My friend Jeff gave me the darlingest gift for my birthday this year:
Barbie Bowie! She looks just like me! The attention to detail of this doll is incredible, from the striped and polka-dotted tie to the platform brogues. The Barbie company made an exact replica of David Bowie as filmed by Mick Rock for his “Life on Mars” music video.
This was my singing debut, at the National Arts Club, where I also did my best to replicate Bowie’s “Life on Mars” look and sound.
It was one of the most thrilling moments of my life to meet Mick Rock at a photo exhibit of pictures he and other photographers had taken of David Bowie. I brought along a giant book of Mick’s photographs of Bowie, which he signed for me, and we hung out a bit. He did think I was gauche though. I was as eager as a puppy, and didn’t act as reserved as a cool New Yorker.
Me and Mick Rock, the photographer who did the “Life on Mars” video and many of the iconic Bowie photos in the early 70s.
I was really sad when Mick Rock died last year. His enormous book with a really cool holographic cover is behind Barbie in the top photo.
I was also honored to meet Carol Spencer at her Dressing Barbie book talk at the National Arts Club in 2020. She was a Barbie fashion designer for more than 35 years (early 60s to late 90s), and her book was published for Barbie’s 60th anniversary. I enjoyed many of her clothes, with no idea of the amazing woman behind them.
When I was a girl I loved playing with my Barbie, and it was hard to give her up when I reached the end of the elementary school years and other girls at school deemed Barbie too childish for us. I collected every color of the high-heeled loafers that went with the Barbie outfits in the late 60s and early 70s. I loved dressing Barbie in different outfits and imagining her going out on exciting dates. Little did I know I was in training for my Karen’s Quirky Style column!
As I mentioned in my February post, I have been honored to have my work included in the current Exhibiting Members Exhibition at the National Arts Club. (Open to the public Monday – Sunday, 9 to 5, until June 15.) Please stop by!
I never dreamed of this incredible honor on that sunny day in Vancouver when I was goofing off watching Netflix and saw a captivating shadow on the living room wall.
I met some encouraging friends who liked the series and encouraged me to submit the work to galleries. So I did!
I wound up having a solo exhibition of this work at the Havana Gallery in Vancouver in 2015, but felt I needed something more visually arresting to add to the 14 images, which were each 1-3/4″ by 1-3/4″. So I created a giant 8’x10′ version of the image!
As an icebreaker, I took pictures of all my friends and relatives at the opening, with their favorite works of art. I turned these images into a video, which was another spontaneous project that still delights my heart when I watch it.
One of the outtakes was this picture of my friend Bruce, holding my sparkly handbag for me. I just love this picture of him!
Flash forward to 2020, when I was preparing for my first New York solo exhibition. I wanted to show the Shadow Play series again, but the Revelation Gallery is bigger and there was a large empty space on the wall.
So I decided to do something with my picture of Bruce, and voilà, “Bruce’s Handbag” became a focal point of the exhibit. I printed the digitally enhanced photo onto canvas, and then embellished the piece with glitter to bring out the light and sparkle on the details.
I also decided to have a synesthesia component to the opening reception, and thanks to the curator Graeme Napier’s brainstorm and my friend Hannah’s and some other musicians’ creative generosity, a sound component was born. We had a minute-long impromptu musical performance for each of the 14 pieces. I projected the images on the wall behind the musicians so that the audience could see the image that was being played.
Everything in New York shut down soon after the opening reception on March 3, so the recordings and photos from that evening languished on my hard drive. I had intended to do a video of the event, but life went sideways.
So here, for the first time, is a video of the musical segment that goes with the blue piece, entitled “Nostalgia.”
The taste pairing with this piece was blueberry port. Just relish what Hannah Reimann and Steve Sandberg did on their spontaneous collaboration! (The Aeon Ensemble was amazing as well. Stay tuned for the complete series showing all of the musicians.)
Now “Bruce’s Handbag” is hanging on the walls of the National Arts Club. What a difference from the fate of “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park”!
Kicked to the curb. My doorman promised it would end up on someone’s living room wall! It was gone in minutes.
Life is a mysterious dynamic unfolding that continues upwelling like a fountain. I love the adventure of seeing where it takes me.
With Bruce at the National Arts Club opening reception. Five of the original series of 14 are on the wall behind Bruce.
