and did I say Champagne, liqueurs, digestives,

And the A380 Airbus?  And croissants?

Well they get something in return--McDonald's, rushing about or chasing their tails, tennis shoes, golf, Coke,

Pasteurization, hormones for food, and preservatives, not to mention the chain restaurant. 

So what is the exchange?  Our cultures and coming together. We are learning to cook with savory flavors. They are cooking faster to please all the tourists from around the world that flock to France for "the food."  We, on the other hand are eating mushy croissants. We still don't have brioche but macaroons

Are the cat's meow in big cities. 

So what? Well they give us the best of what they have created over the past

1000 years while we are giving them

Inspirations in how to manipulate food to the point of unhealthiness. Now is this a fair exchange?

Please respond. I'd love to elaborate. 

Billy Cone

Billy Cone: Late Bloomer--Art in the Blood

Billy Cone: Late Bloomer: Dear Claribel Shumway Cone, You are my California cousin artiste friend and confident, and I want to thank you for something you did for m...

Late Bloomer

Dear Claribel Shumway Cone,

You are my California cousin artiste friend and confident, and I want to thank you for something you did for me a long time ago.

I was 26 years old, working for Jeffery Cohen at Sutton Place Gourmet in Washington, DC, and you were coming to town for a visit.  You called me and suggested that I join you and your close friend for a visit to the Baltimore Museum of Art.  Apparently some of my relatives had donated art to the museum in 1948.

Boy, was I in for an eye opener!  It turned out that my great aunts Etta and Claribel Cone had bequeathed over 3000 pieces of art, jewelry and fabrics to the BMA.  They used to take steamers across the Atlantic to Paris to hang out with Matisse and Picasso, gallery owners, Gertrude and Leo Stein among others.  They dropped the bomb on Modern Art in America.  I was so impressed, because in my 26 years I never knew about this family history.  Apparently I was too into sports and girls and such to pay attention to the arts.  But this day Claribel took me to Baltimore changed everything, everything I wasn't even aware of at the time.  At the moment I was in a hustle bustle job selling gourmet foods in a fast pace city.  Later I would be in a small southern town taking pictures and trying to sell them.  I was not yet free to just do my art.  Who ever is?  Picasso maybe...

Little did I know, I was to later become a collector of art and an artist as well.  A few years prior to this awakening I learned how to develop images in the darkroom at UNC-Chapel Hill.  I loved taking pictures and still do.  Little by little I allowed myself to be freer with my arts.  Because of my encounter with Jean Cocteau, via a gallery devoted to his works on the rue de Seine, I let myself begin learning to draw in my way.  I figured he drew as he saw things, not as they were.  Why couldn't I do that?  I started trying by drawing Buddha's due to the simple lines of the faces.

My friends asked me when I would start painting these faces.  I said "never.  No way!  I don't paint."
But after a Christmas in Greensboro and a void in Wilmington I had to do something, something to fill in the emptiness of time and boredom.  It wasn't Paris!  Paris is a place where you can be doing nothing and feel productive.

Well, I took brushes and pigments to canvases and voila!  "Hey, I am an artist."

Selling is another story.  I love stories.

Billy Cone: A Letter to the Collectors

Billy Cone: A Letter to the Collectors: Dear Aunt Etta and Aunt Claribel, I am writing you from Earth.  You know that though, cause you are in Heaven. Well, I have some question...

A Letter to the Collectors

Dear Aunt Etta and Aunt Claribel,

I am writing you from Earth.  You know that though, cause you are in Heaven.
Well, I have some questions for you about your famous art collection.  First of all,
did you know that you were collecting and introducing Modern Art to America?

And how did you feel when the Chicago Museum told you that you were collecting
trash--Picasso, Matisse, Degas, Cezanne and so forth?  What was Picasso like?
Did he really give you some drawings off his floor at Bateau Lavoir in exchange for the
Funnies from the New York Times?  What about Matisse?  Etta, did he really stay with
you in Baltimore, Maryland late in his life?  Was he a colorful man?

There are so many questions to ask.  What was the most enjoyable thing about
traveling to Europe on steamers?  You must have met many interesting and famous
people.  Was Gertrude really a bitch?  And not such a great writer!  But you liked
Leo a lot.  Didn't he help you choose quite a few pieces of art?  I know he sold you
art from his Paris apartment when he needed the cash.  Speaking of which, is it
true Etta that when you offered the 3000 piece collection to the Baltimore Museum
of Art they said that they could not take it due to lack of space?  And did you offer
to build them a new wing?  That is amazing.  Glad you had the
money and the vision.  Did you know what vision you had?  I've read that you
and Claribel had the art for decoration and enjoyment purposes.  How cool!

