When I sold my 160-acre ranch in British Columbia, I thought I would never see Starshine Valley again. But my new friends (new at the time—now they are old friends!), Gary and Val, invited me to house-sit for them while they went on a long trip to Scotland. My art project Warhol in the Forest was born as a fun surprise for their return.
I subsequently wrote about my love of the Campbell’s Soup can, and keep coming back to this theme. The idea of bringing the Warhol project to New York’s Central Park has been simmering in the pot of my brain for a few years now.
Finally, this past Sunday, it was time. It turned out to be a special day, as you will see. Here is the result, my newest art project, “Warhol in the Park.” The original project entailed 28 images—the number of cans of Campbell’s Soup in Val and Garry’s cupboard. This time I’ve upped it to a nice round 30.
Our heroine humbly begins her journey here, on the shelf at CVS. The price in Vancouver in 1999 was $1.19 to $1.69.
Oh boy, the park! First a bite to eat. I was sitting on that shelf a long time.
Now a drink of water.
Aw, such cute friends. They gave me a good sniff, and now they’re ignoring me.
Good view from up here.
Transported to Paris.
I wonder if the park will ever have the budget for repainting.
WWI Mayor Mitchel, this is a beautiful, if unexpected, memorial.
Jigsaw puzzle perfect.
Ah, resting in a gnarly bole.
Hey, looking good! Well thank you, Mayor of Central Park.
What’s going on over there?
It’s the New York Marathon!
Protectors of the realm.
While the cat’s away…
No wait, there’s someone in there. Oops.
On the grid.
This is just so unexpected. An ancient urn with a bull in the forest.
A spaceship? No, it’s the Guggenheim.
Sun is setting in the park.
To the rescue.
I feel like I’ve been running forever. But it’s only 1.5 miles. Or is that 3.08? What the heck does this mean?
Ghostly night runners probably know what it means.
Art inside and out. The Seated II, bronze statue by Kenyan artist Wangechi Mutu.
Where did everybody go?
Warhol Splash
Time for a splash. OK, I’m done. Taxi!
Home James, on the M2 down Fifth Avenue.
Thank you for joining us on our day in the park. This 121-year-old can is good until July 18, 2021. She’s going to have some more adventures before the casserole.
Alexandra Kargin, The Bomb, and Karen Rempel in spots
I’ve been attending FashionSpeak Friday events at the National Arts Club, ever since stumbling upon the Iris Apfel book launch (for Accidental Icon: Musings of a Geriatric Starlet) and award ceremony there, in May 2018. Suddenly a glamorous world of high fashion and style opened up before my eyes, and I knew I wanted to be part of it. I happened to be wearing fantastic Herchkovitch; Alexandre + Melissa clear vinyl platform shoes with flower cut-outs, and it appeared I fit right into the event, for people assumed I was part of it. (Actually, I’d been attending our graduation dinner for the United Nations Worldview Institute Executive Leadership Training, downstairs, that evening.) In any case, I was smitten with the National Arts Club, FashionSpeak Fridays, and fashion in general.
The Bomb’s shoes & socks. This man has style!
A few weeks ago I attended a leopard-themed event at NAC, in honor of International Women’s Month. The speaker was Jo Weldon, author of Fierce: The History of Leopard Print. She gave a very informative and fascinating talk, and the evening began with an amazing burlesque performance. What was most delightful about the evening for me was the prevalence of leopard prints, as New Yorkers love the chance to play dress-up. There were so many spots in that room that I thought I might have an epileptic fit.
Sole mates – zebras and leopards in harmony
FashionSpeak Fridays at the National Art Club are free to the public, so I like to go whenever possible. I just love the atmosphere at the Club, and the fashion events are truly inspirational. The Club, at 15 Gramercy Park South, is located in the historic Samuel Tilden Mansion. Samuel Tilden, the 25th Governor of New York, combined two mansions and gave them a complete redesign in 1863. Tilden hired Calvert Vaux, a famed architect and one of the designers of Central Park, to modernize the façade with sandstone, bay windows, and ornamentation in the Aesthetic Movement style. John LaFarge created stained glass panels for the interior of the mansion and glass master Donald MacDonald fashioned a unique stained glass dome for Tilden’s library that crowns the room where the bar is now located. This is truly one of my favorite places in New York to have a drink.
