Art Vancouver, Western Canada’s premier contemporary art fair, is returning for its 9th edition from April 24 -27, 2025, at the iconic Canada Place sails (Vancouver Convention Centre East – Hall B). After a successful 8th edition, the 2025 event is set to bring together art lovers, collectors, curators, and creators from around the world to celebrate contemporary art.
Photo: Lisa Wolfin
Offering a curated selection of art from the West Coast and around the globe,Art Vancouver 2025 will continue its tradition of featuring a diverse selection of art, showcasing the talents of local and international exhibitors. The fair offers attendees the unique opportunity to experience innovative works that capture the spirit of the West Coast and International art.
More than an art exhibition, Art Vancouver brings people together. The event provides a space for attendees to discover fresh ideas, engage with gallery owners and artists, and experience the latest trends in contemporary art. With each year gaining more attention and participation, the 2025 edition is set to feature expanded programming, ensuring something exciting for everyone, from art professionals to art lovers.
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time – Thomas Merton
FROM PARIS to PALM SPRINGS, fashion week welcomed the long awaited comeback of Pierre Cardin. The man famous for pioneering Space Age Designs.
BIENVENUE PIERRE CARDIN
Attending the opening night of Fashion Week on El Paseo was as usual, a blast. This one was literally a blast from the past.
The namesake Pierre Cardin passed away in 2020 at the age of 98. His great-nephew, Rodrigo Basilicati-Cardin, now runs the Pierre Cardin fashion house as its CEO and artistic director. He was in attendance and they brought him on stage at the very end.
Cardin style is iconic for its futuristic, avant-garde approach. The sculptured forms blur the line between fashion and art. I was curious to find out if the fashion week shows in Paris & Palm Springs were the same. As it turns out, the shows between here and there are not the same.
PARIS vs PALM SPRINGS:
While Paris highlighted futuristic innovative fashion, Palm Springs offered a tribute to Cardin’s history and a more intimate, celebratory experience. Both shows reflected the brand’s enduring influence but tailored their presentations to their respective audiences.
The prestigious Paris fashion week focused on the Fall-Winter 2025-2026 Ready-to-Wear collection.It embraced Pierre Cardin’s signature futuristic and space-age aesthetic, featuring geometric shapes, metallic finishes, and innovative materials like sea wool (crafted from recycled oyster shells and plastic bottles). The event was held at the Cité des Sciences et de l’Industrie, with a backdrop of the mirrored Geode, reinforcing the space-age theme.
Fashionable Attendees
Fashion Week El Paseo, Palm Springs: In contrast, the Palm Springs show celebrated Cardin’s legacy with a mix of archival Héritage pieces and the Spring 2025 collection. The event had a more nostalgic and community-focused vibe, benefiting local non profits like Shay’s Warriors. It included a special collection, Caftanes Galore of Mérida, crafted from vintage Pierre Cardin scarves, blending retro and modern styles. The desert setting added a unique charm, with models showcasing vibrant, flowy designs under the white tent. Jewelry by Stephanie Lake. Benefiting Shay’s Warriors – Life After Cancer.
Jere Ring plays the piano and sings…but in a nutshell, he’s an all-around entertainer, comedian and storyteller whose talent has introduced him to an extraordinary life.
Photo: Candy “Sunshine” Glickman
Last season in Palm Springs, I met Ring at the opening of the old-Hollywood-style boutique hotel, The Velvet Rope. The gorgeous oasis pays homage to Palm Springs’ Hollywood roots with 9 rooms decked out to embody the vibe of a bygone era. When movie stars were movie stars and mystery prevailed. One of the rooms was dedicated to talented over-the-top entertainer, Liberace. Sidenote: I took my mom to see Liberace perform in Montreal when none of my other friends even knew who he was. Women loved Liberace. Did they know he loved them too?….but loved men more? Didn’t it seem obvious with all that glitter and bling? Throughout his life, he never made his gayness public knowledge. Must say, he was extremely charming.