And your brothers in North Carolina were making denim and flannel which was
quite profitable.  Levi was a big customer among so many others.  So Moses and
Ceasar would send you stipends of profits?  Were you ever worried that money would
stop?

Who was your favorite artist?

Love,

Billy

Billy Cone: TGI MARCH MADNESS

Billy Cone: TGI MARCH MADNESS: This is a very special time of year for basketball fans.  But what I have noticed is that non-basketball fans get into March Madness.  It&#...

TGI MARCH MADNESS

This is a very special time of year for basketball fans.  But what I have noticed
is that non-basketball fans get into March Madness.  It's like all day from Thursday
through Sunday there are exciting hoops games on TV or should I say HDTV?
This crazy love for basketball goes on for three solid weeks.  Once a team is in it the season
matters nothing at all.  Everything is expended--nothing left on the floor.  And this year
many fans are vying for a billion dollars by predicting the brackets--hardly doable!
Almost no game is predictable at this juncture.

Americans go crazy and come together over common events like the Olympics,
but the NCAA Tournament happens this time every year.  The hype is contagious.
TV commercials are saturating the screens with car and insurance ads, and coaches are the heros
or the goats.  The players are sacred.  Stars are born.  Freshmen starters get their
season high scores or go oh for 10 from the field.  Seniors are counted on for something
extra.  All the players know that the pro scouts are in the stands watching everything.  Futures are at stake.  Technicals are prevalent with such emotion and so much at stake.  Dynasties
come tumbling down to no name foes.  Language like, "A 16 beats a 2 or 3.  A 12 beats a 5" is passed around.  Anything is possible on the wood floor round ball sport with a metal hoop.   Long story short, this quest for the Final Four is packed with energy and excitement that sucks us,(even those who don't normally watch B-Ball), in to March Madness.

Billy Cone: L' HOTEL SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRES

Billy Cone: L' HOTEL SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRES: Dear Readers, Today I am writing about a small boutique hotel in the heart of Paris where I stayed for the first time eleven years ago.  ...

L' HOTEL SAINT-GERMAIN DES PRES

Dear Readers,

Today I am writing about a small boutique hotel in the heart of Paris where I stayed for
the first time eleven years ago.  It is called The Hotel Saint-Germain des Pres.  This jewel
of a hotel is located on the left bank near L'Ecole Des Beaux Arts and a block from the
famous literary cafes Les Deux Magots and Le Flore where Jean Paul Sartre and Flaubert,
among many other great writers, used to hash it out.  No pun intended.

Imagine a very small bedroom with closets, cable TV, a writing desk with mirror, a chair and
a well-stocked mini bar.  The wall paper is actually a half inch of attractive battened fabric
matching the curtains.  The windows open on to the rue Bonaparte and have an electric
shutter to keep out the sound of the street and the light at night.  The bathroom is marble.
Comfort is king here.

In France, breakfast is a very important meal.  In hotels it is free of charge to have breakfast
"au lit," in bed.  The HSGDP offers a complimentary "petit dejeuner" of small baguettes,
pain au raisins, croissants and sometimes brioche.  There is a plate of cheeses, a pot of
rich coffee, a pot of steamed milk, jams, butter and everything else that makes breakfast
delightful.  Once I spilled the whole tray on to the bed.  I called Dominique downstairs and
Jean quickly arrived with a cleaning lady to change the sheets and blanket and restore my
"dejeuner en paix," my peaceful breakfast in bed.

If you desire to eat breakfast in the lounge downstairs that is quite acceptable.  As attractive
as your room, the lounge is inviting, well appointed with friendly staff.  Overall, it is
very pleasant.  During the day you can enjoy the lounge at your leisure with a coffee or
computer.

Needless to say, I have sent many of my friends and their friends to stay at HSGDP,
all with great things to say afterwards.  Maybe that is why I get such a swell deal when
I stay there.  If you book for many nights they may give you a deal.  I suggest calling or
emailing way ahead of time too.  The HSGDP books up early.  And by the way, Saint-
Germain des Pres used to be a field.  Imagine!  Now it is the most sought after real estate in
La Capitale.  Enjoy!

All the best,

Billy

Billy Cone: Wonderland Entertainment Group and Billy Cone Team...

Billy Cone: Wonderland Entertainment Group and Billy Cone Team...: Emmanuel Itier, CEO of Wonderland Entertainment Group, has invited Billy Cone and his FEMME book to team up with the feature film maker from...

