Eat My Words

Johanna Almstead:
Hi everybody. I am menu planning for my next guest and I'm so excited for my next guest because it's been way too long since I had a proper catch up with her. So, I am starting by opening a bottle of champagne. I'm celebrating. And with that, I'm going to serve to start.

I just bought this the other day at a local shop near me, just this gorgeous piece of smoked salmon, like a filet, not like lox, but a filet that has, it's beautifully smoked and then it has a little bit of jalapeno on top, which is delicious. I'm going to serve that with some creme fraiche and some cornichons and a little pumpernickel bread.

And then, since dinner's going to be pretty hearty, I'm going to do just a nice chilled crudite, like really yummy spring veggies, carrots, radishes, cucumbers. I love celery. I'm going to do that with a really rich creamy French onion dip. And if we're going to have French onion dip, you know we have to have potato chips. So, some really delicious, really crunchy, salty potato chips to go along with that with our champagne, and it's going to be delightful.

And then, I think for the main dish, I'm going to go chicken pot pie. I think I haven't gone here yet. And my next guest has a lovely mix of, she has American Midwestern roots and she's also British. And so, I feel like a savory pie would be fun. So, I'm going to do a savory chicken pot pie with a homemade pie crust, my grandmother's pie crust with lots of nice spring veggies in there. So, some fresh peas and some carrots and some pearl onions.

And I'm going to serve that with a baby gem salad with just a little bit of like a creamy, green goddess dressing, but a light one. And with that, I'm going to pour a Cotes du Rhone. I think a Cotes du Rhone and chicken is really nice. And then for dessert, I'm going to go a little Britishy, a little pavlova with fresh berries because it's a little lighter. The dinner's pretty hearty. So, I think I'm going to do a pavlova with fresh berries for dessert. Guys, I'm getting better, right? I'm remembering the desserts.

And for music, I'm feeling a little all over the place. My brain is actually a little all over the place and I'm feeling like I want to go, I'm going to do a little Nina Simone. I'm going to do a little St. Vincent. I'm going to do a little De La Soul and I'm going to do a little like Sam Cook. Could be the weirdest playlist ever or could be the most brilliant. I'm not sure. You decide.

Anyway, my next guest is lovely. She's hilarious. She is so talented. She is so creative and I just love her mind. I love her heart and I love her friendship and I'm so happy to be back in touch with her after many, many years of not seeing each other. So, I can't wait for you guys to get to know her. Let's dig in.

Hello everyone and welcome to Eat My Words. I'm so excited for today's episode because I get to catch up with someone I haven't seen in a really, really, really long time. And if you guys are listeners, you know that my secret MO for this, doing this entire podcast is basically that reason is that I get to make people sit and talk to me that I haven't seen in a long time.

My guest today is someone whose work I have loved since I first saw it and got to know her years ago in London. She is an artist who has been working in her signature style of felt tip pens since the age of three and has actually made a successful career out of it. She has been commissioned by not too shabby brands such as Moet & Chandon, Globe-Trotter, Nike, Topshop, Zac Posen, Kate Spade, Clinique, Habitat, and Missoni.

She has illustrated for magazines such as British Vogue, El Decoration, Wallpaper, The Sunday Time Style Magazine, Elephant Magazine, The New York Times, Tea Magazine, Grazia China, Elle Girl Korea, iD Online, and The Guardian. Her work has appeared in amazing department stores and boutiques around the world, including Liberty's London, Browns Focus in London, Shinsegae in South Korea, Colette in Paris, which I love, and Fashion Illustration Gallery at the shop at Bluebird in both the King's Road and Covent Garden London locations.

Her work has been exhibited in numerous cities across the globe, including Athens, Tokyo, Milan, and New York. She's had solo shows at the fashion and textile museum in London, The Laing Gallery in Newcastle and at Artrepco in Zurich. Her work has been acquired by Soho House, The Groucho Club and The House of KOKOs London for their own art collections.

She also wrote and illustrated the whimsical books, He Said, She Said, and I Told You So, both published by Pocko Editions in the UK and Chronicle Books in the USA. I Should Have Said, which is another one, was published by Hardie Grant in the UK and Rizzoli in the USA. Not too shabby.

Also, the Victoria and Albert commissioned her to illustrate their paper doll book, Fashion Mash-Up, published by Penguin Random House, as well as attaining several of her illustrations for the Victoria and Albert Museum prints, drawings and painting collection. Big deal, big deal.

She is currently making artwork for a group summer show, which I'm so excited about, Belonging in London in June 2026. Her most recent collaborations have been with the British brand's Marfa Stance and Manava Collection. She is also a sister. She is a daughter, she is a partner, she is a friend, and she once got a Christmas gift from Frank Oz. Daisy de Villeneuve, welcome to Eat My Words.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Thank you so much. That's so funny. You've been doing your research. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
I certainly have.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, that was pretty cool. That Frank Oz letter that I stumbled across from recently.

Johanna Almstead:
I need to know. How did you get a Christmas gift from Frank Oz?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
My dad knew him, and I think they had a connection in America, and Frank Oz was coming to London, said to connect with my dad, and then they became friends. And I thought that the Christmas gift was going to be Kermit or something.

Johanna Almstead:
Like an actual Muffet?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Like Fozzie Bear because there are pictures of me. If you scroll through my Instagram, there's a really absurd Halloween costume where I'm wearing a green-hooded cape. So, you look like an executer and there's a little comment. So, I thought it was that. My mom was like, "No, it was like a dress." I was like, "What you mean? I didn't get a Muppet?"

Johanna Almstead:
You mean Frank Oz didn't give you an actual Muppet with the hat?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Maybe he did, but she said for that gift, it was like a little dress.

Johanna Almstead:
That's so sweet. Well, thank you, first of all, for joining me today for sharing your precious time. I know you are living a very full and exciting life.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Thank you.

