My Creative Journey

I am one of those fortunate people who spends my days doing what I love, be it teaching in my studio, exploring the world with my camera, journaling, walking my labyrinth, creating with fabric, image, paper, collage and other mediums, and generally living a creative life and spending time with my family.

My journey of self-discovery has taken me from a career as an attorney to photography-franchise owner to creativity-workshop facilitator, and from Durban, South Africa where I was born, to Cape Charles, Virginia where I now live. I teach SoulCollage®, photography and creativity workshops and retreats around the world.  My book, The Creative Photographer, was published by Lark Books in June, 2011,and I continue to share ways of using photography as self-expression in my workshops. I also focus on photography as a mindfulness practice, as I believe the camera is a wonderful tool for building and encouraging present-moment-awareness.

In 2004 I trained as a SoulCollage® Facilitator with Seena Frost, the creator of the SoulCollage® process and author of the book SoulCollage® Evolving, and have been a SoulCollage® Facilitator Trainer since 2012, teaching others how to facilitate this intuitive collage process.  My experiences with the labyrinth led me to train with Rev. Dr. Lauren Artress in 2009 and I am now on the faculty of Veriditas and offer Veriditas Labyrinth Facilitator Trainings and workshops. I am a graduate of the Haden Institute Spiritual Direction Training and use these skills in my retreats and pilgrimages. I am also a JourneyCircles™ Facilitator, have trained as a Creativity Facilitator and a Chakradance Facilitator, and have attended Jean Houston's Mystery School.  My focus on living a meaningful life also led me to complete the IONS Conscious Aging Facilitator Training. I combine all my passions in my workshops, combining them in creative ways to encourage participants to gain new perspectives about their own creative journey. I like to think of myself as a soul care guide.

I am a member of Earth Shamans which draws the foundation of its work from the words of Allen Ginsberg: "It is the quality of attention that makes things sacred." The group believes we all have the power to shape the world and that each of us holds responsibility for consciously aiding in the restoration of wholeness.

In addition to my work in the US, I lead photography and creativity retreats and workshops in South Africa, France, Italy, Portugal and Mexico.

The collection of photographs I created for my Master's thesis, Children of Ixopo: Hope and Survival in a Time of AIDS, which focuses on bringing awareness of the plight of AIDS orphans in South Africa, and in particular the children of Woza Moya, was part of the South by South Africa exhibition held in the Carolinas in 2006 and is now in the permanent collection of Winthrop University. My work has been published in a number of books and magazines, including:

• Petals and Blood: Stories, Dharma and Poems of Ecstasy, Awakening, and Annihilation by Buddhist teacher Gavin Harrison,

• The Geography of Loss: Embrace What Is, Honor What Was, Love What Will Be by Patti Digh

• Inspirational Quotes Illustrated: Art and Words to Motivate by Lesley Riley

• Collage Lab: Experiments, Investigations, and Exploratory Projects by Bee Shay

• Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media by LK Ludwig

My books, Collage Imagery, a book of images for collage artists; Journaling the Labyrinth Path, a journal that combines images, the labyrinth pattern, quotes and journal prompts; Doorways and Openings, as well as The Creative Photographer, are available from amazon.com.

Writer Page Leggett tells you a little of my story in this article.

I blog when inspired to do so at Listening for the Whisperings and at The Creative Photographer.

In these interviews I talk about my creative process -

• On the BEautifully Unwinding Podcast

• With Janet Conner on the Soul-Directed Life

• With Colleen Russell on Quest4Wholeness

• With Artist Connie Solera

• With Artist Hali Karla