Bert Daniels, Karen Rempel, and part of Jo Weldon’s leopard print collection, with DJ in background – he mixed a lot of great jungle-themed tunes for the event!
In 1966, New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission declared 15 Gramercy Park South a New York City Landmark; and in 1976 the Federal government designated the building a National Historic Landmark. Of course the club has had many illustrious members, including three US presidents and many artists, writers, architects, and other creative geniuses.
Dusty, Alexandra, me, Anila, Nikki, and Bert at the Rose Bar, across Gramercy Park, after the event
The club is a great place to hang out, and I hope to be a member soon so I can lounge and dine in the gorgeous library and restaurant. The sparks of creativity in the atmosphere have landed in my heart, and ignited in my new role as Fashion Editor of the WestView News, the Voice of the West Village. As many of you know, I’ve been writing articles for the paper for a few years now. When I wrote a piece on the closing of the Cornelia Street Cafe (also discussed at length in this blog), the owner of the paper, George Capsis, said he’d like me to write, write, write for the paper. He invited me to HQ on Charles Street, and asked what I would like to write about. What came out of my mouth, with no forethought or foreknowledge, was the single word, “Fashion.” Wow! A revelation… My first fashion column came out in March, and the April edition is due out tomorrow, with the second column. You’ll see me sporting leopard there too!
August 31, 2017 – My friend Mike Rosetta took me “down the shore” to watch the solar eclipse on August 21. We went to the beach in Ocean Grove, New Jersey, a short beat from Bruce Springsteen’s hometown of Asbury Park. Much to my surprise, we had to pay $8 to go onto the beach. Another friend, songwriter Michael Graetzer, took this amazing eclipse photo in Central Park:
The eclipse was very eerie and beautiful. Clouds kept going by, so I lay on the sand with eclipse glasses on for about 2 hours, waiting for glimpses of the eclipse to emerge. I saw the whole path of the moon across the sun and it was magnificent and made me think cosmic thoughts!
Plus I think I finally understand that whole thing from grade 9 science, with the orange and the grapefruit and the pingpong ball.
I took this photo series while I was creating the Warhol in the Forest treasure hunt for Val and Garry at Starshine Valley. It was mid-September, and mushrooms were blooming shyly, peeping out from grasses and bits of wood.
An homage to Val & Garry’s forest art installation and to Mr. Warhol, with thanks to Marlena for the use of her limited edition Campbell’s Soup collection
This is a treasure map for Val and Garry, to help them find the 28 pieces of gold hidden in the Starshine Forest.
Beaming at Andy in the heavensStone cairnWildlife cam in camoHanging out in the creek [Hint: by ford] Scenic outlookCaught in the headlightsBurnt rustle fenceOn the barbieOn the poo pipe!Boot geometryAt the end of the road [Hint: go for the gravel] Corner postThe sign is clearThree in the cornerCattle chuteUnder the vol-cone-ahCooking dinner Triangle rock in the forest Between a cow and a cowboyTripod at the center of the universeMedicine wheel – eat your broccoli, it’s good for youThe person by the roadSitting by the dock of the bay
Rock hill [Hint: SW corner]Boulder hill with triangle rock [Hint: S of thinking post]
Ideas raining down at the thinking postThe end of the [fence] lineSitting on a stump
Yesterday I met with a group of friends to participate in the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Our group of 6 people picked up trash for 2 hours and these are the amazing results:
570 food wrappers
1,074 takeout containers, cups, lids, bottles, cans, and utensils
432 plastic bags and pieces of packaging
1,120 pieces of tiny trash (1 inch or smaller)
19 bags of trash (91 Kg or 200 lbs)
Additional furniture, construction waste, and large items totalled another 113 Kg or 250 lbs
Total items picked up: 3,592 pieces of trash
Stefan holds an erotic video and an expired visa card
Total trail length cleaned up: 2.2 KM
The most interesting items we found were a VHS cassette entitled The Ancient Secrets of the Erotic Arts, an expired Visa card, a bullet, and a car cigarette lighter.