I have exciting news! I am honored to be welcomed as an exhibiting member of the National Arts Club. This means a jury of professional artists evaluated my work and deemed it worthy of hanging on those hallowed walls! I am really flabbergasted!
I’ll send updates closer to the date, but please save some time to visit the Club during the period from May 12 to June 15! My work will be on display there as part of a group exhibit.
This sparked a creative surge and I decided to try my hand at watercolors. It was the first time I’d used watercolors since I was about seven years old. My sister Kim, a very accomplished artist, shared Anna Mason’s pear tutorial. It was so fun to do! Anna is a very friendly, encouraging artist. She teaches a wet-on-dry technique that allows for layering of color.
I learned from her to look at hue, intensity, and shadow in a whole new way. My favorite part was mixing the colors on a white plate. It’s so pleasing to wet the pans of color and mix up different shades!!
This October was chock full of chameleon-like shenanigans all over town.
I costumed for three photo shoots, celebrated at a combination Halloween-birthday party, and attended a 50th anniversary party at the National Arts Club.
I had the chance to become five different people, in addition to everyday Karen!
Harry Potter
Marilyn Monroe
Madcap socialite
Punk rocker
Film noir star
I hope you enjoy this recap.
It’s a Harry Potter Halloween on the Upper West Side.
Dorothy Bishop‘s Halloween show at the Triad Theater was a gas. I loved dressing in drag as Harry Potter. I started reading the series in August, and was psyched to represent Hogwarts on stage! Jessie and Andrew are a deviant dogcatcher duo, and Shawn is the marvellous MC.
Two Marilyns – Amy and me in Chelsea.
There’s a statue of Marilyn Monroe outside Chelsea Guitars on West 23rd Street. I dressed as Marilyn for my October Karen’s Quirky Style column, but Amy rocks the Marilyn look every day!
Standing on the brass rail at the bar, do it! In the West Village.
This is an outtake from a music video I’m working on called “Let’s Do It, Let’s Do Our Nails,” about a socialite who is obsessed with doing her nails all over town. The server at Bar Six looked on, horrified, and moments later told me to put the nail polish away.
Thirties glamour at the National Arts Club in Gramercy Park.
And finally, I was honored to attend Linda and Ralph Zagaria’s 50th anniversary party at the NAC. I knew this gorgeous gown by Engineered by Andrea T would be perfect for the occasion, as Ralph and Linda are living embodiments of the gracious era between the wars.
This month, I have been honored again to have my artwork accepted in an open exhibition at the Salmagundi Club. Last year, the photograph “Summer Piano in Washington Square Park” was part of a Village-themed exhibition co-sponsored by Village Preservation. I took the photo on my second trip to New York, in 2015, while I was having a mad crush on the city. The moment when I took the photo was also the birth of my Another New York Love Affair video art project on YouTube. The series is up to 53 videos now!
Karen Rempel, Tailor, 10″ x 10″ Framed
I took the photo currently on exhibit, “Tailor,” in May 2020, the day after the first major protests in New York in response to George Floyd’s murder. I was photographing the aftermath of the protests—burned police vehicles, graffiti, and broken windows—when I came across this whimsical display in the window of a Wash and Fold on University Place. My heart was pierced watching small business owners patch up their shattered storefronts. This miniature sculpture arrangement expressed a simpler, fairy-tale time, when mice came out at night to help the cobbler finish his work.
As I mentioned in my last post, I took a gallery walk on Madison Avenue in October. The Castelli Gallery had three Joseph Cornell paintings on display. A man working at the gallery showed me the backs of the artworks. Cornell had put art and found objects on the back of each frame. I was delighted at this secret treasure, which eludes all but the most curious viewers. This inspired me to do the same for my modest photo.
I haven’t done collage before, but I began collecting bits and pieces. The date for bringing my photo to the Salmagundi Club fell in the middle of my staycation weekend at the National Arts Club, so I brought the pieces with me, as well as all the supplies I thought I might need. The morning of November 7 dawned bright, and my room overlooked many windows of other creative New Yorkers who live across from Gramercy Park. I imagined each building was packed with artists and sculptors, and I was steeped in creative inspiration. After making coffee and checking on the New York Times election map (no decision yet), I brought out the makings and spread everything on the kitchen table.