Wonderland Entertainment Group and Billy Cone Team Up

Emmanuel Itier, CEO of Wonderland Entertainment Group, has invited Billy Cone and his FEMME book to team up with the feature film maker from LA to promote World Peace through the use of inspiring feature films and books among other art forms.  Itier's organization produces films which encourage us to take a look at our lives and make "that" change to begin creating more peace in our own lives and thus in the world.  Cone's fourth coffee table book, FEMME, was just released this January.  FEMME is a thoughtful look at our humanity through close up portraits of women from around the world accompanied by often humorous and poignant quotes by some of the greats of all time like Albert Einstein, Oscar Wilde,  and Emily Dickenson among others.  For Cone, emotion is what great art is all about, and emotion stimulates positive change in the world.  FEMME is all about self-acceptance through a very entertaining format.  FEMME is a heart and mind opening experience, definitely a positive in a world often marred by media full of darkness and hopelessness.  Emmanuel discovered Cone's book online which led to the joint effort to achieve more self-acceptance in the world leading to a more peaceful planet.
Contact Emmanuel at www.WonderlandEntGroup.com and Billy at www.BillyCone.com.
Email: billyconephoto@aol.com

Billy Cone: Travel Like A Local

Billy Cone: Travel Like A Local: When going abroad do you want to stick out like a sore thumb? Or do you want to get the inside story of a place and blend in? Do you want ...

Travel Like A Local

When going abroad do you want to stick out like a sore thumb?
Or do you want to get the inside story of a place and blend in?
Do you want to be treated like a local and experience what it feels like to be
from that part of the world?

My suggestion is to find out who knows someone in that foreign
country and seek them out.  Locals always know the best places to go and do and
see in their neck of the woods.  You could even go on Facebook to
find a local.  Be their friend.  See if there is a chemistry for a real
"amitie."  I did it.  And I am still welcome by all those friends in
San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.  In fact, that was my greatest trip I ever
took on my own.  That is saying a lot coming from a lifelong world traveler.
Locals I met via FB, friends and friends of friends may just take you
under their wing and show you the time of your life.  Just remember to
reciprocate, a drink, a meal here or there if it makes sense.

Locals know the ropes.  They generally take you to the most exciting
interesting places with the best food and deals and even little known
historical areas.  Plus they could become a friend for life.
So do you want to be a tourist or a "local?"

Billy Cone: 40th Trip To Paris

Billy Cone: 40th Trip To Paris: Dear Readers, I am about to embark on another epic "voyage" to the land pregnant with savory and tasty. Yes, this will be my 40...

40th Trip To Paris

Dear Readers,

I am about to embark on another epic "voyage" to the land pregnant with savory and tasty.
Yes, this will be my 40th time to touch down on the runways of Charles De Gaulle, and
I am armed with my camera, some clothes and a journal.  So many have said, "Billy, why
don't you take groups to France?"  And the more I think about it the more I talk myself out
of it.  Paris is about being and feeling free.  I need that for my art.  To be encumbered with
folks needing constant attention for this and that would definitely not be my idea of a trip
to Paris.  It would be like hell, a ball and chain.  I need to be able to whip my camera up to
my face and release the shutter at a moments notice.  Viewing shop windows in Paris is a
sport.  Seeing is everything almost, because tasting can be sublime.  So I think I will go it
"alone" this time as all the other times.  It will be glorious.  It will be spontaneous.  It won't
be free, however.  I may feel free but there will be a bill to pay believe me.  Along with
being the #1 tourist destination on the planet, Paris is one of the most expensive.  So be
prepared with lot's of plastic and not American Express cause the French don't like thoes
high percentages that Amex charges.  Visa or Mastercard s' il vous plait!!!

Best,

Billy Cone

Billy Cone: BLUE SURF CAFE, Wilmington, North Carolina

Billy Cone: BLUE SURF CAFE, Wilmington, North Carolina: Greetings from the South! Here is a restaurant idea for everyone who loves down right good food. The BLUE SURF CAFE just turned me on th...

BLUE SURF CAFE, Wilmington, North Carolina

Greetings from the South!

Here is a restaurant idea for everyone who loves down right good food.

The BLUE SURF CAFE just turned me on through my senses.  For lunch
I had a Braised Beef Brisket with Chimichurri, sauteed red onion, Siracha
Mayo and a delectable cheese melted inside whole wheat toast.  The meat
was tender and fell apart nicely with each bite.  It came with just made
potato salad that doesn't just go back to the kitchen to be thrown away.
This is the freshest and tastiest potato salad I ever had.  And I'm from the South.
This copious lunch began with a starter of sliced cucumbers marinated in lemon
and siracha with just the right amount of spicy heat.  What a meal!