We concentrated on the area of the Trans Canada trail from Bridgeway at Skeena to the Second Narrows Bridge, as this industrial area seems to attract a lot of litter and dumping. We also did the gravel lot immediately to the west of the junction of Bridgeway and Skeena, and a light pick-up on the trail all the way to Willingdon. Check out the before and after photos. My East Van Pickers gang members found the concrete, visible results very satisfying. Not bad for a couple hours on a Saturday morning! Thanks, gang!
Cary helps the guy from City of Vancouver load the pickup
Part of Something Bigger
We had a lot of support from the Keep Vancouver Spectacular program, which provided pickers, safety vests, gloves, garbage bags, and buckets. They picked up the full garbage bags immediately after the event. I’d like to thank Riley and the other folks at the City of Vancouver who helped support our event.
I’d also like to thank Katie Rodgers, who hosted the cleanup event at this location in September 2013. The way you laid the groundwork, you made it very easy to follow in your footsteps. Thanks, Katie!
And thanks also to the folks and organizations at the Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup. Local sponsors are the Vancouver Aquarium and the Vancouver branch of the World Wildlife Fund. Nationally, the program is sponsored by Loblaw Companies Limited. And this group is part of a larger effort, the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup. Data that we collected at our event goes all the way up the chain to provide information for global initiatives to reduce garbage at the source.
Under the bridge – before cleanupUnder the bridge – after cleanup. What a difference!
Shoreline Cleanup Fast Facts
The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup is one of the largest volunteer efforts in the world.
Over 50,000 Canadians participate each year
We clean over 3,000 KM of shorelines (equal to the distance from Vancouver to Thunder Bay, ON)
Over 110,000 food wrappers and containers are removed every year—the amount one person would produce by having takeout 3 times a day for 100 years. Wow. That’s a lot of people littering.
Illegal dump – after cleanup. Nice work! Illegal dumping – before cleanup
What’s with the Dog Poo?
One of the most bizarre items we picked up was dozens of little bags of dog poo, neatly tied in a knot. We puzzled over how a person could take the time to pick up after their dog, doing the right thing, and then toss the bag into the woods, doing the wrong thing. What is the psychology of this? My friends came up with the theory of situational morality. Dog owners pick up the feces either because someone is watching, or because they actually feel bad about leaving poo on the trail. But then when no one is looking, they throw it in the woods, rather than walk another 100 metres to the garbage bin, or carry it home to throw away there. Grow up, people! We don’t need our tiny remaining amount of green space filled with little bags of dog poo.
Why Do People Litter?
This is the bigger question. Not why do people throw away the little bags of dog poo, but why do people litter at all? I confess, I used to throw away cigarette butts. I am probably responsible for thousands of butts on roadsides around the province. I had a technique for flicking the butts, and I thought I was pretty cool doing it. It seemed like an invisible item, that tiny cigarette butt. I had no awareness of how it makes the landscape ugly for people who come along after me.
So I imagine that littering is like this. People are not aware of the impact it has. There is a momentary relief of being free of a burden. Just tossing it away. Feels good, right? I noticed that around the park benches, there was a lot of trash just a little bit into the brambles, as though people didn’t want to see their litter, and thought if it was a few feet off the path, it wouldn’t bother anyone. So this indicates some awareness, some concern for appearances, and perhaps a lack of awareness of the bigger picture, that those bushes a few feet away are worth caring about too.
Increasing Awareness
Trans Canada Trail – after cleanup. Lovely!
So to help increase that awareness, here are some factoids about the impact trash has on wildlife:
Trash can travel great distances: a plastic bag can blow away and wind up in a waterway, entangling wildlife. This can cause long-term injuries and even kill the bird or animal.
Trash can persist in the environment for many years. A plastic bottle can take up to 450 years to break down. But it just breaks down into smaller pieces, which wildlife eventually eat. The law of the conservation of matter: nothing ever disappears.
Eating littler can lead to choking, poisoning, and even malnutrition among wildlife.
To find out more about the impact of shoreline litter, see the GCSC Learn More page.