The first piece was a beautiful watercolor painting of a pink and yellow-toned forest, from a chocolate wrapper my friend Lew gave me on my birthday. I had some “outtake” prints of my photo, from testing different types of paper, so I cut out a few bits from the photo—the sewing machine, the tape measures, and the woman doll’s head (with my own distorted reflection dimly seen). I had a postcard from my friend Sally’s recent birthday dinner at the Gramercy Tavern, and a wonderful zebra in a gold party hat cut from the birthday card my cousin Julie sent me from Germany.
I often think of the New York artists from the ’60s (Warhol, Rauchenberg, Stella, Lichtenstein, et al) when I slip on the shoes of artist, wondering how they felt as they prepared their art for exhibit, attending to the details of framing, wiring, and packing. I imagine my methodology is more feminine. I wrapped my 14 pieces for Shadow Play in pillow cases. Now here I was using birthday cards with a decidely pink tinge in my Cornell-inspired collage.
As I placed the pieces, trying different compositions, I needed a few more bits to fill it out. I turned to the copy of The Week laying on the table, and cut out the delightful squirrel dining at a mini picnic table. Suddenly I heard cheering, car horns honking, and bells ringing. I checked the NYT graphic on my phone, and Biden had surpassed 270 electoral college votes! Mad joy and euphoria spilled out around me, through me, and in texts with my cousin Julie in Germany and my sister Kim in Canada. New York was alive with celebration, and so were cities around the country. Half the world exhaled a profound sigh of relief. (The rub is in the other half, but let’s not dwell on that today.)
The cover of The Week had a signpost, with one pointing towards the current fake president, and the other pointing towards Biden. I cut out the sun shining through the clouds from the cover, and this was the last piece of the puzzle. I made a few final embellishments in silver ink, and one more mystery addition on the upper left corner of the frame. Ta da!
I love these moments of slipping into two dimensions and living an artist’s life. Then it’s back to the third dimension, lunch at Kubeh celebrating with friends, New York City alive again, for one brief day. Which is more real?
If you’re in New York, come to the Salmagundi Club and see the exhibit, November 10 to November 20.
Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Avenue at 12th Street. Open Tuesday-Friday 1-6 PM, Weekends 1-5 PM.
2019 Goal List and my modelling comp card. Dusty Berke took the two photos on the right—my two absolute favorites of the year. Red pants photo by Morgen Purcell. Leopard photo by Zoë Pappis Schultz.
I just read an interesting article about creative geniuses. The key to great ideas like Edison’s light bulb, sublime music like Beethoven’s “odd-numbered” symphonies, and influential plays like Shakespeare’s Hamlet, is to be continuously working and creating. Not all ideas are good ideas, and not all works will bear fruit. But the people who have reached the pinnacle of success have been driven to create (in enormous quantity), for better or worse, and haven’t been afraid to fail.
As I look over the past year and my successes and failures, I am cheered by this perspective.
I worked at my “day job,” technical writing, for the first quarter of 2019, and then was lucky enough to spend the remainder of the year pursuing various interests and creative projects. I tried a lot of new things, and was generally happy with the results. Even when I may have failed (to live up to my idea of what I should achieve), I am still glad I gave it a try.
At the beginning of the year, I wrote down my goals for 2019 on a small piece of notepaper that I kept by my computer all year long. Every now and then I whited out some bits and added new items or details. I also took great joy in noting my progress on the goals and putting a checkmark beside the ones I accomplished.
Modeling
Modeling was the first item on my list. Although I didn’t have an agent, I had quite a successful first year as a model:
A monthly style column, Karen’s Quirky Style, in West Village’s beloved WestView News, with my picture appearing every month
A print ad for a local healthy juice restaurant, Juice & Joy
Related video and sandwich board ads
2 photo shoots for glossy fashion magazines: The Face and Vogue — both amazing experiences!
2 photo shoots for clothing designers, for use on social media: New York’s Engineered by Andrea T, and London’s sustainable swimwear designer Elliss Clothing (photographed by the fantastic Rosie Marks)
1 runway gig at the United Nations
3 photos of me were on exhibit in an art show at the prestigious Salmagundi Club, and one of them won an award
My friend Dusty Berke from WestView took this great photo, which won an award at the Salmagundi Art Club. Definitely one of my fave moments of the year, doing this shoot with Dusty.
