Have you been unable to start, push through, or complete an artistic project that is dear to your heart?
I can help
Muse * Spark is my creativity coaching service
I’ll help you get out of your own way with outside-the-box tactics that will move your project forward.
I can help you free yourself so you can do what feeds your soul.
My work is based on exploring artistic practice through the lens of the Alexander Technique, Integrated Practice, Zen philosophy, psychology…and decades of hands-on teaching, mentoring, art-making, and writing.
I’ll show you how to connect with the playful spirit of freedom and experimentation that is the basis for all creative expression.
I’ll help you set yourself free to do your best work, the work only you can do…and have a blast doing it.
“A true creative artist, at the top of her game”
My Story
Growing up in a family of artists and tinkerers with a pen and a paintbrush in my hand, I had couple local art shows at age 12, before falling madly in love with music. While earning a Bachelor of Arts from Pomona College with a major in Music and a minor in French Literature (cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa) I practiced flute 3 to 4 hours a day. Persistance is my middle name.
As a Thomas J. Watson Fellow, I traveled across Europe for a year—before cellphones, the internet, or even ATMs—listening to the finest orchestras in the world, practicing flute, reading novels, and soaking up European culture. I spent my one and only year in a music conservatory at the Manhattan School of Music in New York, earning a Masters in Music with honors. Living the life of the young musician in NewYork City, I performed at Carnegie Hall, in debut recitals at Carnegie Recital Hall, and with the Tanglewood Fellowship Orchestra under Leonard Bernstein.
In the late ’80's I went to Lisbon "for six months” for a job and never looked back. Immersing myself in another language and culture, I held down the demanding position of Principal Flute in the Lisbon Opera House Orchestra for 25 years. Simultaneously, I premiered over a hundred new chamber or solo works on flutes from piccolo to contrabass to traverso to bansuri. I have taught two generations of talented young flutists, and given masterclasses across the country.
Along the way, I became a devoted student of the Alexander Technique, a reader of Zen philosophy, books on habits, productivity, writing, and the creative process. I began to improvise and compose, and my love for art rushed back into my life. I studied in Paris and became certified in Integrated Practice and am currently training with Eric Maisel, the renowned creativity coach.
All this has lead me to desire to help others find and succeed in their chosen artistic endeavors. Finding the freedom to create what only we can create is, fundamentally, a way of giving meaning to our life while contributing—in ways large or small—to the treasures of human invention.