And there's so many other good sandwiches, salads, even burgers.  BLUE
serves breakfast and dinner.  I can't wait!  And get this, for the chocoholics
like me, BLUE creates about seven varieties of Hot Chocolate, including
Nutella, Guinness, Caramel, and Mexican.  I love this happenstance
inspiration to try something new.  It paid off today!!!

Tell 'em Billy sent you...

Billy Cone: Photographs

Billy Cone: Photographs: Ansel Adams once said, "A photograph is usually looked at--seldom into."  Isn't that the truth? How often we just glance and ...

Photographs

Ansel Adams once said, "A photograph is usually looked at--seldom into."  Isn't that the truth?
How often we just glance and go on.  We censer our inner seeker for more by skipping on to
the next thing or frame.  Even films put so much into a single frame moment, but who actually
is looking "into" that image to catch the art of it?

When I look at my own work I often see new nuances and sub-subjects that I missed before.
These give a photograph more meaning or less depending on what it is that reveals itself on
the paper.  Try looking at a photograph for longer than a movie frame.  Allow yourself to
be curious.  Why did the photographer take that particular rectangle or square and make it
the "subject" for all to see?  Wonder.  Sit with it.  And if you don't get it that is okay.  It's not
always about "getting it."  But looking into an image is much more rewarding than looking
at it.

Take the Effiel Tower for example, arguably the most photographed subject on the planet besides
Marylin Monroe.  Next time you see it be curious.  What is around it?  What angle was it taken from?
What kind of person may have taken the photo?  How does the weather affect the photo? Is it digital?  Is it film?  Is it worth a closer look?  Become a seer of images and not just a glancer.  What is it that you never saw when looking at the most photographed object in the world?  And this is only one example.  There are infinite more.

Billy Cone: Happy Balance

Billy Cone: Happy Balance: So I am an artist/photographer, and I love to paint.  I have had little training.  Some may think this is my disadvantage and why my work d...

Happy Balance

So I am an artist/photographer, and I love to paint.  I have had little training.  Some may think
this is my disadvantage and why my work doesn't look like everyone else's.  My friend Beth
came over to paint for the first time today.  We realized that there needs to be a happy balance
between being trained in art and discovering your uniqueness in art making.  Beth was on her
own today with all the materials to create a painting with no training at all, just a love for art and
sculpting clay.  Well, Beth learned to sculpte her own painting.  She took to the palette knives
with excellent results.  She caked on different acrylic colors and then subtracted them with her
knives.  If she had been taught to paint today by a teacher she would never have learned to sculpte
a painting.  In fact, name a teacher that knows how to do this technique.  I can't.

I too have learned to paint in my own way.  I cherish to nuggets of discovery when I just let it all
hang out and try something "not printed in the bulletin."  When you are free to create amazing
things can happen.  I am open to this teacher.  I can see a painting and get good ideas from it.
Then I can do it my own way, or I can take the sum of all I have experienced and put it on the
page or canvas.  Beth was open to the nuggets she got today.  I look forward to seeing more of
her "sculpted paintings" in the future.

Sincerely,

Billy Cone

Billy Cone: Billy Cone: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 2014Conta...

Billy Cone: Billy Cone: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 2014Conta...: Billy Cone: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 2014 Contact: Billy ... : FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 2014 Contact:  Billy Cone BillyCon...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January, 2014

Billy Cone Pairs Poignant Quotes With Pure Emotion In FEMME

Award winning photographer and artist, Billy Cone announces the February 14th release of the fine art photography book, FEMME (ISBN 978-0-9704190-7-1). 

Rave reviews include: "A trusting glimpse into sheltered places." "Innocence laid bare - emotionally."  "The essence of what it means to be feminine." "The photography is tight. The quotes - provocative." "Poignant," "A reverie." 

This 7x7 cloth bound treasure will fit perfectly on the end table beside the fauteuil in the paneled library. With little gems from Pope, Wilde, Matisse, FEMME is a revealing look at humanity from the timeless perspective of black & white film.

Reflections like, "A man's face is his autobiography. A woman's face is her work of fiction." by Oscar Wilde and "I married beneath me. All women do." by Lady Nancy Astor are matched with the honesty of an unbiased lens.

FEMME is a perfect gift or self-indulgence to be cherished for years to come.