I didn’t earn a wack of dough, but most of these gigs paid a bit, so I was actually paid for working as a model.
National Arts Club Membership
I fell in love with the National Arts Club (NAC) last year, when we had our graduation dinner there for the United Nations Association New York’s (UNA-NY) Worldview Institute leadership training program. I started attending their FashionSpeak Friday events, and set a goal of becoming a member. I put quite a bit of attention into creating a resume and application worthy of this institution, and with the help of two wonderful sponsors, Francis Dubois and Phillip Edward Spradley, I became a member on May 28, 2019!
Linda Zagaria, president of the National Arts Club. I wrote a story about Linda for WestView and Karen’s Quirky Style.
What a thrill. I attended a gala there honoring the best-selling and much beloved author John Irving. (I also attended a UNA-NY gala honoring those who have worked to end human trafficking. I was blown away by the enormity of this problem when I researched this subject for a story for WestView News.)
Ann Nicol, Executive Director of UNA-NY, and me, at the gala at Essex House on Central Park South. Gorgeous designer dress loaned by my friend Andrea, owner, designer, and creator of Engineered by Andrea T!
Photojournalist for WestView News
My byline is on the cover of WestView News!
This was not on my to-do list at the beginning of 2019, but WestView News became an enormous part of my life this past year. I researched and wrote more than 40 stories for them (which would make the State of California deem me an employee—one of the 2019 larger news stories that made all freelance journalists shiver). One of my stories was even a cover story! Thank you, George, publisher and dear friend. It was fascinating to interview people and write about them, and made me feel a happy part of the West Village community.
But more than that, I became friends with many people at the paper and feel like I’ve found another family here in New York. This has been a tremendous blessing in my life. I feel so lucky to contribute to one of the last remaining local Village papers in New York. (You may recall that the Village Voice closed in August 2018. Lincoln Anderson was fired from the Villager in October 2019, heralding a new era of schlock.)
Photography Course & Video Series
As I mentioned previously in a story about taking my friend’s portrait, I started an online Master Class with wizard Annie Leibovitz in the fall of 2018, and it was on my to-do list to finish the course in 2019. Aargh! Failure! I still have about 7 lessons left to do, and my membership expired.
Summer Piano in Washington Square Park was on exhibit at the Salmagundi Club!
But on the plus side, the course has been a huge inspiration, and I have had a few great impacts from the course:
My work was exhibited at the Salmagundi Club. (Picture shown above.) I learned about professional photo retouchers, printing, mounting, and framing. I was very happy with the result hanging on the wall.
I accompanied almost every published article for WestView with my own photos.
I did another class through the site, taught by Anna Wintour, and it was very inspiring. Main takeaway—be inspired by life around you. Hello, New York!
I also took a workshop on video storytelling through the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.
And Wow! I did 13 videos for YouTube in 2019. My goal was to do one a month to add to my New York Love Affair video art project, but I always feel like I’m neglecting my pet project. I guess I didn’t do too badly.
This was a very fruitful, creative part of my life and yet I feel like it is a demon, always chasing me to do more! I went through about 10,000 photos (from New York only) to find appropriate images to enter in the Greenwich Village exhibit at the Salmagundi Club. Of those, I entered six, and one was chosen. And didn’t sell. So I feel this tremendous urge to produce, but I don’t feel that I have succeeded fully. Partially, yes. It was a great honor to have my work accepted in the exhibit. (It was an item I added to the list partway through the year, when I received an email about it from Village Preservation.)
However, in March I have a solo exhibit for Shadow Play, phase four. We’ll see what happens there! (More details on that later.)
Shoebook.me
Failure! Or I’m not sure what to call it. This was a genius idea I had for social networking for shoes, Christmas Day, a week before I moved to New York. People like the idea, and I’ve got the domain name, built the site once and took it down, started again, and then abandoned it. I guess I am pulled in other directions. Perhaps I’ve lost my enthusiasm for shoes? [Moment to ponder additions to my shoe collection this year. Hmmm.]
