NOTE TO SURFERS: I DO NOT live near or in New York City. I live closer to Buffalo, NY. Which is near Lake Erie. Its on the opposite side of the state. Sorry for the confusion! :)

I'm an artist, and I primarily work in sculpture and book-arts. Recently I've gotten really into papermaking. It's very meditative and a lot of fun. I love making things, playing, tinkering, exploring and creating. I'm fascinated by materials and inspired by the outdoors. I love making new friends and meeting people from all over the world. I'm an open-minded, easy going and fun person. I love having great discussions over good coffee or a good beer. I love new experiences and will try (almost) anything at least once. I'm a bit of an introvert so I might not talk too much at first, but I open up pretty quickly. Plus, I prefer to listen anyway. Tell me your stories!

PHILOSOPHY

I live life to learn. I want to learn as much as I can. I want to learn skills. I want to learn about people. I want to learn about places. I want to learn about everything!

Also, peace, love and flowers. :)

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I surfed along the west coast: Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and Sacramento. I also hit Denver and Chicago too. It was the most amazing experience I have had, and my first solo trip!! I met the best people and still keep in touch with some of them. I'm dying to go traveling again...!

I've hosted a few times before, and it was a great experience. Couchsurfing is the way to travel! Not too many people come to Fredonia/Dunkirk, sadly. Its a pretty neat place though!

I love to tell people about how awesome this site is, and encourage them so sign up. It's always great to grow the community!

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

I had the most amazing time couchsurfing along the west coast in the summer of 2013! I met some awesome people! I was a little afraid to couchsurf alone at first, but I'm really happy I did. I made some super cool new friends :)

Summer 2014 I brought my younger brother along for a short west coast adventure- he'd never couchsurfed before, but I think he liked it alright.

Interests

Other things I'm into include: food, especially local food movements. Farmer's markets, and farms in general. I lived on a farm for a while, and made friends with the goats and chickens. I would love to WWOOF one day. Environmentalism. Living an environmentally conscious life. Biking, though I've never gone on any long trips, but bike touring tips are appreciated! Water (creeks, lakes, ponds, oceans, all of it!). Rocks. Plants. Maps. Walking. Drawing. Crafting. Working with my hands. People. Cultures. Paper. Bugs. Animals. Hiking. Books. Hooping. Tattoos. Sunshine. Sending letters. Good coffee. Good beer. Traveling. Adventuring. New experiences. Having no plans. Going with the flow. Trees. Art (modern, contemporary and conceptual). I've been getting into cooking yummy, real food on a budget.

• animals
• chickens
• arts
• books
• tattoos
• dining
• cooking
• beer
• coffee
• vegetarian
• vegan
• dieting
• walking
• flowers
• traveling
• socializing
• homebrewing
• drawing
• music
• outdoor activities
• cycling
• hiking
• cartography
• wwoof
• beaches
• lakes

Music, Movies, and Books

My musical tastes change on a regular basis...Iron Maiden and Alice Cooper are the best bands I've seen live.
I'm also into classic rock/metal, 80's pop, contemporary and 60's-era folk music, gypsy folk/rock. I'm really not too picky though.
My current obsessions are Good Old War, Vagabond Swing, Donovan, Jakobs Ferry Stragglers and Caravan Palace.

I don't watch too many movies. Tenacious D and the Pick of Destiny is one I could never tire of though. Mostly, I enjoy documentaries :)

I really love travel books- A Walk Across America is my favourite book, and one of the most inspiring I've read. I also enjoy Michael Pollan's work.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Everything is amazing!

I've ridden Amtrak coast to coast in the US, which I think is pretty neat. Its a great trip. So many terrain changes....

Also, I made it through first solo trip to the West Coast in the Summer of 2013. Met the most amazing people.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'm interested in learning everything. Okay, so I guess I'll never learn everything ...but I'm really open and interested in so many things that there's too much to list!

I'd like to know more about brewing beer and cooking. I'm always interested to hear book/movie/music suggestions. I want to learn about printmaking, letter pressing and weaving. I'm always interested in hearing travel tips for anywhere!

I think that just by meeting people you learn and share all sorts of things...

What I Can Share with Hosts

I can cook some basic but pretty delicious foods. I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but if you are I'd totally be willing to adapt to your diet. I'm also down with showing people around the area- there are a lot of bars, which can be pretty fun. The beach is super close. I have a spare bike if you need to borrow it! We can go for a bike ride down to the lake.

I can talk about papermaking and show you some of my handmade paper and books. :)

Countries I’ve Visited

Canada, United States, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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