The Perfect Tiny Tea with Marie-Chloe Duval

Pablo Picasso once said “The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls.” This statement rings true especially today in a fast-paced city like New York where reflecting for a moment on art or something outside yourself can melt away the stress of a boss emailing or deadlines creeping up. Luckily this metropolis is full of creatives and the art events are in full swing this fall! Just this past weekend, we attended a lovely little gathering called “Tiny Tea” hosted and curated by Marie-Chloe Duval and Lara Sleiman.

For this elegant affair Duval transformed her studio space in the West Village into a classic teatime with tiny scones and pastries with her art hung on the walls by period. The first wall displayed her oldest series, “Overthink”, the second showed pieces from her “Faces in a Crowd” series and the last had her latest series, “Bouquet of People”. (Check out our profile on Duval from earlier this month)

This occasion brought together an intimate but impressive crowd including art curator Lara Sleiman, whose focus is on emerging African art, Karolina Karlsson, a Swedish-American artist working with acrylics, Gaelle Hintzy-Marcel, a sculptor working with electromagnets, and a program coordinator from Sothebys, Mackenzie Allen. From Creativo, myself and Sasha Bernier attended. Other notables included Luis Emilio whose oil technique somehow looks like woven fabric – we are setting up a studio visit already! Nicole Abe Titus, art enthusiast, and her fiancé were in attendance as well.

Conversations revolved around what new style a particular artist was embracing, why they chose a particular medium or another and what art class we were going to try next. It was light, refreshing and whimsical – exactly what Picasso was speaking about – but very genuine at the same time.

Duval spoke about what was most meaningful to her as an artist, which was provoking an emotion (negative or positive) in the viewer. Creatives, though observers by nature, want a response from the viewer and to relate to them as well. This forum of teatime was the venue to discuss the reaction we had to the art in front of us and our thoughts on art in general. Each guest was also invited to “Leave a Mark” by using oil crayons to draw or paint on the canvas hung on a special wall as a memento of our feeling during the experience.

Tiny tea is a new series branching off of the tiny dinner series also hosted by Duval and other hosts in the creative arts in New York. These gatherings are 8-10 guests maximum and are curated by each host. Guests (except the host) do not know each other beforehand but are brought together around a common theme of art or delicious food. One option within the tiny dinner membership is a cooking class taught by a former Daniel chef!

In a city where we are always rushing this gathering felt different. The conversation was stimulating, the people from all types of backgrounds and life experiences and the setting was the perfect moment to wash the daily dust from our souls.