I believe Einstein when he said that he was enough of an artist to draw freely upon his imagination-that imagination, to him, was more important than knowledge and that knowledge is limited.
Imagination encircles the world. Out of creativity, not only art is manifested but inventions, ideas, solutions, and even endorphins swirl together to create a space of being--of pausing in between the chaos to enter the sphere of creativity.
AhaCreativity Concepts is the result of 20 years of art experience in the studio, classroom, and through my own art adventures. I have been a lifelong artist in the studio as well as in the educational setting. I have also served as an artist-in-residence for the Oklahoma Arts Council where many of these workshops were first conducted. Additionally, I was co-director of the Oklahoma Writing Project, which is under the umbrella of the National Writing Project. The National Writing Project (NWP) is a professional development network that serves teachers of writing at all grade levels, primary through university, and in all subjects. The mission of the NWP is to improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in the nation’s schools.
As an artist, I have incorporated many of these workshops intuitively to create my own art. For example, I made use of the plaster castings for an exhibit entitled “Beneath the Breast”--a interactive conceptual art installation that focused on the feelings of 76 women about the breast. These womens' experiences included breast cancer, nursing, puberty, aging, implants, reductions, as
well as connotative words for the breast.
Another equally unique art exhibit included an interactive installation entitled “Wordweaving the Flag” which allowed people to interpret, write, and weave their hand-written feelings of freedom into the American Flag. I have also exhibited my own artwork of calligraphy and the book arts.
As a graduate student at the University of Oklahoma, I researched and published a qualitative master’s thesis on the “Interrelationship of an Artist's Processes through a Case Study of Hachivi Edgar Heap of Birds.”
Another important milestone for me was to be published in the English Journal , which is a publication of the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), and also published "Passion for Teaching." This was an art piece produced to exhibit alternative means of assessment for a class at the University of Oklahoma.
I have been associated with an artist collaborative known as the Magnificent Seven who have produced over 20 group collaborative works of art, some of which were exhibited at the 2005 International Calligraphy Conference in Dallas, TX.
I have exhibited my art in San Diego, Taos, and Dallas County, Texas.