Crista Cloutier

It was 1999 and I was spending that autumn at a small art school for American students in a tiny French village. They didn’t celebrate Halloween there. Non costumes. Non pumpkins. Non bons-bons. Like good Americans, we decided to change all that. We dragged pumpkins into the local school and gave the children big sharp [...]

We were just 18 years old and Mimi was the first of our friends to slip to the other side – into adulthood. Mimi was getting married and she had asked me to be a bridesmaid. My lone task would be a simple one, and to which I was well suited, the bachelorette party. Eight [...]

London’s Alternatives is the city’s most popular venue for New Age workshops, teaching classes in areas surrounding spirituality, creativity, wellbeing and self-development. “All our events”, their website boasts, “are offered in the spirit of love, joy and service.” With that in mind, I chose “Master the Law of Attraction” as my first dip of the [...]

It was with nervous anticipation that I first approached London’s Spiritualist Mission on that cold Wednesday evening. Perhaps I might receive a message from beyond? The church, built in 1912, was beautiful and warm. Music played softly. I relaxed. It’s not often one hears show-tunes in church. It was a decent sized crowd for a [...]

The Religious Society of Friends (RSOF), aka “Quakers,” was founded in England in 1652. Though there are still about 300,000 Quakers in the world today, when I mention the religion in polite company I often get puzzled looks, “Quakers? Aren’t they mythical, like fairies?” and “How do they get by without using electricity or driving [...]

Photo by Crista Cloutier Because I am weird this way, I crashed the Annual Conference of the Church of England Guild of Vergers at the All Saints Pastoral Centre in the English town of London Colnay. The Guild is not a trade union, not a club, nor is it some sort of sect, instead it [...]

Oranges and lemons, Say the bells of St. Clement’s You owe me five farthings, Say the bells of St. Martin’s When will you pay me? Say the bells of Old Bailey. When I grow rich, Say the bells of Shoreditch. When will that be? Say the bells of Stepney I do not know, Says the [...]

The gallery is small but not the crowd for the “Private View” of exhibition Dandy in the Underworld: Portraits of Adam Ant. He really was beautiful. Chrissie Hynde is here! Walking around as if she were a mere mortal. And there are rows of mohawks, as the punks have come out too. Companion tells me [...]

First in a series of Worship Reviews I usually win on the horses. I have an instinct. But I should have known better than to follow the “hot tip” I received at church that morning. My horse came in third. Turf Paradise Race Track on a warm Arizona afternoon is the place to be. But [...]

Hanging out with William Wegman and his dogs in NYC. I am there to interview him for my forthcoming Working Artist video. Up until a few years ago, I worked in the art business and Wegman w as one of my artists. In my office I had the last photograph he ever took of his first [...]

I brought no Italian with me to Rome. At the Brazilian Embassy, I tell the guard that I am to there to see visiting artist Vik Muniz. He speaks no English. My best mime only warrants a raised eyebrow. In desperation, I plead, “Parlez francais?” though I do not. A call is placed and I [...]

It was a hot day so I opened the big doors and settled down for an undeserved siesta. When I woke, it seemed that all of nature had moved in. Ants covered the floor. A bird perched on the shelf. A lizard slithered toward the fireplace. And somehow a bee got inside my shirt. Now, [...]

London’s largest Middle Eastern market is just outside my door. Constantly in the background is a broadcast of the Koran with someone singing beautifully in Arabic followed by an unnerving posh British accent translating into English. The people here know me because I visit every day. They say hello and often tell me their stories. [...]