i am city dweller and nature lover.

i was raised in the beautiful wooded hills of northern new jersey. there we were all blessed with the balance of natural surroundings and the wonder of new york city just 25 miles away. from the very beginning my parents nurtured my creative energy. my mother filled our home with her own canvasses and oil paints while she indulged us in a wide variety of crafts and artistic endeavors. we crafted long before it was "cool" to craft! outside of our home my mother exposed us to museums both here and abroad.

brooklyn is the third "short" city I have lived in. i went to school in boston and a couple of years after graduation, moved to san francisco with my future husband. there i designed wedding invitations and took on freelance calligraphy jobs while working full time in the alternative newspaper business. my publishing positions helped to refine my graphic art skills and i began designing and corporate cards invitations, advertisements. though i loved the sights, smells and tastes of northern california, i missed the New York area and returned home in 1997.

i have spent the last ten years working with and/or raising children. i sometimes don't know what is more exciting to me - learning a new craft/art form or sharing it with others. currently i teach art to home schooled children, as well as in a private school. my husband is also a teacher (special education and wood working), so our family is able to spend our summers working at a sleep away camp in the berkshires. he is the camp manager, i teach arts and crafts. we spend the entire season immersed in nature and the pure creative spirit of children in a safe, open environment.

creatively, i am charged with the energy, people and culture the city provides and soothed by nature. my inspiration comes from the color in a cracked brick wall to the smoothed rocks of a babbling brook. my favorite materials are wool, paper, stone, wood and anything combining nature and a glue gun.