Johanna Almstead:
I'm so, so happy to see you again and-

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I was so, so pleased that you asked me, by the way.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, I'm so happy. So, I want to talk to you today about your work, but I also really want to talk to you about your journey and how you got to where you are today, because I think your background is so interesting and I love your sort of, you're so, so British in some ways, and then you have these really Midwestern American roots, which I love. So, I would just like to start off by asking, where would you say your journey began?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, I was born in London in 1975. So, my dad is English and my mother is American. She came over to London in the early '70s and she stayed. She was a model. So, that's why she came over. Well, she started from New York, then Milan and Paris and then came to London and then met my dad. And they divorced when I was about eight or nine, but she loved it so much, she stayed. And my dad lives in London and my mother lives in Kent.

So yeah, I guess, so I was born here and then I'd go visit my grandparents in America every summer because they have shorter summers here, holidays. So, we would go for about six weeks. So, we'd go to Cleveland, Ohio. And then, my great aunt had a house on the lake in Harbor Springs, Michigan. So, we'd go there. And then, so I was really good at art. Well, I was three years old. I was coloring a lot, which I still am doing.

And when I was little, I'm not academic at all. My mother's family is quite academic, but I'm not. And then, they discovered I was dyslexic when I was 14, which is quite late. And so, I was really bad at math, really bad at languages, but good at art. And so, I won lots of competitions. I started looking at art schools when I was about 14 or 15, and I had the opportunity to study in New York.

And one time, when we were going to visit my grandparents, there was a delay getting to Cleveland. So, we were in New York and we spent the day in New York and my mom took us to the Whitney Museum of Art. She was really good at taking us to art museums really little. And so, I just felt like this is where I want to be, where I want to study.

And so, I had friends of the family that were in the fashion industry and they would talk about Pratt Institute of Art and Parsons School of Design, and I applied to both. I got into both, but I thought Parsons was cooler because it was in Manhattan. And Brooklyn wasn't so cool back then, but I was like, "Maybe I should have gone to Pratt." I don't know. I was really happy that I went to Parsons. So, I moved to New York when I was 19, and that was in 1994.

Johanna Almstead:
And what did you study at Parsons?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Okay. So, I did foundation year, and then I thought I was going to do photography, but then I'm really not very technical at anything, and it was before digital camera, developing film. And I thought I had all these friends back in London that were going to Central Saint Martin's or London College of Fashion, and they were making clothes. And I didn't necessarily want to be a fashion designer, but I thought it'd be cool to make clothes. And I was at Parsons School of Design, and that's known for being a fashion school.

So, I switched majors at last minute and decided to do fashion design. I did a year of fashion design, but I was terrible at printmaking and sewing. So, I switched majors and I ended up getting a degree in fine art. So, that's what happened. And then, I ended up at their Paris campus. That really appealed to me too because they have a campus in Paris. So, I did three years in New York and two years in Paris.

Johanna Almstead:
And can we just go back to you when you were a little kid, was the artistic side of you fostered? Were your parents supportive of you doodling and drawing all day? Was that something that you thought that could be a real job?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I don't think I ever thought of it as a job. I enjoyed doing it and my parents were very supportive about it. Yeah. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
I would imagine because your dad's a photographer, right?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So, my dad-

Johanna Almstead:
[inaudible 00:10:46] she was in that world. I feel like-

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Well, he discovered and managed Twiggy in the '60s and they were in a relationship for 10 years. And then, yeah, so my dad's done loads of things. He was a tailor at one point. He was a hairdresser. He was a bouncer in a nightclub. He was an antiques dealer. He photographed the Grand Prix. I mean, in the past few years, I mean, he's 87 now, but he was really into birding, taking pictures of wildlife birds. But yeah, he also did fashion photography for a long time.

Johanna Almstead:
And so, they weren't sitting there saying, "You have to go get a law degree or you have to go be a doctor or you have to go do something else."

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No, no. So, as my boyfriend says, he used to be, I don't know if I told you this, he was a postman for 20 years. So, he's like, "You've never had a normal job in your family, no one's had a normal job," in my immediate family, that is. And I'm like, "No, I don't know. I don't even know where to start, but yes."

Johanna Almstead:
Like you've never had to punch a clock anywhere?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No, but I might start having too soon.

Johanna Almstead:
In your retirement, you're going to have to take a job. Oh my goodness. So, when you were little and you were struggling in school, but you figured out that you were an artist, did you have in your mind what having it all would look like or what a grownup successful life would look like to you? Did you have a picture back then?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No, I don't think it was something that I thought about at all.

Johanna Almstead:
No?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. I really enjoyed the coloring and I think I used to write my signature on the back of notebooks. I think people probably commented on that like, "Oh, when you're a famous artist one day," or whatever, but I don't think I really saw what the future was going to hold. I knew that I wanted to go to art school and live in New York. That was something I definitely knew and I really wanted to live in Paris.

So, those were all things that I achieved. But when I was growing up, I actually really wanted to live in London. My dad was in London because we moved to the countryside when I was about a year and a half. So, I moved straight to New York from the countryside and then to Paris. So, I didn't move to London until I was 24.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, wow. Okay. So, speaking of having to get a job, you have actually made a living as an artist. So, you clearly have a little bit of a business side, if not, a big bit of the business side. How do those two things live in you? And where do you work from? Do you work from your artist side first and then your business side? Do you work from your business side first and then make the art? Can you talk to me a little bit about that?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think definitely the artist side, because I feel like the past 10 years have changed so much for me as far as social media and Photoshop. I think we did a semester of Photoshop in art school. Just I retrained during lockdown over Zoom and that's a whole other story. So, everything has changed. And I do think in retrospect, I wish I had more business side, which I feel like I'm lacking in that.

Johanna Almstead:
I mean, I think it's very hard. I think there are very few, we talk about this on this podcast a lot actually, there are very few true creatives, true artists that can do both really well, because it's like two different parts of your brain and it is hard. How do you manage the uncertainty of life as an artist, like the not having the job to go to every day and to figuring out the next project or the next commission or the next... How do you keep yourself steady when it's uncertain?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I mean, the past few years have been not as stable as before because in the old days, there was always something a bit more regular and the budget was bigger and the past few years, no one has any budget. And so, before I didn't really worry as I do now, because something would always appear on the horizon. So, I could do those little jobs, like do the Sunday Time Star Magazine for 200 pounds or whatever it was, because something else would appear soon down the pipeline.

