About the Artist & Facilitator
I grew up in a home full of hand-crafted items. Whether it was a tablecloth my grandmother
crocheted or Christmas decorations my mother created, I was fortunate to be surrounded by
items intended to comfort and inspire. I still have most of these items in my own home.
I have had no formal training in any kind of art. I have always delighted in working with my
hands, whether coloring with crayons as a young child (remember how Crayolas smell?),
playing in my grandmother’s button box (the shapes and colors!), making Barbie clothes (tiny
buttons and zippers), or – eventually – sewing my own clothes (everything from school clothes
to formal gowns). My mother taught me to embroider, knit, crochet, and sew before I entered
the ninth grade.
Additionally, I have always cherished reading. When I was very young, I would read labels
on cans (I still do!) then graduated to poring through books ranging from Little Women to the
natural world. I would eagerly take our dog Gomer for walks – just him and me – where we
could explore nearby undeveloped land, marshes, creeks, and wildlife. Now more than ever,
I treasure being in and being inspired by Nature.
I also enjoyed school. To this day, I thank my sixth grade English teacher Mrs. Gilliam for
teaching me the grammar that would serve me well through my life. I first learned the love of
art, however, when I meticulously drew the various systems of the body to go along with
projects and reports for Mrs. Day’s sixth grade Science class. (The sixth grade was a big year
for me!)
I graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English Education. I
taught high school English and French for a year, however teaching has always been a part of
what I have done since then, whether training other professionals in Desktop Publishing or
elementary students about our natural world or adult women in creating from their depths. I
have spent much of my career in higher education (producing publications, public relations,
etc.) as well as in managing non-profits that focus on building stronger community. (It was
during the six years when I served as the Executive Director at the Dispute Settlement Center
in Henderson County that I received extensive training in group facilitation and other
alternative dispute resolution processes.)
While I grew up in Charleston, SC, my family lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western
North Carolina, where there are four seasons and beautiful lush surroundings:
creating beaded jewelry for 15 years and especially enjoy working with lampwork glass beads
and semi-precious stones. In the 1990s, I birthed my Earth Sisters, one-of-a-kind fabric dolls
crafted to honor various aspects of Mother Nature. Around ten years ago, I began creating
one-of-a-kind handmade books, from journals to altered books. My pilgrimage to sacred sites
in England during the summer of 2008 has had a profound effect on me and my art. My
pilgrimage chatelaine necklaces and my shrine journals reflect some of the wonder and
power that I experienced.
I am especially passionate about “recycling” or “upcycling” antique or vintage items into
other uses. My heart flutters and my spirit soars when I see an item used well for a totally
different purpose! Being able to incorporate natural items into my art is also exciting to me.
Regardless of the medium, I am addicted to the creative process. I know this is my direct
connection to Spirit, and I feel awed and blessed to have this experience. When I finish an
especially absorbing project, I am amazed at what I have created… with help from the Unseen.
When one begins to dive into the creative process, it is just a matter of time before that process
overflows from one medium into another. I am captivated by swimming in those warm,
supportive waters! I hope you will join me in the adventure!
crocheted or Christmas decorations my mother created, I was fortunate to be surrounded by
items intended to comfort and inspire. I still have most of these items in my own home.
I have had no formal training in any kind of art. I have always delighted in working with my
hands, whether coloring with crayons as a young child (remember how Crayolas smell?),
playing in my grandmother’s button box (the shapes and colors!), making Barbie clothes (tiny
buttons and zippers), or – eventually – sewing my own clothes (everything from school clothes
to formal gowns). My mother taught me to embroider, knit, crochet, and sew before I entered
the ninth grade.
Additionally, I have always cherished reading. When I was very young, I would read labels
on cans (I still do!) then graduated to poring through books ranging from Little Women to the
natural world. I would eagerly take our dog Gomer for walks – just him and me – where we
could explore nearby undeveloped land, marshes, creeks, and wildlife. Now more than ever,
I treasure being in and being inspired by Nature.
I also enjoyed school. To this day, I thank my sixth grade English teacher Mrs. Gilliam for
teaching me the grammar that would serve me well through my life. I first learned the love of
art, however, when I meticulously drew the various systems of the body to go along with
projects and reports for Mrs. Day’s sixth grade Science class. (The sixth grade was a big year
for me!)
I graduated from the University of South Carolina with a degree in English Education. I
taught high school English and French for a year, however teaching has always been a part of
what I have done since then, whether training other professionals in Desktop Publishing or
elementary students about our natural world or adult women in creating from their depths. I
have spent much of my career in higher education (producing publications, public relations,
etc.) as well as in managing non-profits that focus on building stronger community. (It was
during the six years when I served as the Executive Director at the Dispute Settlement Center
in Henderson County that I received extensive training in group facilitation and other
alternative dispute resolution processes.)
