ABOUT ME
I'm a costume designer, technician, and educator currently based in Spokane, Washington, where I teach at Gonzaga University. I have designed and built costumes in Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, California, and Washington. I hold an MFA in Costume Design from University of California, Irvine; an MA in Theatre from Miami University in Oxford, OH; and a BA in Communications with a minor in classical voice from Taylor University in Upland, IN. This scholarly base inspires my design work, as hearty research and thorough script analysis are hallmarks of my creative efforts.
Some favorite designs include Much Ado About Nothing (Gonzaga), As You Like It (UC Irvine), Cyrano: Rehearsed (New Edgecliff Theatre in Cincinnati, OH), Embraceable Me (Little Fish Theatre in San Pedro, CA) and The Conversion of Ka'ahumanu (Miami).
I've worked as a costume technician for the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, IL; Kaiser Permanente Educational Theatre in North Hollywood, CA; and Broadway Costumes, a large rental house in Chicago, IL. My specialties include wig styling, draping, and dyeing.
Recently my research interests have centered on finding more environmentally friendly and sustainable practices in costume design and construction practices. In 2017, my research project on natural vs. synthetic dyes was featured at the United States Institute of Theatre Technology (USITT) Conference in the adjudicated Tech Expo; it was also named one of the Top 5 projects and my abstract was published in USITT’s quarterly journal, Theatre Design and Technology. I continue to explore the use of natural dyes in my designs at Gonzaga and I'm pleased to be keeping the Spokane River a little cleaner by using only plant-based dyestuffs and naturally occurring salts, instead of the industry-standard synthetic dye chemicals.
Recent and current projects include designing Oklahoma! at Wheatland Theatre Co. in Davenport, WA, with director Lee Mikeska Gardner and producer Drew Kowalkowski; writing a chapter on the work of Broadway wig maker Paul Huntley for an upcoming book from USITT/Focal Press; and writing a full-length article for Theatre Design and Technology about natural dye techniques.