And then, the past few years, it's like this is where the getting a proper job comes in. It's like people say to me, "What would you do?" And I'm like, "I really honestly don't know what I would do." I am a creative person. There's lots of things that I'm quite interested in, like maybe being a creative consultant for someone, but I don't, I don't know. That's something I'm stuck at and curious to explore what else could I do?

Johanna Almstead:
And what is your creative process like when you're working on creating your art? Where do you start? What do you do?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, I've always worked from home and that would also save money on studio, but I think I would just get chatting to people in the studio and drink too many cups of tea and get no work done. So, I don't have a television. I'm very conscientious. I can work to a brief and a deadline. And I actually listen to podcasts in the background when I'm doing my work, which I think is really fun because it means that I'm learning something at the same time.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Podcasts have really helped me.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. It helps me focus too actually. And we were just talking, we had Re Jin Lee, who's this incredible ceramicist on a couple months ago and she was saying that she has ADHD. And so, when she goes into her studio, she spirals a little bit. And then, she used to do audiobooks, but now she does podcasts. And the minute she puts her headphones on with a podcast on, it helps her focus. It does something and helps her focus on actually creating the work instead of swirling a little bit.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
So, you're very disciplined about creating your work.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
And do you have any rituals or routines or how do you ensure that you protect your creative spirit and stay in your artistic flow? How do you do that or is it just your whole life is that way?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think my whole life is this way. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm constantly intrigued by things. I have quite a busy social life, so I go to private views. So, I'm going to go to private view tonight. I went to one last night. So, I like meeting new people. I like going to museums. I like traveling. So, there's always something to inspire me.

Johanna Almstead:
And when you don't have a commission or you don't have a project or you don't have a brief to be working to, are you still sitting down at your drawing table and [inaudible 00:17:07]?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'm not like people say, "Oh, do you sketch every day?" I don't do that, but I do make scrapbooks. I've got some fun scrapbooks or I do just personal work for me that I may use later down the line or be inspired by, if I do get a brief, I will use that idea to kick off a inspiration for me.

Johanna Almstead:
And where did the ideas for your books come from? I love your books.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Do you have them, by the way?

Johanna Almstead:
I have them. I still have them.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Okay, good, because I will send them to you if you don't. So okay, the book, He Said, She Said, that came out in 2001, and I did about 14, 15 pages from my senior show in Paris because I have really bad artist block as well. So, I came up with this idea of typewriter text and these drawings on scratchy drawings, because my style has changed so much over the years.

I did these drawings and they were about boy-girl relationships, but they don't have to be. And it was called He Said, She Said. And it would be about we have the language now, but like fuck boy, I don't know if I'm allowed to say that, but-

Johanna Almstead:
You're allowed to say whatever you want.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, which is good about these days because we didn't have that language back then, like ghosting or gaslighting or love bombing, and those were the things that were happening to me when I was in my early 20s. And I made this artwork and I showed it for my senior show. And one of my teachers said something along the lines of, "I was disappointed in your thesis," or dissertation, whatever it's called, "but I'd love to buy some of your work."

And then, when I moved back to London that summer, I just felt like it'd be really cool to do a book. So, I proposed it to some people and I got a rejection letter that I've just found, but like a nice rejection letter. And then, about a year later, I had a friend who was working in a boutique in Notting Hill and she said, "Why don't you show that work from your art school?" I was hesitant about it, but I did.

And two guys called the company as Pocko Editions, book publishers came and they commissioned me to do He Said, She Said. So, I made more artwork, especially for that. And so, after He Said, She Said, Topshop saw the book and they commissioned me to do the shoeboxes in the same style. I did another book after that called, I Told You So about bitchy girls, and that was in 2003.

And then, I did a line for them, [inaudible 00:19:43] for Topshop around that time. And then, I did a show at the Fashion Textile Museum 2004, which Topshop sponsored. And then, it just, I think after that I got a website maybe, and then people were just approaching me. So, that's how it all started.

Johanna Almstead:
That's how it kicked off. Wow.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I feel like I've gone off on a tangent. Have I even stuck to the original question?

Johanna Almstead:
No, it's all good. Yeah. I guess, I didn't realize that you did the books right out of school.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Well, it was about a year later. Because I graduated in '99 and then I met those guys December 2000, and then the book didn't come out 2001.

Johanna Almstead:
Are there any more books on the horizon for you?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I feel like there should be because I should have said came out in 2015, and I don't use any of that current language that we have now. And so, I feel like maybe that's something to explore.

Johanna Almstead:
Maybe this is what's supposed to be happening next.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Maybe you're not supposed to get a job with a punch card yet.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly.

Johanna Almstead:
Maybe the next book is going to happen.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Speaking of which, how do you decide what you're going to do next? If someone's not calling, do you generate, you said and you make work and you're like, "Okay, should I pitch a show," or do you pitch a book or how do you decide where to focus your energy?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, I have pitched ideas to people. If I know someone that works at a PR and they know someone, I've pitched ideas and I've had good responses. That's how I got the, I should have said book because I hadn't done a book in ages and I wanted to do a book. Yeah.

I mean, there's so much to tell you in the backstory of that. It was a specific romantic encounter that I had and I ended up moving to Paris and I just was like so, I'd always wanted to do a follow-up of He Said, She Said. And I made so much art about that relationship and other relationships or situationships I think that they call them because it wasn't really a proper relationship.

And so, that was just me making the artwork and then presenting it to someone. But in the meantime, people said, "You need to get a literary agent." Because Pocko had approached me, I'd never had a literary agent before. So, I just kept asking around and it took about a year to find someone and then it would take another year to publish the book. So, I have a lot of time, if there's nothing really happening, I would just approach people myself.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Is that hard to do as an artist?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I feel like it's harder as I've got older.

Johanna Almstead:
I was just talking about this with someone yesterday. I was just saying how when I was younger, I can't say I had no fear because I had fear for sure, but I just didn't overthink it. I would ask for things, I would pitch myself for jobs, I would put myself in situations that were opportunities and I just didn't double think it. I didn't overthink it. And now, it's like, I don't know what it is. Is it like our egos or is it our old brains? I don't know. What is it that makes us afraid now, more afraid?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I know. I don't know. So, I'm still pitching ideas to people. I make it like a PDF and I send it to people if I think it suits their brand and I like reread the email and I ask my boyfriend if it sounds okay and I do spell check and all that. And I remember years ago I went to a party. So, you probably know that my sister and I used to go out to a lot of parties in London and I just would talk to people.

