Need a break from all of the Cinco de Mayo celebrations? Shift your focus from Mexico to France by saying bonjour to Anne-Claire Regan, one of our newest employees.

Anne-Claire joins The Magnusson Group as our Appraisal Manager and Client Liaison. She helps clients define project goals and guides them through the planning, appraisal, consignment and estate sale processes. A French native from Tours, she began her career in Paris working at an art gallery and appraisal firm, and eventually moved to New York City to further develop her expertise in the art world and luxury retail industry. A temporary move to Boston gave Anne-Claire the opportunity to launch her own business as an artist & designer and expand her practice in fiber art & embroidery. Her whimsical, colorful, and smile-inducing creations are sold on Etsy and have been featured in a variety of national magazines, newspapers and online platforms. Anne-Claire earned a double major from the Ecole du Louvre in Paris, in Art History & Egyptology, followed by an “Art Market Studies” Master of Arts from FIT in New York. When she’s not working for the Magnusson Group, Anne-Claire likes to shop for vintage treasures to combine with her own fiber art creations and spend time watching old movies and cartoons with her son. She lives in the Maplewood/South Orange area. 

Our Marketing Director Heather Zises sat down with Anne-Claire in between embroidery stitches and croissants to ask a few q's...

HZ: What do you do for fun?

ACR: I like to hang out with my girlfriends and chat over a good meal and a glass of wine. Whether it’s me cooking or dining at a restaurant, I think there’s nothing better for the morale than sharing stories and laughing with people you love. If life is about anything, for me it’s about love and human connections, as corny as it may sound. And I don’t mind being corny. I also love to get lost in a good book and do impromptu dancing sessions in my kitchen while I cook!

HZ: How do you spend your extra time?

ACR: I love to draw. I love doing puzzles. I enjoy going on long walks to see nature as I find it really grounding and it helps to sort my thoughts out. I also love Art, so I always enjoy going to art & design exhibits. It genuinely feeds my soul, but I find it also helps me fuel my own creativity, which leads me to my second job, which is also one of my passions, creating/making art. I spent the first part of my career working in art galleries, but after my son was born, I started my own business using my creative talents. Because my son was obsessed with owls I called my business HibouDesigns, “Hibou” means owl in French (See @hiboudesigns on Instagram).

I am an embroiderer and fiber artist and I primarily use felt and roving wool as my mediums. I love to work with colors, which is why I enjoy working with felt and embroidery thread. Both come in all the colors of the rainbow, and every shade in between. There’s nothing I like more than coming up with an interesting color combo of felt pieces and matching or contrasting thread for a new embroidery hoop design or a 3D felt soft sculpture. I often sketch my ideas first in a notebook and then I let my hand stitch away and do its own thing. I get grumpy if I don’t create.

HZ: What are your hobbies or passions?

ACR: I come from a long line of skilled knitters, embroiderers, and clothes makers. Both my great grandmothers use to embroider sheets with complex flower designs and initials for the whole family, embroidered handkerchiefs, making lace borders and other designs on tablecloths and all sorts of linens. One of them made a whole set of tiny cushions for my doll house couch, all embroidered with the most adorable bouquet.

My maternal grandma was a master knitter and made all my sweaters until I was in my early 20s, my mom made costume dresses for me, and I fondly remember our trips to the fabric store to find “THE” fabric for my next princess dress! I learned to sew early but only started embroidering late and taught myself, inspired by all the talented women in my family and hoping to be as good as they were/are.

I also love, when I can, to incorporate vintage fabrics, ribbons, lace, and buttons I got from my maternal grandma back in France. Some of the lace trims I got date back to the 1910/20s. My grandma had an uncle who used to work at the famous Le Bon Marche store in Paris, at the turn of the 20th century, at the lace and trim counter (one of the first department stores to open and featured in Zola’s novel “Au Bonheur des Dames”). He used to bring back the scraps and end parts of the lace and other trims. He also brought back some of the store’s promotional material, that I was fortunate enough to salvage. I felt really excited every time I got to incorporate these materials in my work, and I was so proud to have some of my designs using these treasures published in one of my favorite “plush doll/fiber art” magazines, “Stuffed: the crafting of Softies”.

HZ: What do you collect?

ACR: Other than shoes and art books? A bit of everything. I collect things I find to be beautiful, that speak to me and make me happy. Fiber arts from my artist friends, paintings & drawings, vintage lithographed tin toys, decorative objects from my travels, to name a few.

HZ: What is something someone would never guess about you?

ACR: Well, first off, I am French. You wouldn’t guess from a picture but, after speaking with me, you may wonder where that slight accent you hear sometimes comes from. I have been in the US for 23 years now and recently became a citizen, so now I have two passports, which is very convenient when I go back to France. I also feel like I am a New Yorker at heart, I loved the city the minute I stepped foot into it all those years ago. It was a dream come true for me to move there and, as an art lover, it made complete sense to me to live there. This is where I started my career in the art world. I also have a passion for archeology. I fell in love with ancient Egyptian history and everything related to archeology in general when I was little, thanks to an amazing history professor. The first Indiana Jones movie was released then too, which only reinforced that infatuation and I was determined to become an archeologist. I participated in a few very interesting archeological digs during and after high school and wanted to try to pursue learning in that field in some capacity or another. When I was accepted into the Ecole du Louvre (I did my studies in Paris), I chose two complete two majors, one was Art History, and the other was Egyptian Archeology. I studied hieroglyphs and even had the opportunity to go to Egypt with my professor’s class. The whole experience was simply extraordinary, and we even did a quick incursion into Libya because my professor was the head archeologist on a site there, in the middle of the desert. We stayed overnight and I will always remember what an incredible night that was, with no other lights than the stars above.

HZ: What is your favorite restaurant or food? 

ACR: I love food and I love to eat. As a French native, I cannot live without French food and not all French restaurants in the US are truly French…But Faubourg in Montclair is one I can vouch for. It has been consistently delicious since it opened, and the flavors are not overdone. I also love Mexican (TACOS!!!), Italian and Vietnamese food. I’m more a savory than sweet person. My parents could never bribe me with sweets when I was little, as sweet goes, I only eat dark chocolate.

HZ: Are you a cat or dog person?

ACR: I grew up with cats, even though I was always allergic. My first cat was a gorgeous grey with Persian cat with orange eyes. My dad got it for me when I was little. Then I adopted two cats when I arrived in New York. But my allergies got so bad I couldn’t be around cat hair anymore. Eventually, I crossed over to the dog side and I haven’t looked back. I’m now a proud Pug mom. His name his Moose.

HZ: Who would be guests at your party/soiree/dinner either dead or alive?

ACR: First and foremost, my dad Jean-Jacques Minet. I think a fun party could also include, Odilon Redon, Rene Barjavel, Robert Smith, Johnny Greenwood, Louis Armstrong, David Bowie, Elsa Schiaparelli, Marie Antoinette & Cleopatra, Eleanor Roosevelt, Sonia Delaunay, Michelle Obama, Kate Winslet, Claude & Francois-Xavier Lalanne, Paul Serusier, Dora Maar, Tara Brach.  

-Edited by Heather Zises, Marketing Director

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