Anyway, my friend Candy noticed Jere sitting at an outside table in conversation with some people. She’d seen him at social gatherings before, although she never spoke with him. She said his claim to fame was something to do with Liberace and thought that he might be the person who Matt Damon portrayed (Scott Thornson) in the movie “Behind the Candelabra” to Michael Douglas’s Liberace. She suggested we go meet him. So we did.
Turns out that he is not the no longer living Scott Thorson, Liberace’s complicated out-of-control lover who wrote about the relationship and later ended up in prison.
These pics below I took from a recent visit to Jere + Johnny’s home:
With lifetime partner Johnny Jaqua
Jere quickly explained to us that his connection with Liberace (or Lee, as Liberace was called to those close to him) was strictly professional, not personal. In other words, they were not lovers and never were. Liberace discovered Ring and turned him into his protégé. Jere is an entertainer who plays piano, tells stories and is naturally charismatic and funny. He became lifelong friends with Liberace, travelling around and accompanying him onstage for many shows over many years. And needless to say, he has countless stories about his experiences with the fabulously famous and infamous people he’s met along the way. He wrote a book that’s become a ‘cult-favorite’ called “IF THE SHOE FITS, BUY TWO.”
To be honest, I had the book for almost a year before actually reading it. But once I did, I couldn’t put it down. The hilarious stories and juicy gossip, vaguely reminiscent of Truman Capote’s scandalous unfinished novel “unfinished prayers.” However, Jere’s is more about his personal life and experiences with high-profile (and some low-profile but colorful) people instead of betrayal by exposing secrets and therefore enduring social exile. Many of the people he writes about are no longer around, but Jere’s still here, and people love him.
We met up with Ring again recently for lunch at his office; namely Spencer’s restaurant – his home away from home.
Recently at Spencer’s Restaurant. One of our favorite places.
Those of you familiar with Liberace will know that he always ended his show with his signature sentimental theme song “I’LL BE SEEING YOU“…
Jere’s First Review:
Written by Forrest Duke for the Las Vegas Review Journal:
“Liberace, noted for his many discoveries, including Barbra Streisand (he gave the talented actress/singer a significant career boost by inviting her to perform as part of his act in Las Vegas in 1963) has booked his newest discovery, Jere Ring, for an engagement at Liberace’s Tivoli Gardens restaurant. Jere will open his Las Vegas debut on Sunday, July 17, in the piano lounge. Ray Arnett, who stages Liberace’s spectaculars, heard about Ring, a popular performer, and his accomplishments as a piano singer. Ray passed the word on to Liberace who had Jere jet to Las Vegas for an audition. That did it! A new Las Vegas star was born.”
Then Life with Lee….and so many other fabulous friends. From encounters with Oprah, Jackie Onassis and the Gabor sisters to dinner at Lucille Ball’s home, escorting Ginger Rogers to an opera and entertaining on countless cruise ships…his story telling is never boring! As Liza Minnelli would say (he’s met her twice and has a funny story) – “never hang around dull people.”
Cheers to Life!
As you may have guessed; Jere Ring is anything but dull.
We’d be dripping in diamonds and dancing to disco music at the Ritz!
The Rancho Mirage Woman’s Club sure know how to throw a great FUNraiser.
The Rancheras held a fundraising luncheon last week at the gorgeous Ritz Carlton hotel. They raise money for various non-profits around the Coachella Valley. This one was dedicated to the advancement and education of youth in the community.
It started off with a champagne reception, amazing silent auction items and photo booth from “party life.”
The coveted “disco ball” purse.
Followed by a lovely 3-course lunch and dancing to disco music (provided by DJ Mod Girl), and Entertainment by Curtis & Beverly of Palm Springs Ballroom.
When you crave something sweet but don’t care to ingest crappy ingredients, these energy balls are packed with sweet goodness with their satisfying combo of cacao, peanut butter and coconut.
This simple, guilt-free recipe could be called a triple-crown delight just made that up because of being 1) easy to assemble 2) delicious and, best of all 3) they’re healthy! The only down side is that it can get messy…but in a finger lickin good way.
