I am passionate about connecting people with their creativity. We’re all capable of making interesting marks, shapes, lines, and images––and I believe that everybody should be able to find pleasure in the capacities they already have. I want to make it safe for people to experience the joy of making things with their hands the way I have since I was a child.

I’ve loved to draw since I was a kid. Amidst the chaos of life, the simple act of making lines on paper has always been enjoyable for me. I’m also a bit of a wiseass, so I enjoy comedy, irreverent pictures, and comic strips. I teach image-making––specifically in visual journals––because I want people to experience the pleasure of creative expression. A journal is a safe place where you are free to experiment without worrying about getting things right. It’s private unless you decide to share it.

Novelty inspires me. Anything unusual, new, strange, or funny. As an artist, I’ve spent my life jumping into unfamiliar, strange, even distressing situations to inspire stories and comics. I love experiencing things for the first time and seeing the world with “new eyes.” Foreign travel epitomizes that feeling for me.

First, I aim to create a safe, inviting space where students can enjoy being together and experiment with their creativity. It will be a judgment-and-evaluation-free zone, free of the pressure that many of us have experienced in art classes. I will provide daily lessons and work on my own journal, sharing my approach to gathering inspirations, translating them, and getting stuff down on paper. Students will have a menu of options to ensure the right level of instruction for everyone, regardless of skill level. I will also be available to provide personal attention.

Folks like to learn from me because I’m patient, non-judgmental, and sensitive to how — due to our conditioning– it can be hard to make art and try new things. I expose folks to new tools, frameworks, tips and tricks in a friendly way that makes “arting” less intimidating and stress-inducing.  I even have a few strategies to help them soften their inner critics. My lessons are fun, engaging, and surprising.  I provide evocative prompts, tantalizing suggestions, and invitations to play in various media that stimulate the right brain, the left brain, and mash-up woo-woo with hard science. If you already like to draw, you’ll have a chance to learn to inject more humor and irreverence into your work. If you are new to an image-making practice, you’ll get help developing basic skills.

Honestly, without sketching and journaling, I’m not sure I would enjoy traveling. All the stimuli of new places and new customs would feel overwhelming. Working in my sketchbook is how I process information. My journal helps me stay present, alive, and make sense of things. The practices I teach are things I do at home on the dining table or in a café. They enrich my life.

Students attend my classes because they want to have fun and learn how to make pictures and tell stories with more confidence and ease. People who have seen my comics and illustrations over the years love experiencing my creative process. They’re curious about how I crank up my “comics storytelling machine” and how I vacuum up facts and observations and translate them to the page. Those who already like to draw may want to learn to inject more humor and irreverence into their work, while those new to an image-making practice may want help developing basic skills while being nurturing and loving to themselves.

I learn so much! By creating, I learn about the nature of the place, the people, the history, the legends, and the occurrences that took place there. In Europe, if you do a little digging, you find that something bizarre has happened in every village. Like a baker with six fingers who tricked invading soldiers to hide in her oven so she could finish them off. Of course, I don’t spend all my time in the library, so the knowledge I glean is limited to snippets––but it’s enough to get my imaginative juices flowing. It’s fun to imagine the peasants, nobles, and figures from antiquity living among today’s influencers, Uber drivers, and Instagram divas. I also love learning from my fellow travelers and enjoying the drama of the journey. Every travel has its own shape and texture, and I like to try to make my journals bear witness to it.