Billy Cone, a professional photographer for three decades is the Grand Nephew of the famous Cone Sisters of Baltimore. To see more of Cone's work go to: http://www.billycone.com/index2.html

Suggested retail price - $35 

Available at most bookstores, museum gift shops, amazon.com, and www.billycone.com,

Please email billyconephoto@aol.com to receive an ARC.

Billy Cone: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 2014Contact: Billy ...

Billy Cone: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2014
Contact: Billy ...: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 2014 Contact:  Billy Cone BillyConePhoto@aol.com Billy Cone Photographs Pure Emotion in Fourth Boo...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2014

Contact: Billy Cone
BillyConePhoto@aol.com

Billy Cone Photographs Pure Emotion in Fourth Book

Award winning photographer and artist since 1982, Billy Cone, Wilmington, NC resident and self proclaimed "citoyen du monde", has just released a fine art photography book called FEMME (ISBN 978-0-9704190-7-1). Cathy Malizio of Carolina Beach, NC helped design the book on Quark.

Designed as a precious tactile coffee table book, FEMME contains images of varied sizes as well as poignant quotes by famous world figures, which compliment the women’s photographs on the same or adjacent pages. FEMME is the culmination of twelve years of seeking out would be "muses" to pose for portraits, which would possibly awaken something in them, the photographer, the viewer, or all of the above. These priceless images are inspired by the soulful visages of ordinary and some not-so-ordinary people that Billy has passed on the streets of Europe and America. Ads also appeared in FUSAC and Figaro in Paris to attract potential models.

FEMME has a unique 7"x7" format comprised of 78 thought provoking portraits which are perfect bound in black cloth with front and back cover tip-on photographs. In this work, Billy did not want to distract from the emotion by photographing celebrities. Mark Arbeit, once the apprentice of Helmut Newman and author of Mark Arbeit, Work says of Billy’s portraits, "You’ve caught a great moment."

FEMME is another revealing look at our humanity from the timeless perspective of black and white film; a book illuminating the common thread that holds us all together. This is definitely a Women’s Issues book as it explores the innate beauty and emotions of our fairer sex--something men will enjoy as well!

"The mystery of the woman is not attempted to be solved in this book, but it acknowledge heart felt celebrated. These women who Billy Cone encountered all over the world are captured in their candid moments, they offer pure emotion and trusting glimpses into their souls." – Tatyana Kulida, fine art portrait painter

According to Ken Settle, a fine art music photographer of rock stars, "Billy Cone has created a very special collection of photos with FEMME. First, to me, it is the definitive celebration of women. Each portrait is beautifully photographed. The lighting is exquisite. Billy achieves the very rare portraitist’s goal of allowing the subject’s eyes to communicate something tangible and profound directly to the viewer."

As a professional photographer for over three decades, the author of three books, and the Grand Nephew of the famous Cone Sisters of Baltimore, it seems quite befitting that Billy would eventually create his own original masterpieces.

With a suggested retail price of $35 and available at most bookstores, museum gift shops, amazon.com, and www.billycone.com, FEMME is a perfect gift or self-indulgence to be cherished for years to come. 

#    #    #

Billy Cone: Champagne?

Billy Cone: Champagne: Champagne comes from one tiny region of France whose capital is Reims, about an hour east of Paris. It is the only place in the world one ...

Champagne

Champagne comes from one tiny region of France
whose capital is Reims, about an hour east of Paris.
It is the only place in the world one can find it,
save on grocery store shelves and ice boxes throughout
the world.  The rest of the "so called" Champagnes are
but sparking wines.  Sorry!

Did you know that Champagne comes in various
levels of dryness/fruitiness?  Note:  The French
would never call a wine "sweet."  That would be
the kiss of death.  Sweet being the word "sucre."
"Doux" works fine but never "sucre."

So the first level of dryness is a fruity Champagne,
less expensive usually and is called "Doux."
It is not very dry at all.  The next is "Demi Sec" which
is still fruity and not very dry either, also less
expensive.

The next category is "Sec" which means dry, but it is
a balance of dry and fruity.  Next up the rung
is "Extra-Dry," even dryer than "Sec." "Brut" follows and is
the most common in America.  It is like Veuve Cliquot
Ponsardin or Moet et Chandon White Star.  These are
fruitier than say a Dom Perignon which is usually a
"Brut Zero" or a "Brut Naturel."

The irony here is that the French don't want to call
their sacred bubbly "sweet" though they add
sugar to all of their Champagnes except the "Brut Zero"
or "Brut Naturel."  Granted, I have heard of using
"sweet" wines to increase the fruitiness of a
Champagne but it is hard to get away from the word
"sweet" when talking Champagne.