About me

I grew up in South Carolina, and attended Clemson University. My husband and I moved to New York two years ago so that I could pursue an MFA in Studio art at NYU, a program I completed in May.

I began babysitting for neighborhood kids when I was still in middle school, taking some of the workload from my older sister. I babysat and nannied regularly trough high school and college, mostly weekend evenings and summer days. The ages of the children ranged from infant to teenager, and responsibilities included things like school pickups, meal prep, overseeing homework/music practice, infant care, lots of days at the pool. I worked for several families over the course of several years and really got see the children grow up.

After high school I lived for a time with a family in Switzerland, working as an au pair. There I helped with their teenage boy and two girls in elementary school. A typical day may involve some cooking, grocery shopping or light housework, taking the kids on day trips, helping with english homework, drawing or painting together, or running around outside. After Switzerland, I spent 4 months as a full time volunteer at an orphanage in Honduras. There I worked primarily with infants/toddlers and middle school age girls.

My most recent job was teaching painting to college students. While there are, of course, key differences when teaching children, I feel that many of the principals of teaching remain the same. Learning how to problem solve, for example. From what I've witnessed, the greatest learning advantage that younger children have is a willingness to try without fear of failure.