And one time in the days of landlines, I got a phone call from someone and they were from Vogue and they said, "Oh, Alex said that you had a really good chat yesterday and we went to talk about you working with us." And I was like, "Who's Alex?" And they're like, "Alexandra Shulman." Because I didn't know, Alex [inaudible 00:23:32].

Johanna Almstead:
For those of you who don't know, the editor in chief of British Vogue.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So yeah, I basically just would, we'd get invited to all these parties and I would just use that to my advantage and I still have business cards. I give those out. Yeah. So, I just, in the old days, you would fax people or send a press release when I had an exhibition and I would look at the masthead of magazines that I liked and I wouldn't even know the people and I would just send it to them.

Johanna Almstead:
So good. I also, I always say that I loved working in London because it is, compared to New York, it's such a small town and you can be at an event or be at a club and talk to someone and then it turns into, and someone else knows somebody else. And it's such a lovely... I always found it to be a very supportive community in the fashion and creative world. And people are always, or used to be at least, throwing projects to other people. And I don't know, it always felt really nice, like a really nice community.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes. It's very friendly like that. In fact, one of my first jobs was, I was just having tea with someone. I remember when East London was really trendy in the '90s, I mean, it probably still is very trendy, but there was a moment when it was really, really cool and I met this stylist and he said, "Well, why don't you come draw the backdrop of his shoot?" And it was for The Guardian and it was a really big spread. And that was in 2000 and I'd never met the photographer before. I'd never drawn a backdrop before.

And then, he commissioned me to do another job for The Guardian and then another job for a magazine called Petra, which is a German magazine. And I think I got paid pretty much okay for magazine work. And I would actually really love to do stuff like that now. I haven't drawn a backdrop since then, but that'd be quite fun.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So, I felt like you just got jobs from going to an event and just meeting people. And people that did my peer group really would, as they say, in England, take this because I'd go to parties, but I got work and I hustled. So, that's what I did because I don't have a normal job and I don't. I still don't know how to have a normal job, and that's what I knew. So, all my immediate family were pretty good at working in the room and that's how we did it.

Johanna Almstead:
You made that part of your job being out.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes.

Johanna Almstead:
I mean, you were always so supportive whenever I was doing an event, you always came.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh, of course. No, I loved it. I loved seeing you.

Johanna Almstead:
But I feel like even your mom too, like your mom would come and she would stay and she would talk to people, and she'd do the right... She was such a proper good guest.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
She loved it. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was fun for me, I think. When my boyfriend goes to these events, it's not his world. And he's like, "Can we go now?" And I'm like, "This is my job."

Johanna Almstead:
The evening is just starting my friend.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. It's like Zoolander, but just have fun, have a glass of champagne and just ignore the silliness. It's just frivolous, see past that. But anyway.

Johanna Almstead:
But it is funny. I mean, we're talking about it just as lightly, but it is, I think, and was, and I don't know how it is now because I'm not deep, deep into it anymore, but that's part of the social life in our industry was so important. It was part of your job.

If you wanted to be in the industry and you wanted to be doing... It certainly was for me because I was a PR person, but it really was a huge part of how, I mean, I hate to use the word networking, but that's essentially what it was. It was socializing properly, but it was how you kept relevant and how everybody met people and how you made great connections with new magazines or new brands or it was just part of the world.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Completely, yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
So, what would you say is the best part about life as an artist, how you live your life?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I really like the fact that I work from home. I really appreciate that, that I can do what I love at home and that my job has given me the opportunity to travel and I just really enjoy what I do and to work with really cool brands. I've never... Sometimes you compromise a little bit with a product that I'm doing for a brand, but I've never disliked anything completely. There's always been perks to it.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Okay. What's the worst part about it?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Chasing up money.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh my God. Yes. Or another thing, which everyone loves to do in this industry still is not pay you.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, it's the worst.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'm still doing it. Every year I say, "I'm not going to do another thing for free." And they just say, "Well, someone else is going to take it." And it's just like, "You do it because it's like street cred," and it's still happening.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, I know. I mean, it's hard. I think it's like... And sometimes, I feel like sometimes those are the ones that you do want to work with because they are cool or they are interesting or they're new or whatever. They're exciting. And then, you're like, "Ugh, I don't want to do this for free." Okay. So, you've had a lot of achievements. You've had lots of big moments in your life. What's one that you're most proud of?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think it was pretty cool going to Tokyo for launching the Flower Rose, the pink champagne for Moet & Chandon. That was really incredible because Japan had been on my list for ages. My sister is still jealous. I went to Japan twice, also for Uniqlo too. But yeah, that was really fun going business class and going to a place where all my friends in the fashion industry had been and I was like, "I want to go there."

So, that was a big achievement for me. And just working with those guys, going to Paris and New York and having my name on the box was really cool. It was amazing.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Speaking of that, I know there are some artists that have a lot of turmoil about working with brands and putting their work on consumer products. It seems like you've done this for most of your life. Do you have any stuff around that or is that, because I think it's brilliant. And so, I just wonder, do you have any thoughts around it or is there anything about being precious with your work or anything?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I mean, obviously you want to work with a brand that is sustainable and has good values and all that. So, I don't have a problem with it. If they're bad news, they're bad news, but I also need to get paid and make money. And I can't, if I am just a regular artist trying to sell work in a gallery, there's no guarantee. Whereas if I work with a brand, I know beforehand what I'm going to get paid.

So, it's really, it's about my livelihood. But I have friends that are really hardcore about... Recently, a friend of mine invited me to an event and he left me a voicemail saying he wasn't sure if he should go because of the whole politics behind it, and I think it was really fake news. I was like, I didn't know where he got this information from, but I was like, "Let's go. It'd be fun." And it seemed like, I don't know where I got it from, but I didn't believe it for a second.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. So, is there anything that you once believed about yourself that you've since outgrown?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think for a long time I was probably very insecure. The books were about relationships and I feel like I was very insecure around that aspect of my life, my love life for a long, long time until very recently. And so, I did a lot of work around that and I think I'm in a good place. But yes, that. Yeah. So that was the term of artist making the artwork. Yeah. Is that the right word, turmoil? Tortured, tortured artist? I don't know.