While I grew up in Charleston, SC, my family lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western
North Carolina, where there are four seasons and beautiful lush surroundings:
- These green mountains! Here,
Nature gathered the earth's folds
To pillow Her head.
~kcs, 1992
creating beaded jewelry for 15 years and especially enjoy working with lampwork glass beads
and semi-precious stones. In the 1990s, I birthed my Earth Sisters, one-of-a-kind fabric dolls
crafted to honor various aspects of Mother Nature. Around ten years ago, I began creating
one-of-a-kind handmade books, from journals to altered books. My pilgrimage to sacred sites
in England during the summer of 2008 has had a profound effect on me and my art. My
pilgrimage chatelaine necklaces and my shrine journals reflect some of the wonder and
power that I experienced.
I am especially passionate about “recycling” or “upcycling” antique or vintage items into
other uses. My heart flutters and my spirit soars when I see an item used well for a totally
different purpose! Being able to incorporate natural items into my art is also exciting to me.
Regardless of the medium, I am addicted to the creative process. I know this is my direct
connection to Spirit, and I feel awed and blessed to have this experience. When I finish an
especially absorbing project, I am amazed at what I have created… with help from the Unseen.
When one begins to dive into the creative process, it is just a matter of time before that process
overflows from one medium into another. I am captivated by swimming in those warm,
supportive waters! I hope you will join me in the adventure!
About the Artist & Facilitator
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
I consider creativity a direct connection to Spirit.
When I create, it is an active meditation. I am in the
"flow", and I am addicted to that zone! My primary
inspirations are Nature and the Feminine Divine.
I started creating jewelry in 1995 (if you don’t count
those dyed pasta necklaces in kindergarten and the
plastic lanyards at summer day camp), combining
polymer clay and recycled beads from wonderful
older costume jewelry. Then I discovered semi-
precious stones and beads, and created “chest
altars” that had physical and metaphysical beauty.
More recently, I’ve started working with sterling silver
and handmade lampwork glass beads.
I believe that creativity overflows into many areas, and
fiber arts was my next area of focus. I come from a
long line of needle workers. My maternal
grandmother handmade most of my baby clothes
(which I still have) as well as crocheted exquisite
tablecloths and bedspreads and linens, which I enjoy
in my home today. My paternal grandmother was a
professional seamstress. My mother taught me to
embroider, knit, and sew. Because of all these
influences, I love combining textures and color.
I took classes in fabric doll-making and have made
many dolls (it has been an obsession, actually),
which I call Earth Sisters. Each doll represents an
aspect of Nature, whether it is a season, a holyday,
an animal, etc. I have taken classes from Akira
Blount, Caty Carlin, DeeDee Triplett, and Victoria Blue
Lightning Snake. All of these classes deepened my
love of creating and my appreciation of dolls as
vessels of Spirit.
In my love of combining texture and color, I also
create “Fabric and Fibers and Beads, Oh My!” art
scarves. And a really fun venture has been creating
“Goddess Garb: Wearable Art for Divine Women
(and that includes all of us)”. I craft Goddess Garb by
adorning gently-loved clothing into striking and one-of-
a-kind wearable art.
While I had made paper for several years (it’s like
playing in your oatmeal; try it!), I took my first paper
arts class in 2001 at Random Arts (a great little den
of iniquity in Saluda, NC. Be sure to visit there if you
are in the area; it’s chock full of inspiration and items
you can’t do without!). I was immediately infatuated!
My love affair began with simple greeting cards,
rubber stamps, and cool paper folds, and has
expanded into book binding. I have created hand-
made greeting cards (some of which include my own
haiku), fatbooks, transparency art, altered books, and
one-of-a-kind artist books.
I must have been a monk in a previous lifetime
because the activity of bookbinding is meditative to
me. I use leather, paper, or fabric for the covers. I
have been fortunate to take classes from talented
instructors including Dan Essig, Nina Bagley, LK
Ludwig, Savannah Canfield, and Joyce Sievers, to
name a few.
Recently, I have begun embedding natural items or
decorative/found items in the covers of my journals. I
love having a feather, stone, shell, fossil, piece of
bark, etc. as the focus of a journal! I have also just
begun recycling neat old book covers that I pick up
from garage/thrift sales into journals; I call them
“Treasures Recovered”. Unless noted, any paper
labeled "handmade" in my descriptions were not
made by my hands, but those of someone else in the
world. The handmade papers I use come from all
over the globe.