My 75% successful shoe acquisitions in 2019
Honestly, I needed all of these shoes. Well, most of them…
Rubber boots to wear when I clean the shower with CLR
Two cool pairs of sneaks to wear while travelling in Scotland, London, and Paris
Wingtip brogues were actually a re-do; I stripped and painted these 70s-style platform boots for my David Bowie tribute performance at the NAC
Black flip-flops replaced an old pair, and I wear them all the time for doing errands around my building
Rainbow flipflops – cute mistake
Silver Margaux flats – just a mistake; I thought I could eventually like them, but it never happened. And I didn’t get any ad revenue from them, either! Moral of this story: never buy ugly shoes, even if you think they will be comfortable.
But I guess I have been following too many alluring tracks this past year to sit down and focus on shoebook.me. Maybe in 2020! I’m not putting it on the list, so don’t hold your breath.
Dance Parade
Yup! This was a lot of fun. I set the goal of participating, and couldn’t find anyone to go with me, so I joined another group and had an amazing time.
My butterfly costume for the Dance Parade. I danced with the exuberant, colorful, kinky House of Yes, a “performance fuelled” dance club in Brooklyn.
In addition, I’ve continued to study ballet at the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet School, and I took a couple of classes at Lincoln Center, taught by dancers from the New York City Ballet. What an amazing opportunity. Plus, of course, classes at Barre3 five times a week. When I had to stop running in 2018, I was worried about losing my figure, and also my sanity. I’ve managed to retain the former through Barre3, and found another family there as well. As for the latter, it might be highly over-rated!
New York Love Affair Website
This is another partial success. I had the domain name loveaffair.nyc for quite some time. When I first created the 20-minute video of excerpts from my New York Love Affair series for the Vancouver International Film Festival, I created the site to support the video series. But I never kept it up, so this year I folded it into this very website that you are looking at now.
My wild New York view from my favorite reading chair. Ah, autumn in New York!
I rebranded this site Wild Visions: Love Affair NYC. I didn’t want to lose the tremendous SEO I’ve achieved with the bcwildernessvisions URL, so I’ve kept it, and I point loveaffair.nyc to this site. I also revamped the graphic design a bit, and added an email sign-up option. Go ahead, sign up!
You won’t be inundated, as this is simply a monthly blog. If you want to dip into my New York doings from time to time, this is the place.
Total Blog Entries in 2019
I mentioned above that I wrote over 40 stories for WestView News in 2019. I also wrote lots of blog entries:
I would have to count this as a rousing success! Almost 50 blog entries. This is probably what gives me the most satisfaction of everything I do. But wait… Every time I sing I feel a mix of euphoria and angst (wishing I was better). And there’s nothing like the feeling of dancing freely to music that moves me…
This year I’ve continually asked myself the question what am I meant to do? What is calling my heart?
I’ve sung, danced, modeled, written, photographed, created videos, and in general explored my artistic passions to the fullest of my capacity within a given year. I love all of these activities. I guess there is no single answer to what satisfies the heart. Except, perhaps, a singular mystical answer about abiding in the mystery. So they say!
Friends and Family
Friends in wigs on Christmas Eve: me, Shawn, George, Dorothy, and Dorothy’s neighbor
The recap of the year wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the amazing richness I have in my life, of friendships and wonderful times with my family. My cousins Irma and Julie and Stephan visited New York and we saw many amazing special corners of New York. My Mom and I went to Arizona with my dear friends Sally and Bill, and I also went on trips with Deborah (Scotland) and Rosanna (Switzerland), plus dipped into London, Manchester, Paris, and Big Sur. Wow. Some friendships may have ended last year, but many wonderful new friendships have begun, and I am very grateful for the ongoing friendships with people in BC, New York, and around the world. Thanks especially to all the friends who came to hear my Bowie performance. That meant so much to me.
The focus of this entry was on creative flow, so I didn’t touch on everything I did this year, but of course there were also many fantastic cultural events and lots of fun time with friends. All of this gladdens my heart and brings more inspiration in a reinforcing cycle of creativity.
Where’s the Money?
You might have noticed that in the upper left corner of my notepaper list for 2019, I had written a high number. I didn’t earn anywhere close to that. Not even a quarter of it! True, I only worked at my day job for one quarter of the year. I had hoped that some of these various endeavors might have led to a new income stream. Not yet!
But I have always looked to my technical writing career to pay the bills. I didn’t want to put any strain on the creative stream to have to be successful. That way the creative expression can be pure joy and love. My art doesn’t have to suit other people. I don’t have to convince anyone of its merit. It’s 90% creative flow for its own sake, as an unstoppable source emerging from my being. But there’s still that 10% that hopes someone will like it!