Johanna Almstead:
[inaudible 00:31:19].

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'm not really tortured, but yeah. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
You were working through some stuff.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly. I was. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Is there anything that you've said no to that you wish you said yes to?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
When a brand like Happy Socks approached me and my agent was like, "Do you have a budget?" And they were like, "No," and now they're huge. I still haven't done socks. So yes, there are brand-

Johanna Almstead:
[inaudible 00:31:46] company you're listening. She's never done socks. We're ready for licensing agreement here, people.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So, there are a couple brands are now quite big that did approach me back in the day when they had no money, but it was my agent that turned it down, not me. But I am trying to make a living. So, as we know, I can't do everything for free. But yes, yes, it would've been nice to do Happy Socks.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. So, this question, I feel like it seems like you intertwine them, but do you feel like you have to balance personal life and work or is it all one thing?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes, I do think I have to balance it a bit. Yeah, especially going to the events with my boyfriend and him wanting to get out of there. It's like, I have to do this for work and maybe they might be a friend as well. Yes, it's hard to pinpoint, but it's... Yeah, you know what I mean? I think you know what I mean. Yeah, exactly. That's the right word, a dance. Perfect word. Yes.

Johanna Almstead:
Do you ever just completely take a day off and don't work? And what would you do if you had just a full day off of nothing?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Well, I try and go to the gym a lot because I do spin at the gym. So, I have a schedule because I work from home. I like to have a schedule of some sort. Take a complete day off, I might go to the countryside, go to the seaside and just do something like walk around. That's what I've been doing a lot recently.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Get into nature a little bit.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Yeah. I think it's really good for my brain just to completely get out of here because I am in London and just go somewhere else and just see the seaside or walk in nature or do something like that.

Johanna Almstead:
Lovely. So, I feel strongly about people doing so, particularly women. What are you dreaming about these days? Are you dreaming about anything exciting?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think for me, my friends are really important. So, it's just keeping up with my friends and people have busy schedules. And I don't have any children, but my friends do. And so, it's just finding the time to hop on a Zoom call or actually see someone in real life because I feel after COVID, I feel like everything completely changed and people see my pictures on Instagram and think like, "Oh, well, they've seen me, but they haven't really seen me in real life." So, that's something that really bothers me and I want to connect more with people. So, that's something I hope for.

Johanna Almstead:
You feel like you get your fix because you see somebody's life through Instagram, but you don't get the in person.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. And you don't really know what's really happening with that person because you could post a picture where it's like a picture of me and my birthday or something, but they don't know what's going on. They don't know what's happening in my personal life.

And it really needs to see someone in person because I don't think I can say all that stuff in a text message or an email. It has to be proper conversation or I think seeing someone is obviously better, but it's just for me, it's taking that time to connect with my friends.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Yeah. Do you like to cook?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I do. So, I actually was very intimidated by cooking. Both my parents are great cooks. My sister's a great cook. And it wasn't really until I saw my sister pregnant, which must've been like 10 or 11 years ago, and I went to her house and she was barefoot and pregnant. And it was like Martha Stewart. I was like, "Wow, this is unbelievable. She can do this?" I was like, "Maybe I can do this too." So, I did a lot of cooking during lockdown. In fact, my sister gifted me, do you know Masterclass, the show?

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, you could gift it for someone for free. She told me to start on Alice Waters, so I started with that and then Ottolenghi. And so yeah, I actually do like cooking now. I hadn't have the big fear that I had before because before I would just have tea parties because I also love tea, but now I love dinner parties.

It's one of my favorite things ever. And I like just the idea of connecting people and hosting dinners and I like writing out the plus mods, like who's going to sit next to who, and just the whole thing. I love it so much. It's like my favorite thing ever.

Johanna Almstead:
Mine too. It's like my religion.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. I've listened to your podcast. I know. I know. I'm like, oh my God. When you describe the food, I'm like, "I want to be there."

Johanna Almstead:
I wish we could have more in person ones.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I know. I know. You have to come to London.

Johanna Almstead:
I know. I do. I'm very overdue for a trip. It's-

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Do you have any plans?

Johanna Almstead:
Both these past two springs I've been trying to come and then I missed it both times. And so, I think I have to stop trying to come in the spring and just come whenever I can.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly.

Johanna Almstead:
But my kids love London, so I have to always bring them because they get mad if I come without and we have lots of friends there, so they get mad if I try to come without them. And I used to have to come for work all the time, but I don't have to do it anymore, so. Until we have a in real life Eat My Words event in the UK, which we will have to have, whoa, maybe we need to focus on more British guests so that we can force ourselves to have an event there.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Well, I could connect you to some people if you want.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, I would love that. Yes, please. Okay. So, now, we're at the very silly time of the lightning round of questions. A lot of these are food related, so this is a good segue. Not all of them are, but don't overthink it because I know you're very thoughtful. What is your favorite comfort food?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I love a Sunday roast, like going to the pub and just having beef and Yorkshire pudding and potatoes and gravy and red wine. So, my mom, she's American, so she never made Yorkshire puddings. That wasn't really, I mean, she did a Sunday dinner with chicken, but she never made a Sunday roast, but that's probably my favorite. It's a really big thing here, the pub Sunday roast. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Proper. So good. What was your first paid job? What was the first time you ever exchanged work for money?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think it was The Guardian when I did the backdrop.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, wow. Really?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
But I don't remember how much for. It wouldn't have been big bucks or anything.

Johanna Almstead:
It doesn't matter.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. But I think that must have been the first time.

Johanna Almstead:
What is something you are really good at?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'm good at connecting people, I think. Yeah. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I love it. I love it so much.

Johanna Almstead:
What is something you're really bad at?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Languages and math. So yeah, I struggled living in Paris with a language.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Did you speak French before you went?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No. I mean, I did French at school and then I took lessons when I was there and it's hard. So, I've lived in Paris twice. I went to Parsons Paris there, and then I moved back to Paris for three years at the end of January 2012 to around spring 2015. So, did I meet you? I must have met you after I came back from Paris, right? Or did I meet you before?

