For thirty one years, I was a secondary school Arts educator in Ontario Canada, with a particular focus in Dance, Drama, Visual Arts in mainstream classrooms, as well as Expressive Arts in Special Education. Every semester, I directed, choreographed and produced dance and theatre productions with teens (over 60 and counting!). My students taught me so much and I am forever grateful to have had such a rich career in the Arts, and such a heartfelt connection with my colleagues as department head of Fine Arts.

 

I have traveled extensively with and without students, and since becoming a mom, I truly cherish my adventures with my now 18 year old son. Our travels together began when he was 9, standing on our ancestral home of Norway. Since then we have been back many times, as well as venturing to other diverse and beautiful landscapes, from Scandinavia to Europe to Southeast Asia. My latest adventures have taken me to Orkney, Scotland and Ireland; such a medicinal salve for the grief I have been swimming in since my parents passed away a couple of years ago.

To me, travel is the best form of education and I continue to dive deeply into my Scottish and Norwegian roots. 

​​

My formal training includes a Bachelor's degree in Fine Art and English Literature, a Bachelor of Education, Expressive Arts Therapy degree (3 year program), along with year one of masters studies at the European Graduate School, Switzerland. I am also a graduate of the Humber School for Writers (fiction writing). More esoteric trainings and interests over the years include animism/ shamanism, Reiki, Buddhist meditation /traditions, various yoga schools, and Celtic /earth-based folk magic and lore.

​

My debut novel is historical speculative fiction: 

Becoming Leidah, Simon & Schuster Canada, 2021. Currently, I am writing my second novel (a gothic thriller about madness, death and the afterlife).

 

Grief, that wise old woman, continues to sit at my table through the many changes in my life. She holds my hand as I write, and reminds me how much sadness can teach us.

​

photo credit: @Cassie McReavy