Hi, I'm Julie! I am honored to be able to support you in navigating your life toward joy, through a variety of creative art-making experiences. With a background in retreat leadership, education, personal artmaking and mentoring, I’m excited to share what I’ve learned to nurture your unique creative exploration and expression!

Many think of artmaking as only for professional artists or those with “talent”—and may believe that somehow for “the rest of us,” artmaking is frivolous or even futile! But, these ideas are just not true! Artmaking is something anyone can engage in. Creativity is not just for some who will create a career as an artist, but anyone can engage in artmaking to enliven and improve the experience of life! When we practice artmaking, we learn to notice more about the world around us and the goings on within us. We learn to create beauty, as we define it and to express ourselves and our ideas more effectively to others. In art making, we also practice the skills of focus, imagination, planning, experimentation, flexibility and patience. Thus, strengthening “artmaking” skills can improve every arena of life! The only way to develop one’s skills is to learn and to practice.

I’m especially passionate about helping individuals who are drawn to creativity and art making, but are feeling a little stuck. If you find yourself thinking or saying things like: “I’m not an artist; I don’t know if I can be creative; or I have 1000 things on my to-do list so I don’t have time for creativity,” then ask yourself, “When will be the time to begin?” Is now the time to commit to at least give it a try? Are you ready to plant and grow the seeds of creativity you sense have been waiting within you? Are you curious to watch your own art come into being? The art you make, and even the artmaking process itself, can show you insights about who you are at the core, who you are becoming, your strengths and resources for living the life you want to live. Let’s talk about how I can support you in this important next step.

You already sense that giving yourself the gift of regular time for creative expression will be good for you. With a little time set aside, just for you, you can let yourself play and laugh, you can take a break from worry or stress—and you can “just be” and “let off steam”! I invite you to renew your energy through the process of making art, not worrying about “will it be perfect?” or ”is it purposeful?” The purpose will be to care for yourself, to give yourself some freedom to relax and play, of course along the way, you’ll be practicing skills that are applicable to all areas of life.  Yet also—please be open to receiving even more benefits—for the gains may surprise you. The creative process is a source of amazing insights and inspiration for the “what’s next?” in our lives. I’d love to be a guide in ways to add art making to your life. 

Now’s the time to start enjoying the life you have even more, building your skills for the challenges life presents, and discovering what is on the horizon for you. Let’s talk about making it happen! 

I am currently available for one-on-one art-making sessions and  small art-making groups. Together, we will focus on overcoming creative barriers, finding your creative joy, exploring different types of art media, and along the way--gaining momentum for your life’s creative journey. 

I can be reached here, if you’d like to learn more about the individual or group art-making sessions I offer. I look forward to hearing from you!