Johanna Almstead:
No, I must have met you before.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Okay.

Johanna Almstead:
Because I met you when I was at Kate Spade and I was at Kate Spade before all that. Yeah, I left in 2014. I left in 2014.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Okay.

Johanna Almstead:
It was probably [inaudible 00:38:51].

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. It must be because I was still living in Paris then. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
And that was hard without speaking French [inaudible 00:38:58].

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, everyone said get a French boyfriend, so I did. I had two, not at the same time. I know it was Paris. But yeah, I mean, I struggled with the language. That was the main reason why I left. I lived in the Le Marais. It was so beautiful. It was like, Paris is amazing, but I just got fed up with having to phone a friend to get a plumber or whatever it was, and it was time to come home.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, it is hard. Okay. What is your favorite word?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Discombobulate.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, I love that word.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
It's a word that my dad says, and I just think it's so funny.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay, good. What is your least favorite food, like you're not even tasting it?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I don't like raisins.

Johanna Almstead:
Really?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I have to like-

Johanna Almstead:
What happens if they're in a scone?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I have to pick them out. It's like, yeah, scone. Is it scone or scone? How do you pronounce it in America?

Johanna Almstead:
In America, we say scone.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think we say... Because my mom's American, so I interchange some words.

Johanna Almstead:
Right.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. I say yogurt and they say yogurt. I pick them out and it's so bad. It's just on the plate. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. Do you like grapes?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I guess, I'm probably not a big fan of grapes, but I don't mind them.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. Interesting.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I didn't like nuts for the longest time, but I can eat nuts now.

Johanna Almstead:
Now, you can eat nuts, but no raisins?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No raisins.

Johanna Almstead:
Least favorite word.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, this is a word that I don't like it when I hear English people say it and it's awesome because I think it's such an American word that I just feel like it's so out of context. It doesn't seem very English. Do you know what I mean by that? It just seems awesome. Awesome. Awesome. It just doesn't seem... Whenever I hear it, I'm like, "That makes no sense coming from you."

Johanna Almstead:
But does it bother you if an American says it?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No, not at all.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, that's funny.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
It's weird though, isn't it?

Johanna Almstead:
But that would be like me being like, "Bloody hell."

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly.

Johanna Almstead:
Americans are not saying bloody.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No, no or when an American says cheers, it's not like cheer your drink, but when someone says cheers for thank you or when they say mate, it's like, no.

Johanna Almstead:
No, don't do it. My husband does that sometimes actually because one of his best friends is British and so I think he's adopted it and I'm always like, "I don't think you should be the guy who does that."

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, does it bother you every time he says it?

Johanna Almstead:
A little bit. I'm like, "Mate? Mate?"

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh my God. That's so funny.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Okay. Best piece of advice you've ever received.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
When I was at art school in Paris, I had a teacher who said to us that we should find a place to exhibit. So, I graduated from fine art degree and I really didn't know what I was going to do after I graduated. And I had a friend in London who, they lived in an old pub and there was a bar and they lived around the other side of the place. And me and a good friend of mine, we exhibited and the teacher had said, "Oh, you'd give the person an exchange for the space, a piece of artwork. You can buy your own drinks. You can get reasonable wine from the supermarket and some nice canopies." And that's what we did.

And then, I did another show of my sister in a friend's basement when they newly moved in and it was like a ground floor basement or the white walls. And that's when I faxed the mastheads of magazines. I found the editors and yeah, that was how long ago it was in the days of a fax machine. So, that's probably like around 2000 and people came and that's how it started.

So, that was really amazing advice to me. And that's why I always, if I'm ever giving a lecture or a workshop to students, I always tell them that because I think it's really important, and you never know. People love to help out most of the time, not always. But sometimes if you're just starting, it's like a great opportunity and fun for them too.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. I love that. I think so many people are afraid to put themselves out there in that way and they feel like it has to be through a super fancy gallery or it has to be through some other group show or something. But I agree of just do the work and then get it out into the world somewhere.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. And in fact, I had a show a couple years ago, my friend, he's a photographer, but he also has a hair salon in East London and he said, "Oh, why don't you have a show?" And I thought, "Okay, it's unusual, but I liked the idea of something being a bit quirky." And so, I based all my pictures on hairdos, like a beehive or a punk or, I had one that's like a bit Amy Winehouse and then this one that's like a bit Priscilla Presley. So, I thought that'd be fun to make it in connection with the...

Johanna Almstead:
With the venue.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
... space.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. And so, I actually, I've got friends that poo-poo that idea because it's like, "Oh, it's not in a proper art gallery." But I think it's fun and I would be open to doing more things like that.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, I love that. That's fun.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
It's cute idea, don't you think?

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, I love it. I also love the idea of tailoring it to whatever kooky space it is.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Exactly. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
It makes more sense.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Do you have any hobbies?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Hobbies? Yeah. I mean, I do my scrapbooking. I guess is that a hobby, yeah?

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, I guess so.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Yeah. I collect loads of different things. Yes. I feel like I'm put on the spot now. I'm like, "What are my hobbies?"

Johanna Almstead:
I always ask you because I realized someone asked me once and I was like, "I don't have any." Oh, dear. I need to think about this for a second. Yeah, it's hard. Well, because it's like we're grownups who have busy lives, so it's hard to [inaudible 00:44:51].

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I do like crafting stuff and I'd actually quite like to do a book maybe for kids maybe or for teenagers about crafting things. I was thinking today, do you remember when we used to make friendship bracelets for our friends in the summer and stuff like that?

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'd like to think about crafty things you could do as a hobby for a book. I do my scrapbooking, but other things that you could do. And it's like I've got to think of all the different ideas, but that's something that I've also been thinking about. I am thinking about doing more books.

Johanna Almstead:
I think we need more books. I think we need more Daisy de Villeneuve books. If your personality were a flavor, what would it be?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think cinnamon maybe.