Parking lot – after cleanup. Awesome!
Change Starts with Action
Number one thing you can do to reduce waste in the landfill, litter on the trails, and unnecessary strain on our planet’s limited resources:
DRINK WATER FROM THE TAP
That’s right. Pretty simple. Something you used to do as a kid, right? Bottled water is a Coca-Cola and Nestle marketing scam. Don’t fall for it.
Vancouver’s water is the best in the world. It collects naturally from rainfall gathering in the mountains and streaming to the Seymour Reservoir. The City of Vancouver lightly treats it with chlorine to remove harmful organisms. If you don’t like the chlorine, use a water filter.
Other things you can do:
Put your garbage in the trash can.
Buy less stuff.
Organize a garbage-less lunch day at the office one day a week.
Recycle, compost, and reuse as much as possible.
Donate items to charity or sell them on craigslist.
And for items that you really can’t get rid of any other way, take them to the dump and pay the fees. Don’t leave them in the bushes so that other people have to come along and clean up after you.
East Van Pickers – Cary, Stefan, Karen, Mike, Jill, Patricia
Thanks again to my awesome friends for coming to help clean up my favourite running trail. Hundreds of people use this trail every day for commuting by bike, running and jogging, and recreational enjoyment. Lots of people thanked us as we were working, and it was a great feeling to know that we were making this trail a more beautiful place for everyone to enjoy.
Water runoff channel – afterWater runoff channel – beforeStuff we picked up. Coach, mattress, plywood board.Stuff we picked up. Cushions, a decomposing particle-board bed frame.Stuff we picked up. A table, lawn mower, and carpet.Stuff we picked up. Full paint cans!
With the recent takeover of Drive Organics by Choices Market, I am very concerned that I will be losing the store I love. I walked into the store this week and already the apple bins had been changed. Staff had been “offered the choice to leave” due to Choices’ corporate dress policy, and a number of people I know and appreciate are gone. There was a section of pre-packaged, non-organic, pre-made food items. The bulk food section has been decimated. And this is just the beginning.
I am very sad to see the end of my beloved Drive Organics. I have written this letter to the CEO of Choices Markets, describing what I love about Drive Organics, hoping to stem the tides of change. And I am preparing to vote with my feet…
———-
Dear Ishkander Ahmed,
I have been a very loyal customer of Drive Organics for many years. I currently do all of my grocery shopping there, as well as purchase supplements and household cleaning products. My monthly spending at Drive Organics is between $500 and $1,000 every month.
I am concerned about your intention, as stated in Business in Vancouver, to rebrand the store as a Choices Market. I believe you do not understand the culture on Commercial Drive. It will be a mistake for you to rebrand the store to be like the other Choices Markets. The people on Commercial Drive value different things than your customers in Yaletown, for example. We value cultural diversity and individual expression, political dissent, and local and sustainable food sources. The current branding at Drive Organics reflects these values.
I am aware that you have already begun the rebranding by forcing employees to leave Drive Organics because of Choices dress policies regarding tattooing and piercing. Big mistake! This will drive away customers who are not only loyal to the store but to the members of our community who work there.
These are things I love about Drive Organics:
Employees with dreadlocks, tattoos, piercings, and odd clothing choices. I don’t want to shop at a store where the employees are forced to conform to a mainstream image. No uniforms!
Eclectic alternative music that reflects these employees’ tastes. Not elevator music or Top 40.
The feeling of being in a hippie market in a small town, not a sanitized corporate chain store.
All the produce is organic. Yes—100% of the produce is organic. I don’t have to read the labels on the shelving to sort out which products are organic and which are not. I don’t have to limit my menu because only a few items I want are available as organic—as happened on those few occasions when I tried shopping at Choices Yaletown.
Very little meat. The customer base at Drive Organics is mostly vegetarian and vegan. We don’t want to see a big meat section with a display of the flesh of dead animals. Currently Drive Organics has a very small selection of ethically raised and butchered meat and fish. If you change that to offer the type of meat selection most markets carry, you will drive away a large portion of your customer base.
