CURRENT MISSION

To find ways that art can build communities and create meaningful experiences

ABOUT ME

I love my work (I teach, I create art work and I run art events) but I work way too much. I get a break mostly when I travel.

PHILOSOPHY

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I would like to meet people when I travel - to be able to get a sense of a place and of the life and make personal connections rather than just pass through.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

My brother and my nephew couch surfed across France and loved it!

Interests

Art, Travel, dance, things that make me stop for a moment.. to make me think.. to notice something beautiful or curious or that makes me laugh

• arts
• culture
• contemporary art
• dancing
• running
• traveling
• socializing
• hiking
• surfing
• mountains

Music, Movies, and Books

Music: Lila Downs, Contemporary Latin, Old favorites: Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens, Billie Holiday, Bob Marley, Louis Armstrong

Movies:Chocolate, Life is Beautiful, Crash, Amelie, Frida, Motorcycle Diaries, Babel, V for Vendetta, Little Miss Sunshine, My Dinner With Andre, Princess Bride, Green Mile, Shawshank Redemption, Like Water for Chocolate, Persopolis

Books:Good Omens, 100 Years of Solitude, The Prophet by Kahill Gabran, My Year of Living Biblically

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Stayed/worked with Zapotec weavers in small villages in Oaxaca Mexico. Was amazed at the way that creating objects together can transcend language, age and cultural boundaries.

4 day hike to Machu Piccu

Swam in the phosphorescent pools in Puerto Rico.

Rode in van with 20 total strangers, zooming down a mountain highway in Mexico at 70 mph (with the side door wide open) when everyone burst into song with the radio.

Lived in the mountains in Montana for two years with no electricity or running water.(when I was much younger!)

Teach, Learn, Share

I have lead trips to study art and culture in Oaxaca Mexico. We stay in small towns and work side by side with traditional and contemporary artists. We learn from them, and they learn from us as well. It has been an amazing exchange of ideas and cultures.

I hope that through couch surfing I can have a similar personal connection in other parts of the world and other cultures.

Countries I’ve Visited

Mexico, Morocco, Peru, Puerto Rico, Spain, Switzerland

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States