How I Got Here

I was diagnosed at age 38 with metastatic melanoma while five months pregnant and already raising a toddler. Like many young mothers facing cancer, I found myself searching for others who understood what I was experiencing—wondering how they were raising children, coping with uncertainty, and navigating motherhood through one of life's most difficult seasons.

That search for connection led me to interview more than one hundred young mothers facing cancer. What began as a desire to better understand the emotional experience of cancer became the foundation of my book, Canvas of Courage, and eventually opened a much larger question: How do we process the experiences that change us? That question continues to shape my work today.

Although every woman's story was unique, I was struck by how similar the emotional themes were. Again and again, women described questions of identity, connection, courage, and what it means to move forward after life has been profoundly changed.

My Creative Philosophy

Creativity has always been how I make sense of the world. Long before I became an author, speaker, or therapeutic arts practitioner, it was through painting that I explored ideas, asked questions, and processed experiences that were difficult to put into words. Today, that same philosophy continues to guide every aspect of my work.

As a visual artist, my creative process continually evolves, balancing technical skill with the freedom of "the unlearned." Each body of work unfolds in layers—revealing deeper explorations of universal human experiences such as identity, connection, protection, resilience, and hope. I am drawn to boundaries, fascinated by their definitions, and often compelled to challenge, soften, or reimagine them.

Through texture, color, symbolism, and layered materials, I create work that invites curiosity and reflection. While the materials I use vary across each series, my methodology remains consistent: the subject matter determines the forms, techniques, and materials I employ.

Whether expressed through a painting, a book, or a therapeutic arts workshop, I believe creativity offers something unique—not because it solves our problems, but because it gives us a place to process them. You don't need to be an artist to benefit from creativity. You simply need the willingness to begin.

Why I Do This

Whether someone discovers my work through a painting, a book, a workshop, or a keynote, my hope is always the same—to create experiences that invite reflection, connection, curiosity, and hope.

My two books approach that idea from different perspectives. Canvas of Courage explores what we carry through illness, uncertainty, motherhood, and profound change. The Curious Curator turns toward the practice of noticing—inviting readers to slow down, become curious about what is already present, and use creativity as a tool for reflection and discovery.

Across my artwork, writing, speaking, and therapeutic arts work, I am interested in what happens when we create enough space to notice what an experience has left behind—and what we want to carry forward.