Johanna Almstead:
Ooh, I like this one. Tell me more about that.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think it smells lovely. And my mom used to make cinnamon toast when we'd come home from school. I'd be doing my homework and we'd have tea and cinnamon toast. Not always. It was not really a special occasion. It was just occasionally. And I'm just very fond of it. And the color is like a burnt cinnamon, brown, orangey color. I don't know. I just feel like that could be quite apt with me.

Johanna Almstead:
I like it. Okay. So last supper, you are leaving this planet and you're leaving this body, but it's not sad. You've graduated to the next realm. Nobody's sad. Everyone's good. What are you eating tonight?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think it would be a steak and mashed potatoes and I'd be drinking red wine.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. Any specific kind of red wine?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I like Malbec. I mean, also I should say, so I wasn't that much into wine before I moved to Paris and you become bit of a wine connoisseur.

Johanna Almstead:
It's one of the bonuses.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
One of the perks. Yeah. And it's cheaper than a cup of tea as well.

Johanna Almstead:
So, it's necessary?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes.

Johanna Almstead:
It's actually necessary.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Have you had a moment in your life where you've had to eat your words?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes, and that has been. I have always, for the longest time, said I would never do online dating, and that's how I've met my current boyfriend.

Johanna Almstead:
You caved in. It worked.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I refused. I would actually say I refuse. Refuse.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. You're not alone.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I'm like-

Johanna Almstead:
I feel like, especially for women our age, you're not alone. There's a lot of... I mean, I always say, God forbid anything ever happens with my husband and I, I'm going to be a lonely woman because I am not getting online. But I guess never say never, right? You never know.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Well, I tried everything. I thought, well, of course I'll meet someone because I'm social. I've met people in the past at weddings, at private views. And then, during that in between lockdown time when you could see people, I went to a singles dinner, I went on my first ever blind date, I did virtual dating on Zoom. So, I tried pretty much everything. And then, I was like, "I'm not going to do online dating."

And then, it wasn't until about three years ago, I had a friend of mine who's, I met her when I lived in Paris and she was staying with me because she was moving to London and she's American English. And so, she's 20 years younger than me and she just puts me on Hinge, which I have called for the longest time on Hinge.

And I was just like screaming because you have to put these prompts in about do your best Zoolander face or whatever scary Sundays. And I was just like, "This is so awful." Anyway, eventually I did it and it was worse than I could ever imagine. And then, I went off it for a year and then my sister met someone and she convinced me to do it again. And then, I met my boyfriend and I was his first ever online date.

Johanna Almstead:
Well, there you go. It was meant to be. Now, you're good.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes. But I mean, you can't believe how many times I said, no way, absolutely not.

Johanna Almstead:
I can believe because I would be the same.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
So, I think that that's a very good example for you.

Johanna Almstead:
Yes. There you go. Okay. If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, you don't have to worry about it sustaining you nutritionally. It's just something you want to eat every day, all day. What would you eat?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh my God. I really love chili peppers. The ones that not super spicy, but the ones that you get in a kebab.

Johanna Almstead:
I don't know what you get.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
They're like the green ones.

Johanna Almstead:
They're green, like banana peppers? They're like vinegary?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
They're like, they're vinegary. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Do you know the ones I mean?

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, I love those.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
We eat those all day, every day.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So, when I got COVID, I eat only that.

Johanna Almstead:
Really? Could you actually taste them? Had you lost your taste?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think I did lose my taste and smell for ages, but I was like, it wasn't until a friend of mine was like she'd goes, I was like, that was a weird sense that I didn't really pick up on for ages. But yeah, it took a long time to get back, but I don't know if I could taste it. I just was craving it. And I absolutely, my boyfriend bought me some last week and he's like, "I got you these and they're in a special brine." And they were like a Greek kind, but yeah, they're my favorite thing.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. I love them. I love them on the sandwich, [inaudible 00:50:08] sandwich. Okay. Where is your happy place?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Paris, probably.

Johanna Almstead:
Even though you can't speak to anyone?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Which is maybe better because I like being a bit anonymous.

Johanna Almstead:
Maybe that's why it's your happy place.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Love Paris. What did you have for dinner last night?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
What did I have for dinner last night? Oh, I made salad nicoise.

Johanna Almstead:
Ooh, lovely. Chic.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, that's my thing that I'm really... I go through stages of wanting to eat something. Sometimes it would be risotto, sometimes it'd be roasted peppers. So, at the moment it's salad nicoise.

Johanna Almstead:
Delicious. Do you do hard-boiled eggs in yours?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. Okay. What do you wear when you feel like you need to take on the world, like a big opening or a date or a big meeting with a brand or when you need to feel powerful, what do you wear?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I would definitely probably wear a dress and I think they call it a statement jacket, like a cool jacket that has something interesting on that maybe people might comment on. But I would've worn kitten heels or high heels in the past, but for the past few years I've been wearing, they call them trainers here, sneakers. I get Adidas in different colors. So, I have a range of different colors to wear with a dress to compliment it. So, I've got these FARM Rio, do you know that brand, FARM Rio?

Johanna Almstead:
Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Dresses quite long. And so, I'll wear those with some bright turquoise Adidas.

Johanna Almstead:
Cute.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, something like that. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Love it. What is the most memorable meal you've ever had?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Well, there's probably been loads, but I remember being in Paris and my home away from home, my mother has a very good friend, American friend that lives in Paris that was a model in the '70s and she stayed. And she always says she's a terrible cook, but she's not. And she makes something called Coquilles Saint-Jacques. And I just always love going to her house and occasionally she'd make that and it was a real treat for me. So, it's like scallops.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. I love it. So, what is your go-to coping mechanism on a bad day? It's going sideways, you're having artist block, you're mad at your boyfriend, your toilet overflowed. I don't know. Things are going wrong. What do you do?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Open a bottle of wine.

Johanna Almstead:
No matter what time?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Well, I have lived in Paris. I don't know. I leave the house, go for a walk, phone a friend. Yeah. I feel like that's like every day something's going. I feel like there's always something going wrong. The toilet doesn't work or there's a mouse in the house or the printer's broken. I've got a really big presentation to send. That's the worst for me. It's just like-

Johanna Almstead:
Technology.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes, yes. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Me too. All I had to do was print something out yesterday, sign it, and then scan it back to my brother, and it was giving me so much stress. And I was like, "Okay, I figured out how to print it out. And now, I'm like, can I just take a picture of it on my phone because the scanning it back seems really hard and I don't have a jump drive and I don't have the..." So, stupid. I just need somebody to be head of technology always for me.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Well, I told you about this setup. So, my boyfriend was a former sound engineer, so he's set me up with his recording equipment and his headphones, I should say.

