Season 1 Episode 4: July 6, 2023
How art and comedy heal and empower with illustrator & comedian Jessie Kanelos Weiner
How do you find your place professionally when you feel like a square peg in a world of perfect circles? When you've always had big feelings and boundless creativity but no clear way to channel them? Add to that the challenge of making a career for yourself overseas, in another language, and with a different code of conduct? Such is the imaginative and inspiring becoming story of my guest, the illustrator and comedian, Jessie Kanelos Weiner.
In this conversation Jessie and I discuss:
What childhood was like growing up with youth pastor parents in Chicago.
Why her first crack at Paris was a miserable flop.
How a chance encounter put Paris back on the map.
How she used her creativity to find work in Paris.
How her "bad" photos put her on the watercolor path.
How her experience as a food stylist impacted her creative eye.
How she was able to process the grief from her miscarriage through her art.
Why watercolor is a perfect medium for self-expression and self-healing.
Why she decided to become a stand-up comedian after watching Jimmy Kimmel.
How to feel confident in the process of becoming a more full-version of yourself.
About Jessie Kanelos Weiner:
Jessie Kanelos Weiner is a bilingual illustrator, author and paper cut animator based in Paris. She has five publications under her belt, including the two bestselling travel guides, "Paris in Stride: An Insider's Walking Guide" and “New York in Stride: An Insider's Walking Guide” and she’s currently working on a new book with Rizzoli. Her work has been featured in such storied publications as Vogue, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Wall Street Journal. She posts humorous critiques on her illustrated blog, the Francofly. Jessie also teaches art at The Paris College of Art. She did the original art for this very here podcast (!!) and you can catch her stand-up routines each week in Paris.
Mentioned in this episode:
https://jessiekanelosweiner.net/
https://www.instagram.com/jessiekanelosweiner/
Credits: Artwork Jessie Kanelos Weiner; Editing Matthew Jordan; Music © Fabrice Fortin
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This episode is available on Apple, Spotify, Acast and all of your favorite podcast players.
With her son in the south of France, photo by her husband Cyrielle Weiner
Her book, Paris in Stride: An Insider's Walking Guide
Portrait of the artist in her studio
Jessie doing stand-up comedy