Let the beauty you love be what you do. (Rumi)

CREATIVE BACKGROUND

• Fine Art - ink, colored pencil, pastel, acrylics, gouache, watercolor, multimedia
• Jewelry - metalwork and bezels, metal clay, openwork, wire wrapping
• Printmaking - woodcut, linocut, intaglio, lithography, etching, screenprinting
• Photography - black & white, film processing
• Graphic Design - print, web, packaging, business identity, digital video editing
• Marketing - advertising, communication, promotion, public relations

CREATIVE APPROACH

My creative work is often presented as collections with overarching themes—often holding stories of myth and magic, symbols, motifs found in nature and in life, the moon and stars, or the elements. 

I love layered meanings. I seek to share something that is distinctive and eye-catching on the surface, but which also holds a deeper personal meaning, even if it's as simple as a connection with a certain symbol or a reminder of a meaningful childhood story. I love observing the ebb and flow of the year and its seasons. I love the rise and fall of light between summer and winter. These things add a touch of magic to my life and, in turn, I pour that into my creations. 

Flowing between art, design, and jewelry is a strange creature but each one lends itself to the others to create one unified picture. I also dance; movement fuels my art, and art fuels my dancing. The bottom line is that I create. I communicate in shapes and colors and textures and lines rather than in words. There are so many stories to be told, and I am both listening and seeking ways to share them.

Art is my heart and soul, an ongoing visual timeline of my thoughts and inspirations. I hope my creations carry that forward and bring you a touch of beauty and joy.

FREELANCE, C2F, and BLISS CONCEPTS CLIENTS

AddLogix, Arches Watercolor Papers, Art Advantage, Aqua/Bee Papers, Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab, Black Phoenix Trading Post, Canson, Casa Francisquita, Collins Communications, Connoisseur Paintbrushes, Golden Artist Colors, GroupLogic, Grumbacher, Faber-Castell, Literary Arts, Mac Design Magazine (now Layers Magazine), MacWorld, Mass Transit, M. Graham Watercolors, Neil Gaiman, Our House of Portland, Pentalic Paper, PPI, Pro Art, Red Cross, Strathmore, Time for Success, "The Vampire Diaries" and "Bones" television shows via Artisan Group, Versiontracker, Western Ballet, Writers in the Schools

About

Welcome! Although my career is now centered in psychotherapy, I will always consider myself an artist. This website and portfolio is a snapshot of my former work in communication design, fine art, illustration, and conceptual metalwork jewelry design.

EDUCATION

NDNU - MA-MFT in Art Therapy Psychology (2020)
PNCA - BFA Communication Design/Graphic Design (2003)
UTU - AA Fine Art and Visual Technology (1999)

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #136816
Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor #14483
Board Certified Art Therapist #20-261
IFS Certified Therapist #CSL-0877
IFS Levels 1, 2, and 3 trained

CURRENT ROLE

Psychotherapist/Owner, Verdant Counseling and Psychotherapy
Verdant Counseling and Psychotherapy provides culturally-sensitive, trauma-informed IFS Therapy and Art Therapy in the SF Bay Area and online throughout California.

Visit my LinkedIn profile

PUBLICATIONS

Book excerpt and artwork in Backos, Amy K. (2021). Post-traumatic stress disorder and art therapy, pp. 142-144. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.

Dabney, A.L. (2019). Exploring pathways toward psychobiological safety through
mindful body-centered art making with sheltered homeless women (Master’s thesis). Notre Dame de Namur University, 2020, 158. ProQuest OpenAccess publication number 22587302.

PRESENTATIONS

• IFS Institute Annual Conference / Pathways to Parts and Self: Creative Externalization Beyond Mapping – 2022

• NDNU Art Therapy Graduate Commencement Speaker – 2020

• Oral Capstone Case Presentation, “Wren’s journey through the brambles toward the Here and Now: A Gestalt approach to trauma in a school setting” - 2020

• Considerations for Working with Children via Telehealth, NDNU Practicum and Seminar I/II Graduate Course GPY 4365, 4370 - 2020

• Introduction to Internal Family Systems, NDNU Trauma and Art Therapy Treatment Graduate Course GPY 4400 - 2019

• 19th Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference and Poster Session – 2019

RECOGNITIONS

• Outstanding Service to the Art Therapy Department Award – 2020

• Mills Peninsula Scholarship – 2019

• Outstanding Thesis Award – 2019

• Graduate Art Therapy Student Association (GATSA) Officer – 2018-2019

• Sherry Sobrato Graduate Art Therapy Scholarship – 2018

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

American Art Therapy Association (AATA)
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)