Johanna Almstead:
I mean, that's hot. I love it. Former postman and sound engineer.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
I love it.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I always have these questions about postage. I'm like, there's certain stamps you can't use anymore. I'm like, "Are these still okay?" He's like, "I don't know."

Johanna Almstead:
They don't have the... See, we have the forever stamps here now.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh, really? So, what are they? They work like always?

Johanna Almstead:
Forever.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh, wow. That's really good.

Johanna Almstead:
It's been a long time now. It's been more than 10 years, I think. And whatever forever stamp you bought, no matter when you bought it, it still works.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
It's amazing. Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah. But I think our post still system is going down the tube, so maybe it wasn't a great decision because I think it's one of the worst organizations.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Sometimes it takes forever to send something to America.

Johanna Almstead:
Yeah, it's not great. Okay. This is going to be good. I'm really curious to see what your answer is to this. Dream dinner party guest list, because I do feel like you go to really fun dinner parties all the time, and you have lots of fun friends, and you're a very smart and creative person. So, dead or alive, and they're all going to come, who's coming to your dinner party?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I really like Alain de Botton.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. During lockdown, I did an online course with the School of Life. He's really interesting. I think someone like Esther Perel.

Johanna Almstead:
Ooh.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. I went to see her talk.

Johanna Almstead:
[inaudible 00:54:57].

Daisy de Villeneuve:
I think maybe some artist people like maybe Man Ray.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh, okay.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. Who else? Maybe Salvador Dali.

Johanna Almstead:
I would like to see Esther Perel and Salvador Dali talking at your dinner party.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. In fact, I have got a friend who is a psychoanalyst and a lot of his friends are artists. So, that's a really interesting combination.

Johanna Almstead:
For sure.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Who else? I think Alice Waters is really sweet. She'd be a fun person to have.

Johanna Almstead:
I love her.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. And I also, I really like Martha Stewart too.

Johanna Almstead:
She lives a mile away from me.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
No way.

Johanna Almstead:
I used to see her on her horse at the farmer's market. She pulls into the farmer's market on her ginormous Friesian, the big huge black Friesian horses.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh, wow. She does that recently because she's in her 80s, right?

Johanna Almstead:
It was a few years ago was the last time I saw her.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Oh, wow.

Johanna Almstead:
It's wild because it reminds me of medieval times when the queen would come in and all the people of the town would rush up to her carriage. All the vendors at the farmer's market will run up to her because she doesn't get off her horse because it's really hard to get back on your horse, [inaudible 00:56:13] horse.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
So, she stays on her horse and all the vendors come and give her a little piece of cheese or give her a little piece of their lettuce or their fresh bread. It's amazing.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
That sounds really cool.

Johanna Almstead:
Okay. So, we'll get her to come. I need to get her to come on the podcast, really.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah, because I wonder how she would be if she'd be a little bit feisty maybe.

Johanna Almstead:
I think so. I hope so.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah.

Johanna Almstead:
I hope she'd be feisty. She's actually incredibly supportive of local businesses around here, which is really, really nice.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
That's good.

Johanna Almstead:
So, I'm going to see if she'll come on. Yeah. She's very, very supportive of a lot of the tiny little businesses that she uses around here, which is nice. Okay. So, my last final question is, what is one thing that you know for sure in this moment right now, you do not need to know it tomorrow, you did not need to know it yesterday, what do you know for sure? What feels true to you right now?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
That nothing is guaranteed, that you can't foresee the future.

Johanna Almstead:
Right. Love that. It's true. Can you please tell the nice people who are listening, can you tell them where they can find you and see more of your work, like your Instagram and your website and everything?

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. So, I'm on Instagram. It's Daisy, lower case de, lowercase villeneuve, Daisy de Villeneuve. And I have got a website, which is daisydevilleneuve.com, which is currently being updated. So, I'll be having a new website soon. And I'm on LinkedIn.

Johanna Almstead:
Oh.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Yeah. I joined a couple years ago because artists don't really do LinkedIn, but I was reconnecting with some people at Parsons Paris and they were like, "Oh, we'll send you the invite on LinkedIn." I'm like, "I'm not on LinkedIn." And then, I had all these business cards made and I thought, "Oh, I'm going to get there." And they're going to all be like, "We'll follow you on LinkedIn." And I'll be like, "I'm not on LinkedIn."

So, I signed up to LinkedIn and it reminds me a bit of Facebook. I was on Facebook years ago and connecting with people that I used to work with. So, that's been quite fun.

Johanna Almstead:
That's fun. Well, thank you. Thank you so much for taking this time to talk to me. This has been so nice to see you and such a gift for this conversation. So, thank you for taking the time and sharing your story and sharing your brain and sharing your heart with us. I just really have loved every minute of it.

Daisy de Villeneuve:
Thank you. I feel like I could talk to you for so much longer and I really wish I could see you in real life as well.

Johanna Almstead:
I could have talked to her for 17 more hours. I feel like we barely scratched the surface. I hope you guys enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Hope you're feeling inspired to do something creative or to just do a practice every day and see what happens. Thank you all for tuning in. I'm so pleased that you continue to tune in and listen to our stories. If you haven't done so already, please follow us on Instagram. We're at Eat My Words, the Podcast on both Instagram and TikTok. And we're now on YouTube, so please subscribe to our channel.

Follow us, subscribe, comment. You can't watch videos there yet, but you can listen to us and those little subscription numbers matter to us. So, even if you don't listen to us on there, hey, get subscribed. As always, thanks so much for tuning in. This was a really fun day for me. I hope it was a fun day for you, and I will catch you on the next one. This Eat My Words podcast was created, produced, and directed by me, Johanna Almstead. Our sound editor is Isabel Robertson, and our social media manager is Isabella Boutros.