Earth-based creative practice
for unsteady times
Nature immersion meets creative studio. Hands-on offerings that nurture trust in ourselves, each other and the web of life.
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JJ [she/her]
My work comes from a deep reverence for what we can feel, dream and create when we gather.
Together we make the magic and medicine needed for these times - the kind that keeps us close to aliveness and fortifies our courage - so we can hold ourselves upright in a life that breaks our hearts open over and over again.
Our hearts are a frontline in times of change and grief.
We are living, parenting, and caregiving through loneliness, ecological loss, and war— an atmosphere that stir fear and uncertainty. In these times of transition, we need practices that help steady ourselves on shifting ground. I believe apprenticing ancient tools - creative expression through storytelling, myth, movement, music, art, attuning to the natural world through time outside connecting to plants, animals and the rhythms of the seasons, while held within a group of supportive community - can help guide us towards culture rooted in kinship, mutual support and reciprocity.
I want to co-create sturdy containers where we can find the softness needed to hold our tears, anger, and precious stories. Places to catch our breath and drink from an oasis of mutual nourishment and build culture rooted in kinship, mutual support and reciprocity.
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FOUR CLASS COHORT
Thorn Medicine:
A journey with Hawthorn &
SoulCollage® in
times of transition
June to September 2026
Spaces to explore ways to:
uplift intergenerational sharing and learning
use creative practice as a tool for discernment and reflection, to help us tune into our body’s intelligence and find grounding during strong emotions and difficult moments
attune to the supportive relationships available to us through plants, animals, wild places, nature and the more-than-human world
grow practical skills that move us towards culture rooted in interdependence and mutual care
reclaim old ways of holding space and sharing support with each other
“ The circle was a place to quench a thirst I didn’t know I had. It was a container for some deep work I did know was waiting but needed community in order to begin it. It was like remembering a Self I’d long since put away.”
MotherCircle participant, 2025
I collaborate in-person and virtually with individuals, groups and organizations.
My approach
I have worked as an educator with people of all ages in places like forest classrooms, migrant farmworker clinics, an urban community health center, youth programs, retreats, mother circles, and a domestic violence shelter.
I see the heavy weights faced by parents, caregivers, and all types of people navigating our individualized, often violent, modern life. And yet, over and over again, I see how people hold the medicine. When we intentionally gather, we can reclaim practices to do realtime healing, repair and visioning work. We are and have always been the weavers of a different way.
My experiences with motherhood, chronic illness, collective organizing, and journey to re-enchant myself with myths, fairytales and ancestral stories inform my approach. Some of my best teachers are plants, children, dreams and grief.
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I live and work on the ancestral homelands of the Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Nation, the Hudson Valley, New York.
I give thanks for the many mentors and teachers over the years: all the beings and the land where I live, my family, my partner and daughter, every student I have ever had the privilege to work with, the medicine of hawthorn, and many, many more.
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My ancestral roots are from Calabria, Italy, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, and Germany.
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Training/Mentorship
Certified SoulCollage® Facilitator trained by Mariabruna Sirabella and Beth Marcil
Certified MotherCircle facilitator trained by Kimberly Ann Johnson and Jessica Connolly
Kripalu Lead Assistant for Mother Daughter Workshop
Graduate certificate in documentary filmmaking from George Washington University's Documentary Center
B.A. Integrated Community & Global Health
Child-Led Certified Practitioner through Sally Haughey’s Wunderled Program
Mentored by the instructors, children and land at Flying Deer Nature Center
Ethos
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weaving kinship: tending our garden of relationships
Mixed ages groups that encourage sharing across generations. We spend time outdoors and tell stories that uplift the interconnection between people, plants, animals and the vast web of life. When we partner with the wild, nature, more-than-human world, we begin to meet our many creative collaborators. When we pay attention to these relationships, a whole world of magic and support opens up.
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What experiences help us feel and deeply remember we are part of not separate from nature? Who can we lean on? What gifts can we share?
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expressive arts: portals to self-discovery
Creative process often gets us to the heart of matter quicker than our analytical minds. Expressive practices - storytelling, craft, movement, singing, drawing- are our ancient tools for meaning-making. By tuning us into our bodies and intuition, they create space to explore the full spectrum of our lives, the joys and the sorrows. Here we gain powerful insights that help us do healing and repair work in unexpected ways.
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What happens when we turn to our bodies and creative practice for guidance?
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collaborative process: together we make the medicine
Experiences are amplified when we do them in a supportive, communal setting. We often learn just as much from the group as our personal experience. Group works helps us learn practical skills to hold ourselves and each other. Together we learn old ways to steward what was traditionally held by community. These experiences and skills deepen our capacity to be in the dark, sit with the unknown, and prepare us for life’s many seasons of joy and heartbreak.
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How would it feel to do this work within a group of people who want to support each other?
