I began teaching in 2000, after leaving traditional museum work. The fulfillment and joy I receive from teaching originally came as a surprise, even though I come from a family of educators. Though I am in the role of "instructor", teaching is a pleasure because of what I get out of it: the thrill of seeing individuals of all ages learn to communicate through the creative process. My goal as an educator is to faciliate an environment where all participants are comfortable exploring both new techniques and means of expressing. I am constantly amazed at the abilities of all my students, regardless of age, to take basic materials and techniques that they transform into beautiful and arresting works of art. Whether teaching out at art centers, universities and colleges, and P-12 school, or instructing through my home institution (Morehead State University, "Understanding the Visual Arts" art appreciation course) teaching brings a richness into my life unlike anything else. Their reaction to art, their own, others', as well as my work, is amazingly fresh and intuitive. The student/educator interaction becomes a necessary element in both my art and my life; through teaching I learn new ways to perceive, create, and communicate. Plus, I meet new friends of all ages, friendships that often continue long after the workshop is over.

Please click on the the following images to get to descriptiongs of my adult (including artist professional practice), college and young learner workshops and projects.

See my resume for specific details on my teaching experiences, and for my teaching statement, click here.

CraftSummer, "Embellished Textile Collage" Workshop

In the summer of 2005 I taught at Miami University's CraftSummer Program in Ohio. For a week, twenty students and I had a blast sewing, embellishing, and generally behaving foolishly. The fact I get paid to hang out with great people and make art is amazing to me. In the workshop, we created the following projects: embellished dimensional textile objects, folk dolls, non-traditional textile samplers, and finally, a completed textile collage (for detailed project descriptions and/or sample images, please e-mail me with your request with specifics regarding your workshop needs).

Left image: Samples of folk dolls created by session participates at a Kentucky Art Education Association meeting (thanks to Claudia Banahan who provided the image!).

Right image: Samples of painted, quilted and embellished self-portraits created during Camp Impact, a summer program for 3-5 grade at-risk students managed by the Rowan County Public Schools, Kentucky

For detailed project descriptions and/or sample images, please e-mail me with your request with specifics regarding your workshop needs.