As an elementary student whose work was consistently selected for exhibit, I often heard other kids ask, “How do you make it look like that?” so I’d gather small groups together during recess and after school to show them what I knew. I’ve been teaching professionally for 20 years—preschool through adults, including Rutgers and Humboldt State Universities (and 6 years as the Art Specialist at Poulsbo Elementary).

In the 1970’s I had the good fortune to study with Josef Albers, which laid the foundation for my special “spin” on color theory. In the early 1990’s, I wrote a groundbreaking Master’s thesis linking Multiple Intelligences/Learning Styles to motivation, which laid the foundation for my teaching philosophy.

I founded Shabala Studio in 2000 to teach Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, which has been used by schools and corporations for almost 30 years (and is a highly effective way to enhance creative problem solving as well as realistic drawing). Now, almost 8 years later, Shabala Studio has grown to offer classes for all ages, from Play Dates for Grown-Ups and Adult Watercolor, to After School Art and Summer Art Camps, to Elementary Teacher/Docent Workshops.

At Shabala Studio my goal is to “scaffold” learners so that they improve their art skills and understandings in an encouraging atmosphere. I use a Constructivist approach in which learners “construct” their own understandings while working on projects of their own design. While each lesson includes direct instruction and exploration of particular techniques, I believe it’s crucial for each of us to find our own way to make art. After all, “the only way to do art wrong is not to do art!” Please visit shabalastudio.com for more information.

What is Creativity Coaching?

In the late 1990’s, I experienced a severe creative block with my painting. In response, I began to make beaded jewelry, and “playing” with the gemstones’ colors and textures allowed me to go around my block. This experience with a creative block led me to become a Certified Creativity Coach.

Creativity Coaching is useful in rekindling damaged, dormant, or as-yet-undiscovered creativity. It can also be helpful in a life transition.

One example is a client who was writing a self-help book. We began to work together by email, and it became clear that what he really wanted to write was a sci-fi novel that he had started years earlier. He dug out his old notes and began. I didn’t need to read his novel because I wasn’t coaching his writing; I was coaching his creative process. I coached him through fear and resistance, family issues related to his writing, and an intense period of discouragement. Ten months later, he had completed the first draft, at which point I referred him to a writing coach who specializes in editing and publishing.

Another example was a recently remarried woman with new stepchildren, trying to balance the demands of her new family dynamic and at risk for losing herself in the process. Although she had never thought of herself as an “artist”, when she found the time and space for her own creative work she was able to regain her balance, and within a matter of weeks actually found more quality time for her family than she had before.

Everyone is an artist, although sometimes the artist self has become inactive due to fear or lack of use. Working with a creativity coach is like having a personal trainer at the gym—it gets you on track and keeps you there.