Organic choices for every type of food and grocery items, including bulk foods. I have seen at Choices that you offer a lot of non-organic items. Not interested! There is a reason that I do all my shopping at Drive Organics and that is because whenever possible I only buy and eat organic food.
I advise you to think twice before making any changes that will change the vibe and ethos of Drive Organics. There are other grocery stores that Commercial Drive customers can choose, including Sweet Cherubim, Eternal Abundance, East End Food Co-Op, and Donald’s Market.
I will be watching closely to see the changes you make. If you try to make this store into a regular Choices Market, you will lose me and many other customers.
May 3 is the night of the BC Book Prizes gala, and up for the Bill Duthie Booksellers’ Choice Award is a new book about cougars. Given the popularity of the blog entries about cougars that I’ve written on this site—it’s the topic that I have received the most comments about—I thought readers might be interested to know about The Cougar: Beautiful, Wild and Dangerous by Paula Wild.
The Cougar is a skillful blend of natural history, scientific research, First Nations stories, and first person accounts. With her in-depth research, Wild explores the relationship between mountain lions and humans, and provides the most up-to-date information on cougar awareness and defense tactics for those living, working, or travelling in cougar country. Both feared and admired, cougars are rarely seen, but odds are that a big cat has watched you walk through the woods while you’ve been totally unaware of its presence. And that’s part of what makes the cougar an icon of all that is beautiful, wild and dangerous. Paula Wild is the author of Sointula Island Utopia, winner of a BC Historical Federation Certificate of Merit. Her work has been nominated for National Magazine Awards and she received the John Alexander Media Award for “On a Mission for Life.” She lives in Courtenay, BC.
On June 21 I will be guiding another medicine walk excursion in North Vancouver. The medicine walk is a way to connect with nature, and especially the wildness and beauty of your own inner nature. I will be teaching the nature psychology of the four directions, and then people will have the chance for a 2-hour solo walk to find out for themselves how this ancient teaching can connect them with their inner guidance and the guidance that nature offers us.
Do you have a burning question about your life, your purpose, your soul? Are you seeking guidance, and ready to look within? If so, I invite you to join with a few other explorers on a day-trip to discovery. June 21 is the summer solstice, and the energy of the universe will be adding to the powerful energy of the beautiful spot in nature where we will be walking. See the Programs page for more information.
Afterward
June 21 was a gorgeous day on the west coast. My friend Marvin and I hiked 16 KM along the Seymour River. We didn’t follow the strict format of the medicine walk, but did spend some time in contemplation as we rested by the water. He taught me how to say “moss-covered stones” in Esperanto: musko kovrita stono. Sounds pretty Russian to me! The cool water flowing over the musko kovrita stono was serene and refreshing. The green of the forest was a soothing balm for my soul. Spending time in nature was a wonderful way to mark the turning of the seasons. It heralded a new way of being in the world for me—more at ease, taking time to enjoy the pleasure of my friends’ company and the beauty of the natural world. While I didn’t consciously bring a question as on a traditional medicine walk, the spontaneous unfolding of insight occurred nonetheless. Life can be gentle and flowing, like the river on the first day of summer. Perhaps that can be my default position, rather than the frozen stillness of winter or the turbulence of the spring run-off. We’ll see!
The School of Lost Borders, founded by Steven Foster and Meredith Little, has been developing, teaching, and guiding questers in contemporary rites of passage ceremonies for over 30 years.
The Wilderness Guides Council is a professional organization for wilderness guides that promotes the health of wilderness ecosystems and is committed to reintroducing meaningful rites of passage to modern culture.
Fran Weinbaum has been guiding vision quests in Vermont since 1995 and uses this ceremony to strengthen community bonds. Her web site provides info about the contemporary vision quest.
David Johnson is a Buddhist and ecopsychologist. In his web site he reflects on Buddhism, ecospirituality, ecopsychology, and coping with despair in the face of environmental damage and the impending peaking of oil production.
John Harper is a web guy and spiritual adventurer. He’s an old friend from the Diamond Approach, and set up this site and blog. Thanks, John!
Karen Rempel is the author, designer, and illustrator of this site. She is a technical writer and she can help you with your website too, whether you need someone to write new content or to edit and refresh your existing site materials.
