my insane teaching philosophy that I absolutely believe and that truly represents part of my core.

Mania of making, mania of the mind, both are worth harvesting, directing and releasing. As artist and educator it is my goal to facilitate explorations, both in my own work and that of the students as makers, as thinkers—to learn to hear what we do not yet hear, to see what we do not yet see, to move from being informed to being formed. It is my task to come alongside the students in developing their ability to dwell inside and alongside of things and thinking so that making becomes a reflection of the listening, whether it be to self or culture, art or science, poetry or prose, inside or out, spirit or rationality, or even a more letting go than hanging on. Yes, I design my courses so that students are equipped with technique, expanding their visual vocabulary through research, collective critical analysis, emergent forms from making, as well as working to enhance their ability to communicate verbally and in written form, but most importantly my mission is to facilitate their ability to listen for that source. For each that source or mania is different, but to create meaningful work each of us must learn to hear and to act upon what it is that we hear.