I guess in that sense, it has been a successful year. I hope yours was too. Thanks for reading. And all the best to you in 2020. There is much possibility for hope and positive change in the new decade.
I was honored to be granted membership to the National Arts Club in May, and this has opened up many new opportunities for friendship and creativity. One surprising outcome was the subject of this blog entry. I was chatting with another member in May, and we happened to talk about how we both like dressing as David Bowie occasionally. As you may recall, I have been at a few stellar events dressed as Bowie! The Orpheum Theater and the New York Marathon, as well as the Halloween Parade and the Pride Parade.
NYC Pride Parade 2019. Ziggy with the NYPD.
How it all began
My fellow NAC member, the painter David Krueger, mentioned that there would be a talent show for new members, and we decided to do a Bowie duet at the show. I started taking singing lessons, picking up on the singing dream I’d long held dear but abandoned in my twenties, when it was clear I was a better writer than a singer. Nonetheless, it felt great to be singing again, and I found a fantastically skilled, supportive teacher in Hannah Reimann, close by in the West Village.
I began to learn a few Bowie songs, and wanted to sing Life on Mars for the performance since I already had the blue suit. David liked the song too, but decided not to join me onstage after all. So I proceeded on my own. But this never would have happened without him, and for that I am eternally grateful!
Life on Mars
Little did I know that Life on Mars is a very challenging song for someone like me (an untrained newbie) to sing, partly because of the chord changes, and partly because of the speed of the lines in the chorus. There is very little chance to pause and reshape my mouth and throat for the high notes. It takes muscle memory and skill to make quick transitions, which I haven’t developed yet. I honestly had no idea that it would be so challenging to learn to sing just one song. I thought 4 months would be plenty of time. Easy peasy! haha
It also takes a long time to learn to consistently control the voice. Though I could get the notes just right in rehearsal, this doesn’t translate into glorious singing under the pressure of a live performance! Another aspect that was hard for me to learn was to really project my voice out to the audience. Like most people, I normally sing alone at home (or in the car), and what I am listening to is the sound of my voice inside my head. Where it really sounds great—powerful, tuneful, resonant! Hannah kept instructing me to imagine the sound reaching an audience in the distance, but when I sang louder it didn’t sound right inside my head.
The day of the show
On the day of the performance, I over-rehearsed in the morning. A rookie mistake! Hannah had very generously agreed to be my pianist for the performance, and even found a Mick Ronson-like glam outfit to wear. She and I had a short warm-up and rehearsal at the Club right before I went on. I realized to my dismay that my vocal chords were strained and sounded weak. Achhh. (German sound of disapproval and disgust.) As Hannah and I walked through the hallways and galleries and up the stairs to the main parlor, I was literally shaking. Total fight-or-flight response mode! Not a good thing for the vocal chords, as I am sure they were as tense as piano wire.
Taking the stage (the carpet, really)
Luckily, a number of dear friends were in the audience to support my debut, and their smiling faces helped me find the courage to sing the first notes. I had planned some simple choreography as well, and my costume was the Nazz. So I just jumped in and did it, and made it through to the end.
I felt a weird combination of conflicting feelings and sensations all happening at once. I felt afraid. I was exhilarated. I could feel the nerves thrumming along the skin of my arms, and I was remembering when to switch the mic from one hand to the other. I was recalling Hannah’s instructions on lifting the soft palate in preparation for “Mars.” I felt humiliated when some of the notes were wrong. I was looking at the audience (some of the time) to see how they were responding, and seeing a mixture of enjoyment and boredom. And I loved being there and performing. LOVED IT!!
This subset of the audience is Fellini-esque…
What I learned
It was a great learning to watch and listen to the recording of the performance (see below). I realized what Hannah had been telling me all along. I need to reach out and connect with the audience, overcoming my shyness about singing. This is something I’ve read that Bowie also had to do, early in his career. He wanted to write songs and create music, not go on stage, but he ended up singing in front of an audience (and becoming a legendary performer) because other people weren’t playing his music.
And of course I also learned that it will take many years of perseverance to learn to sing well. Who knows if I will ever make it in this lifetime!
But I continue to be inspired by David Bowie—the most lovable, creative genius earthling—and will keep learning and hopefully improving as time goes on. I am working on letting more of a powerful sound come forth. Stay tuned for my next performance!