I know that books are vessels of Spirit also, because
I am often amazed (and grateful) at the end product,
which has more than just my handiwork in it.
And through all of this runs the thread (or tiger tail) of
jeweled creations. I have most recently discovered
the beauty of handmade glass lampwork beads, yet
another addiction to support!
I also am a writer (can’t you tell?). I enjoy teaching
“playshops” and seeing adults (especially) who didn’t
think they were creative beaming with pride at their
beautiful creations! I especially love creating and
offering playshops that combine inner spiritual work
with the manifestation of a work of art.
I create my art in my home studio. My husband
Andrew is a wood turner. We have three grown
children, and live with a dog and three cats. We live
in a smoke-free home.
When I create, it is an active meditation. I am in the
"flow", and I am addicted to that zone! My primary
inspirations are Nature and the Feminine Divine.
I started creating jewelry in 1995 (if you don’t count
those dyed pasta necklaces in kindergarten and the
plastic lanyards at summer day camp), combining
polymer clay and recycled beads from wonderful
older costume jewelry. Then I discovered semi-
precious stones and beads, and created “chest
altars” that had physical and metaphysical beauty.
More recently, I’ve started working with sterling silver
and handmade lampwork glass beads.
I believe that creativity overflows into many areas, and
fiber arts was my next area of focus. I come from a
long line of needle workers. My maternal
grandmother handmade most of my baby clothes
(which I still have) as well as crocheted exquisite
tablecloths and bedspreads and linens, which I enjoy
in my home today. My paternal grandmother was a
professional seamstress. My mother taught me to
embroider, knit, and sew. Because of all these
influences, I love combining textures and color.
I took classes in fabric doll-making and have made
many dolls (it has been an obsession, actually),
which I call Earth Sisters. Each doll represents an
aspect of Nature, whether it is a season, a holyday,
an animal, etc. I have taken classes from Akira
Blount, Caty Carlin, DeeDee Triplett, and Victoria Blue
Lightning Snake. All of these classes deepened my
love of creating and my appreciation of dolls as
vessels of Spirit.
In my love of combining texture and color, I also
create “Fabric and Fibers and Beads, Oh My!” art
scarves. And a really fun venture has been creating
“Goddess Garb: Wearable Art for Divine Women
(and that includes all of us)”. I craft Goddess Garb by
adorning gently-loved clothing into striking and one-of-
a-kind wearable art.
While I had made paper for several years (it’s like
playing in your oatmeal; try it!), I took my first paper
arts class in 2001 at Random Arts (a great little den
of iniquity in Saluda, NC. Be sure to visit there if you
are in the area; it’s chock full of inspiration and items
you can’t do without!). I was immediately infatuated!
My love affair began with simple greeting cards,
rubber stamps, and cool paper folds, and has
expanded into book binding. I have created hand-
made greeting cards (some of which include my own
haiku), fatbooks, transparency art, altered books, and
one-of-a-kind artist books.
I must have been a monk in a previous lifetime
because the activity of bookbinding is meditative to
me. I use leather, paper, or fabric for the covers. I
have been fortunate to take classes from talented
instructors including Dan Essig, Nina Bagley, LK
Ludwig, Savannah Canfield, and Joyce Sievers, to
name a few.
Recently, I have begun embedding natural items or
decorative/found items in the covers of my journals. I
love having a feather, stone, shell, fossil, piece of
bark, etc. as the focus of a journal! I have also just
begun recycling neat old book covers that I pick up
from garage/thrift sales into journals; I call them
“Treasures Recovered”. Unless noted, any paper
labeled "handmade" in my descriptions were not
made by my hands, but those of someone else in the
world. The handmade papers I use come from all
over the globe.
I know that books are vessels of Spirit also, because
I am often amazed (and grateful) at the end product,
which has more than just my handiwork in it.
And through all of this runs the thread (or tiger tail) of
jeweled creations. I have most recently discovered
the beauty of handmade glass lampwork beads, yet
another addiction to support!
I also am a writer (can’t you tell?). I enjoy teaching
“playshops” and seeing adults (especially) who didn’t
think they were creative beaming with pride at their
beautiful creations! I especially love creating and
offering playshops that combine inner spiritual work
with the manifestation of a work of art.
I create my art in my home studio. My husband
Andrew is a wood turner. We have three grown
children, and live with a dog and three cats. We live
in a smoke-free home.
| All rights reserved. |
| The mission of The Cre8tive Flow is two-fold: to pursue my own passions for creating, and to encourage others to comfortably and self-confidently express themselves and their uniqueness. I aspire to provide high quality services and products that honor and respect the integrity of each individual and which offer opportunity for sincere connection within oneself and/or with others. |