I have been exploring the arts and expressing myself through art, in one way or another, throughout my life. I would be lost without it.
It has also always been essential to me that I feel like I am leaving a contribution, or helping others in some way. When I was about 4 years old, I announced that I would become a brain surgeon. I was told that I would have to go to medical school for 8 years, and I decided then that 2 lifetimes was just too long! So, I decided to focus on the more easily accessible "mind" and went into Psychology instead. After 5 years of college (quite a bargain compared to 8!) I graduated from Nova Southeastern University with my Masters Degree in Mental Health. I worked with children and families in Florida for several years before deciding to move back to North Carolina.
The research job that I took in order to move back "home" left me feeling unfulfilled, like I wasn't "helping" enough, and I was also beginning to feel the need to bring more creativity to my work with others, so I went back to school for massage therapy. People often ask why I left the field that I studied for so long, but I don't see massage therapy as a deviation from that. Rather, I see my work as a deeper exploration into the spirit; into what makes us human and what makes our spirits soar.
I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 8 years working as a massage therapist, and the connections and friendships I have formed have been invaluable to me. I also adore working independently, and following my muse each day!
Of course, my muse always has surprises up her sleeve, and led me to working with pregnancy and birth, helping women through labor with massage and relaxation techniques. Being chosen to be present when a new life is brought forth into existence is an honor and an experience that I could never describe in words. Maybe that is why I began to create birth art. I am so overwhelmed by the power of woman, and her unique role in bringing forth life and shaping the future. Most of my artwork celebrates that in one form or other. Of course, the other amazing aspect of that is the power, promise, and hope represented in every child.
My passion is still, and has always been, working with women and children; Celebrating power, potential, innocence, & possibility.
Along with that, I live every day looking through the lens of my spiritual faith, and I am humbled by the impossibility of grasping it all- I am absolutely in love with our Creator, and Mother Earth in all of her forms. I am filled with gratitude for all that we have been offered, and I hope that my artwork and photography captures that. My hope is that the images that I capture will convey some of those feelings of awe, instill a sense of peace and faith, and sometimes even create controversy to the extent necessary to shake up old thought patterns and make way for the new!
The images that I am drawn to share express the sacredness that I see in "everyday" life. I hope that message comes across in my work!