About Me

Welcome to my website! I am thrilled to be starting my 11th year teaching at WHS, and my 13th year teaching overall. Art has persisted in the darkest, strangest, and most confusing times; one could even argue that art making becomes even more important during such times for not only the artist but for society as well. Art can say things that language simply cannot. After so many years working with teenagers, I've seen that making art with my students is vitally important to their processing of the world and the changes they are experiencing every day. 

I attended the University of Texas at Austin, earning my BFA in Studio Art, specializing in fine metals and ceramics.  After graduating in 2002, I moved to Boulder, CO where I started my own jewelry business, making and selling my own original designs in sterling silver and gold.  I moved back to Austin in 2006 and kept my business going as more of a side project while I worked in the corporate world.  In 2009, I'd had enough of the corporate world, and went back to UT to get my masters in Art Education, and completed my studies in 2012.  I then taught middle school art classes for 2 years before coming to Westlake High School. It was my memories of my own wonderful, validating, and motivating experiences in my high school art classes that drove me to become an art teacher, so teaching teenage art students  is especially meaningful for me. 

I live in South Austin with my husband, our 8 year old son, our large, high energy pups, and my fully packed, chaotic, ADHD wonderland that is my backyard art studio. When I'm not trying to keep up with a 2nd grader, I am always making something and I can't wait to teach my students the joy of finding their own fulfillment in creating art.