People often ask about my design process: do I sketch and design and INTEND to use certain materials? What comes first: foraging, or dress concepts?  My short answer is: both. That said, most of the time the materials find me. Field Muse is one example of this: from the moment I saw the bark that forms her torso, I knew that I would do a piece in tribute to the many women that I work with who want to claim their self-worth. Alongside the struggle to manage life’s challenges, opportunities, chaos and change…they demonstrate humility, integrity and class as they seek new ways to elevate. Read on!

Have you ever had a teacher or mentor who inspired you? Do you let yourself be helped? Are you yourself a helper, coach or guide? Songbirds serve as wisdom teachers in the opening parables of Girl in the Woods as the central character, Timberella, recovers from the Great Storm.

What do you do when the trail ends before a dense, impenetrable field of muck? Do you go back? Do you plunge forward---wading, wet and bogged down? Or do you figure out a way to fly through the terrain, to dance with what you’ve got? Marsh Muses reminds you to take the best of you along. Be strong. Fly. Leave your muck in the muck, and move on.

Would you describe yourself as socially awkward? Do you sometimes feel like you don’t fit in? Perhaps you feel like you don’t live up to someone else’s standard? This is the story behind Shorebird, who proudly asks you to embrace your inner dork. 

Do you dream big, only to feel defeated (or intimidated) by the big space between where you’re at now…and where you want to be? Do you tend to make “big plans” for the future, only to become bogged down in so many details that it seems impossible to move ahead? Timberella 6 offers insight into finding the patience, acceptance, and confidence that informs your forward momentum.

Have you ever seen yourself as a work in progress, or someone who was built on conditions outside of yourself? Have you attended to this external self-construct—tediously, or as an automaton—working round and round in response to the expectation of who you think you should be? These questions are explored in the performative burning of the fifth Timberella in the series Girl in the Woods.

When life is defined—and lived—by too many external factors, it’s easy to feel like you are on a circular path. Round and round, you go on negative mental loops: guilted by someone else’s “shoulds” and shamed by the inner critic who compares you to impossible standards. How do you jump off of the hamster wheel of limiting beliefs? How do you let go of false narratives and learn to trust your own wisdom? And, what does it really mean to live in “alignment” or with “authenticity?”

Has life ever delivered an event (or series of events) that left you feeling disconnected, unsure of yourself, or uprooted? This is the experience of Timberella, the central character of Girl in the Woods, after she falls from her treetop nest during a Great Storm.

Have you ever experienced a redefining moment that left you feeling lost or alone? Perhaps it was a breakup, a health diagnosis, a financial crisis, or another kind of trauma?  These life-altering events are the metaphor in the opening scenes of Girl in the Woods as the central character, Timberella, falls from her nest in a great storm. This blog includes journal and art prompts.

In the practice of art-based mindfulness, an intention rests behind every artwork. Preluding the creation of Timberella 6 (T6), the intention was enterprising. 

Immediately, the piece went in unexpected directions. I wanted to think forward in time, but T6 took me back. I wanted enterprising to be expressed as entrepreneurial grandeur and financial success, she wanted simplicity and resourcefulness.

Restricted by time and materials—and knowing better than to force creative flow—I opened to the process. Here are the surprising (and inspiring) results!