OJAI, Calif. — The “Pastie Lady” has left town.
Jennifer Moss has moved on after a year in Ojai, where she often pedaled a bicycle around town in a hemp G-string and flower-shaped pasties to promote Earth-friendliness.
The 32-year-old said her new home is Ashland, Ore., which is about 15 miles north of the California-Oregon border.
Moss was arrested twice in Ojai and ticketed repeatedly for obstructing traffic. Her most recent misdemeanor arrest was for removing everything but her G-string and pasties in front of parishioners leaving an Easter Sunday Mass outside a Catholic church. Stunned parishioners thought she was naked, police said.
“We got several calls,” said Ojai Police Chief Bruce Norris.
“Police attention was part of the reason I left,” Moss said last week. “But the number one reason I left Ojai is they are not conscious enough about the air, the soil and the water. Either you get it or you don’t.”
Ashland is perhaps best-known for being home to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. The city’s nearly 21,000 residents might see even more of Moss than Ojai’s did.
Moss said she confirmed with police that Ashland’s laws do not prohibit public nudity. She celebrated by stripping off all her clothes and doing a headstand right outside the police station. Then she rode her bike naked through the center of Ashland.
“This town is known for performance art. And even though it’s not the status quo to ride around naked, it’s been done before,” Moss said. “So it was no big deal.”
Said Norris, Ojai’s police chief: “I hope she finds real happiness up there.”
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