This piece was influenced by my son Thomas, who was having a lot of fun stacking fruits into a pyramid! This everyday scene happening right in front of me brought some sudden inspiration… And that’s when I called Jen, who is an amazing photographer with a great eye for staging. When I asked her to help to create a fruit still life, I imagined painting something from my daily life, something natural, and not so formally staged that it belonged in a museum. She knew just how to create the arrangement, and voila! I really enjoyed the artistic collaboration between photographer and painter.

The Figaro magazine’s blue banner was a perfect companion to the blue tones of the pineapple leaves. I love linking my French and American worlds, and so the Figaro headlines about the White House – la Maison Blanche – was a nice fit. The stamps in the background evoke the idea of travel, crossing the Atlantic Ocean, as I did with my family 13 years ago. These particular stamps are from the care packages that my mother sent from France; it was a wonderful way of staying connected to family and remembering our favorite things from France.