I bought a package recently at a health food store when I was feeling low energy and craving something sweet. You wouldn’t believe how many things I wanted to have but ended up putting back before I bought these. Because when you start reading labels in the dessert isle, you’ll probably end up being turned off of eating that piece of cake or pie you just put into your food basket. I tell you, reading about the ingredients spoils all the fun. But choosing wisely will end up making you feel better, literally. When I got home and looked at the ingredients on the packaging again, I thought “I can make these.” So I looked up recipes and used *cacao instead of chocolate chips (although you can decide to use those if you prefer).
Instead of using only rolled oats, I used a combo of organic, old-fashioned whole grain rolled oats & Trader Joe’s organic rolled oats with ancient grains (amaranth flakes, quinoa flakes, chia seeds, and ground flax seeds) for a chewier consistency.
Instead of using only peanut butter, I mixed organic creamy peanut butter with “ArtisanaOrganics” Cashew Cacao Spread (has organic coconut MCT oil). Even this alone on a piece of toast is scrumptious.
kept the packaging from what I bought and put some of mine inside
*The difference between “Cacao” and “Cocoa“
“Cacao” refers to the raw, unprocessed beans from the cacao tree, while “cocoa” is the result of processing those beans, typically involving roasting and grinding them into a powder, meaning cocoa is a more processed form of cacao; essentially, cacao is the starting material and cocoa is the finished product after processing.
In between going out to certain functions or get-togethers where we tend to not always eat the healthiest, at home I do my best healthwise by choosing organic as much as possible, phasing out red meat and keeping it simple, but always tasty. Rarely do I follow a recipe unless it’s to do with baking.
Here’s something I never thought I’d make – Cauliflower Steak! Are you kidding me? I heard about it, but only experienced eating it recently at a health food store for lunch, and it was surprisingly delicious, so I decided to try making it at home. I never even used to like cauliflower.
love cooking with a cast iron pan.
Of all the vegetables out there, cauliflower has probably been my least favourite. When assembled as part of a veggie/dip tray, I usually bypass it. I find the taste on its own very bland, but I know it’s good for me. It’s packed with antioxidants like sulforaphane (which help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals) and essential nutrients, including vitamins C, K, and B6, as well as folate, potassium, and magnesium. Who knew it was such a powerhouse? Certainly not me. It’s not even green coloured!
So off to Clarks Nutrition (I love this family-owned store) I go, and pick up a nice organic head of Cauliflower. Then located a site called healthyrecipesblogs.com (link to recipe below) and found out that there is not exactly a recipe per se, but more of variations on a theme, which I love. I followed the directions for cutting the cauliflower as such:
Wash the cauliflower heads, remove the outer leaves, and trim the very bottom of the core, keeping it intact. Slice each cauliflower head into ¾-inch-thick slices. It’s normal for some florets will fall off.
OK; so you cut it to resemble the look of a steak as close as possible, considering it’s nothing like an actual steak. Image from “healthyrecipesblog”
But wow; can it morph into so many different flavours when cooked. I didn’t want to try making it just one way; so I tried three variations and they were all delicious. You can season them any way you like so it’s fun experimenting. I did one with only olive oil + balsamic vinegar. The balsamic ends up caramelizing which is great. Another way was with fresh lemon juice + tahini. Another had smoked paprika as a main spice. I enjoyed all three ways.
Goes like this:
Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with nonstick foil or high-heat-resistant parchment paper and spray it with olive oil. I prefer parchment paper.
Arrange the steaks in a single layer on the baking sheet. Scatter the florets (that have fallen off from cutting) around them. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle them with half the seasonings.
Bake the cauliflower slices for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven, carefully flip them using two wide spatulas, add more oil, and sprinkle them with the remaining spices.
Return the cauliflower to the oven and bake it until browned and fork-tender, 10-15 more minutes. Serve immediately.
A nice side salad and dinner is served!
Have you tried it? Have a recipe you’d like to share?
Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION. 
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