For your viewing pleasure
I created three versions of the video of my singing debut, for audiences on different platforms and with different levels of interest in watching me sing. Really, one minute is all I feel I can ask of anyone who is not a member of my family!
Video footage recorded by Andrea Thurlow and Dusty Berke.
Square for Instagram
This one is under 1 minute (timed for an Instagram feed), and square to display well in Instagram.
Short YouTube Version Captures Highlights
This is the length for my Another New York Love Affair art project, where each video is usually under two minutes. It captures the feel of the event, with behind-the-scenes warm-up and a flash on the audience at the beginning.
Full Length
This is the full length of the song. It’s my singing debut, and my Mom might want to see the whole thing!
The Met has an exhibit called Camp: Notes on Fashion. This year’s Met Gala celebrated the exhibit, which is part of The Costume Institute at the Met. The exhibit examines how the elements of irony, humor, parody, pastiche, artifice, theatricality, and exaggeration are expressed in fashion. Not to mention food!
Here are some of my favorite pieces from the exhibit.
I would love to wear one of these gorgeous gowns to the next gala at the National Arts Club! An inspired pairing…
Spanish designer Cristoba Balenciaga evening dress (1951), black silk velvet and pink silk taffeta. French designer Thierry Mugler “Venus” ensemble (1995-96 haute couture), bodysuit of beige synthetic powernet embroidered with clear paillettes and pearl beads; dress of black silk velvet and pink silk satin with pink and blue silk satin roses.
Here’s a variation on wearing the lampshade on your head. There’s so much going on here, the mind boggles. David Hockney swimming pool, suit of armor, art deco shapes, wetsuit zipper. And so cute!
British designer Mary Kathantzou ensemble, 2011. Top of polychrome printed cotton-synthetic crepe; skirt of polychrome printed synthetic satin and white synthetic velvet trimmed with clear crystals.When you think Bob Mackie, you must think Cher! This 2008 dress is nude synthetic tulle embroidered with iridescent crystals, clear seed beads, and clear paillettes; headpiece of white silk organza and white felt embroidered with polychrome crystals and iridescent paillettes.Wild and Lethal Trash ensemble (1996); jacket of yellow PVC, bodysuit of purple synthetic spandex knot. French designer Jean Paul Gaultier dress (1995-6) of synthetic plain weave.This is making me hungry. According to Andrew Rose, camp is the “inherent funniness of leftovers.” The Italian design House of Moschino (Jeremy Scott) “TV Dinner” ensemble (2019-20). Cape of jute plain weave, polychrome foam, and silver spandex knit; romper of green synthetic plain weave embroidered with green paillettes.“The Souper” dress, à la Andy Warhol, 1966-67. You know how much I love the Campbell’s Soup theme!
Each year on Easter Sunday, celebrants in New York don fantastical finery and show off their very best bonnets along Fifth Avenue. This year’s parade takes place on April 21, beginning at 10 AM at 49th Street and proceeding north to 57th Street, continuing until about 4 PM. This New York City tradition dates back to the 1870s, and anyone wearing a bonnet can join the parade. As you probably know, the best place to watch is from the area around St. Patrick’s Cathedral between 50th Street and 51st Street.
Macy’s Fashion Pods
In the weeks leading up to the parade, Macy’s has its annual Spring Flower Show at three New York locations. This year’s theme is a sci-fi spectacle called Journey to Paradisios, complete with “fashion pods,” alien trees, and a spidercrawler. Each location has different flower displays and events. This is the 73rd annual Macy’s Flower Show. According to Susan Tercero, executive producer of Macy’s Flower Show, “This year Macy’s Flower Show will take spectators on an incredible extra-terrestrial journey filled with wondrous sights, dazzling discoveries and unexpected experiences as we invite them to explore Paradisios. More than 1 million spectators in three cities nationwide will have the opportunity to experience this immersive floral world and be the first humans to set foot on this majestic planet.”
National Arts Club Bonnet Bash 2019
In a related event, the National Arts Club will be holding their Bonnet Bash 2019, “Carnival of Capital Sins,” on Friday, April 12, 8 PM to 11:30 PM. Tickets are $35, available on eventbrite.
Stay tuned to this page for photos from this year’s parade!
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!
