Tell us a little bit about you and your background.

I am a realist commissioned artist, who specializes in portraits of all sorts, such as people, houses, places and pets in paintings, drawings and mixed media. Sometimes they are a traditional posed portrait, other times a special or everyday moment captured from life. My own artistic voice spans from mixed media character exploration of my alter ego, Ruby to painting from photos I’ve taken while traveling in my husbands homeland of Morocco, to moments in my life I feel I have to capture in a painting.

Married with one son, we live in South Orange, NJ since 2012. Part of my upbringing was in the Midwest, in Quad Cities, Illinois mostly until I was 11yrs old and we moved to Maryland where I graduated and went on to Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC getting my BFA in Fine Art. A few years after graduating I went to Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA to study Illustration and received my MFA. After graduating I felt the pull to live in NYC and moved there to eventually meet my husband, have my son and move to the suburbs of NJ.

What attracted you to work at One River School?

I was teaching small groups of kids in my home for a few years in South Orange, but then Covid hit. Teaching online worked for a while, but I realized I needed to look elsewhere, since my space was limited and people were getting zoomed out! One River Montclair hadn’t opened yet, but advertising for teachers, so I applied. I immediately connected with the Director, Erin, in a quick phone call and felt really encouraged by even our first interaction. Erin was quite frankly, my lead into the school and I knew I was in the right place. I was excited to be part of a team of people just starting this journey together. It felt very fluid and exciting. I love working here, feeling supported and encouraged is such a staple to making the teachers feel integral in its success.

How would you describe what it is like to teach here?

You are both independent and supported by the full time staff at One River. It gives you a sense of freedom, but not left entirely on your own. There is collaboration, input, feedback, it’s very supportive. Is it bumpy sometimes? Yes, because there are so many variables with this kind of school: sometimes a challenging lesson plan, rolling enrollment, kids/adults missing classes, make ups, etc. It gets messy sometimes but you move through it and you never feel alone in any situation. You always have support if you need it.

What has been your favorite project to teach and why?

I thoroughly enjoyed the summer camp teaching Retro Posters, which I will do again this summer. It was so much fun, the teens loved it and all had such unique work that came from it. I enjoyed the combination of image and text with influence from old travel posters from all over the world. I hope to make it even better this year!

Is there a special One River moment that stands out for you?

I have many, but one recent Adult Art Shuffle class, my OG, I call her, been with us over a year and a half, had this moment where her project took an unexpected turn and she so confidently moved through it, to be a kind of epiphany, possibly a new way to work on her dog portraits. She’s been on this particular journey for some time and I see so much growth in her abilities and artistic voice. It’s very exciting!

What do you enjoy outside of One River?

Oh, I’m a bit of a homebody with my hubby and son, but I do love a good comedy or art show, festivals, live music, hanging with my girlfriends, having fun occasions with them. I’m a bit of a soccer mom. I’m obsessed with my two cats, Kiwi and Luna. Mostly, I work in my studio on my off days from teaching, with a busy commission business, and listening to every sort of podcast, but loves me some Morbid, True Crime Garage, Generation Why, Smartless, Fly on the Wall, Radio Rental, Jordan Harbinger, Truth and Justice, Honestly to name a few. Can you tell I love true crime and comedy. I know, weird combo!