The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Cristine Brache
Pleasures, Curated by artist Cristine Brache
We’re back with another installment of
: Pleasures, Curated.I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I enjoy getting to know members of the Pleasure Lists community and what makes their Pleasures tick.
Pleasures, Curated by of
She has a Substack which you can follow here.
Social: IG @cristinebrache_ // Twitter @cristinebrache
Location: Manhattan
Pleasures
— Walking through an autumn forest with my husband
Being from Miami, autumn foliage has always felt exotic and surreal to me. It doesn’t matter how many times I’ve witnessed it. Each time feels like a supernatural experience. I studied Josef Albers in school under artist and color theorist, Ray Burggraf. Color theory has had a lasting influence on my work. I will be eternally grateful to Ray Burggraf for making me aware of color in a theoretical sense. It adds a lot of depth to my day-to-day visual experience. So to me, a forest full of sugar maples and ginkgo trees feels like a display of natural fireworks (not that you even need color theory to appreciate an autumnal forest). My husband is a painter too and appreciates it just as I do. We go seasonally to see nature’s vibrant declarations and bask in the science and academy of it all.
— Watching snowfall in December through my window
This is almost as special to me as autumnal forests. The lack of color and purity of white after a fresh snowfall gives me a very distinct sense of presence. I find it changes my energy levels, draws me inwards, it’s meditative. Sometimes when it snows the night sky turns green and I’ve never understood why but I find it deeply beautiful.
— Sunset on the beach
I suppose many of my pleasures are derived by the interaction of color and light in nature. In Miami, the sun doesn’t set over the beach and I prefer that because the sun gets in the way of the sky. Having the sun set behind me allows me to see the delicate changes of color in the sky as its temperature moves from hot to warm to cool. There is a point in time during the sunset (in Miami) where exactly half the hemisphere holds the cool and green of night and the other half is still warm with day. This is my favorite moment.
— Puerto Rico, Thailand, The Bahamas
Okay, so the skies and beaches of these places are none other. Puerto Rico also has the brightest bioluminescent bay in the world (a bioluminescent bay is a body of water where microscopic organisms called dinoflagellates grow in quantities large enough to produce a glow-in-the-dark effect called bioluminescence). They are activated by motion so if you go swimming in this bay at night you will have what looks like a halo of blue glowstick liquid surrounding your body. The little organisms stick to your skin and you have these little bits of blue glowing on you.
The Bahamas has the softest, whitest, finest beach sand ever and the calm warm water has the refraction of a jewel. My father is a hobby fisherman and he has taken me to various cays (very very little islands) by (very small) boat. It takes about three hours to get there from Florida. He is friends with locals there. We’ll stay there for a long weekend, go fishing and visit uninhabited beaches.
I spent two or three months in Thailand in 2012. I remember the new year there. Thailand has the most stunning palm trees. The night sky and beaches of Koh Chang are something I will always hold very close to my heart.
— New York
What can I say? I 🤍 NY. So much pleasure.
— Sleeping with my cat
I constantly find myself in awe of my cat and how we manage to communicate and coexist. The level of trust she has in me is an honor and to be able to understand and meet her needs gives me a satisfying sense of completion. She has her little routines. One of them is to come under the covers and sleep in the crook of my arm each night. A delight for us both.
— Night swimming and beach sleeping
I have slept on Miami Beach so many nights of my life. A night cap to partying and raves (surely I was a raver) or just because. It was as habitual as brushing your teeth. The most special thing about Miami Beach is how warm and perfectly flat the water is on a summer night, like a lukewarm bath.
— Doing nothing at a friend’s place
The ultimate luxury.
— Money
There is nothing like getting a large lump sum of money. It feels fancy and decadent because it is.
— Jacuzzis
Sometimes I swear I am cold-blooded. That or it’s my genetic makeup. I love heat. If I drink a smoothie in the winter it makes me feel so cold inside I need to take a hot shower to undo it.
— Making a French Apple Tart for someone I really love
I love to bake but I rarely do. I only do it on special occasions and when I do, it’s always a French Apple Tart. If you’re close to me, I’ve made you one and you’ve loved it.
— The movies
Conferring after a movie is absolutely the best. I also love when a film fully absorbs and immerses me in its world. Such a special psychological phenomenon. I hardly ever like anything lately though!
— Dancing and singing with my husband at home
I love these little secrets of marriage.
— The intimacy of voice memos
It’s my French Apple Tart of missives. Such an intimate way to correspond with my best friends, especially when long distance. Sometimes we run marathons. My longest voice memo to date is twenty minutes. It’s a great way to debrief and stay in touch and more interesting and personalized than any podcast. I love to listen to them. I love to send them. I hate scheduling phone calls to catch up. This works better for me because you can take two weeks to reply and it’s totally conducive to the form. They are spoken letters.
— Late night car rides through the city with the windows down
Ugh, I love this. Especially when the streets are empty. I love the wind. I love the silence behind the music. There is a great peace in it. I miss having a car so much.
Who do you want to see next? Send me suggestions for who to feature in the next Q&A!
What Is “Pleasures, Curated”?
Each week, a new Pleasure-seeker will document their personal Pleasures and ruminate a bit on what Pleasure means to them. True to
style, I keep the list-maker’s je ne sais quoi in as much as I can — only minor editorial changes are made when necessary. I do this intentionally so that the writer’s inner world really comes through. The style of the list says as much about the writer as the list itself.Read Previous Q&A’s:
The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Natasha Stagg
We’re back with another installment of The Pleasure Lists: Pleasures, Curated.
The Pleasure Lists Q&A: Whitney Mallett
We’re back with another installment of The Pleasure Lists: Pleasures, Curated.
Why submit a list?
Pleasure Lists are a summary of what you need, want, or have, or see at a particular moment in time. They are a survey, an overview, a summary of the crucial facts of the state of one aspect of your life. It’s a kind of blueprint that can be a guide to the future.
Mull it over and if you’re moved to, send me a list.
Questions? Comments? Send any recommendations or suggestions for what you’d like to see in these newsletters my way. I’d love to hear more about what you’re currently finding pleasure in.
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Please share this newsletter! The Pleasure Lists is meant to be a collaborative project that calls people from all over to write, read, and share their pleasures — a global community of artists, writers, and pondering minds alike.
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