I performed my way through childhood. I put on my first pair of ballet shoes when I was six years old, sang my way through GYPSY as Baby June at eight, and finagled my way into co-chairing the thespian troupe in high school.
Shortly after graduating from the University of Michigan, I packed one suitcase and moved halfway around the world to Jakarta, Indonesia. For nearly a decade, I explored this fascinating archipelago while teaching students how to communicate through language at an independent international school. Meanwhile, I earned my Masters in Teaching from SIT Graduate School in Brattleboro, Vermont.
While living abroad, I not only learned to communicate in another language (Bahasa Indonesia), but I also picked up a paintbrush and embarked on another mode of self-expression. Oils and watercolors enabled me to share complex feelings hidden under the surface of my outer being. Using intense, vibrant colors and vivid shapes, I depicted mythical creatures in exotic landscapes in a style I call 'tropical-surrealism'.
Eventually—in the aftermath of the May '98 government coup—I returned to the States. I relocated to the United States' expansive Southwest and studied Multimedia and Visual Communications. Upon earning my third degree, I gained practical experience by working as a graphic designer for several years in an architectural firm in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
After several years, the travel bug bit again and I moved to Mumbai, India and, subsequently, to Shanghai, China. In both settings, I shared my knowledge of language, drama, and design while learning about other people's cultures and languages.
I eventually returned to Las Cruces where my many interests have converged. When I am not teaching acting, directing, design, and English to my high school students, I read, paint, or hang out with my cat and two dogs.