Jill in the Convent This past fall I designed The Convent by Jessica Dickey and directed by my colleague and head of the directing concentration, Halena Kays. The play is described as, “A group of modern-day women join a retreat in an old convent in the south of France and are baptized with ’80s pop, mysticism, hallucinogens, and sexual energy. The Convent is a dark comedy about desire, devotion, and the mystery of intrinsic divinity.” While each of the characters is on a j

Module 2-Jumping Mechanism Starting in September, I joined Puppets In Prague for their year-long workshops on creating automata- table top mechanical toys and figures, animated through the use of simple cranks, wheels and cams. Back in the summer of 2020, I was part of their first on-line marionette carving workshop and have stayed in touch, watching Mirek & Leah grow this amazing international community of artists and makers. I’m now 4 months into a 9 month long series of

The warm side Back when our daughter was a pre-schooler, we arrived at a compromise: if the clothes she outgrew still had good life left in them, we would make sure they went to a new home. The clothes she outgrew that were rather tatty, however, would not be kept in perpetuity. But, I would up-cycle the textiles and make her a quilt on day. Whether she remembered this pledge or not, she did eventually stop growing, and I made good on my promise. Starting the summer before h

I was honored to be on the design team for the first licensed production of Here There are Blueberries  at the Detroit Public Theatre , now running through Nov 2nd, 2025. This production was directed by Amy Marie Seidel, who has been in the team developing the script for the past 8 years as a dramaturg, and is a creative artist with The Tectonic Theatre Project. Structurally and stylistically HTAB is similar to The Laramie Project , a documentary play about the murder of Matt

Jenna baking pies! This summer I designed Waitress for Michigan Stage, a new professional company in the suburbs of Detroit. I often...

This weekend we opened Turn of the Screw at U-M, directed by faculty director Chía Patiño. I had an absolutely blast working with her...

I just recently learned that my high school drama teacher, Hilda Imhoff, died . She was 86 and still living in Baltimore. I had looked...

In July 2021 I started a crochet blanket project. I saw different interpretations of Janie Crow’s Persian Tile crochet throw and wanted...

My transition back to creative work has been a slow one post-pandemic. I assumed an enormous amount of administrative work for my...

As an Extended Reality add-on to the MOOC (massive open online course) Black Performance as Protest  developed by Professors Louise...

What is a MOOC? It’s a an acronym that stands for “Massive Open Online Course” with the goal of reaching a global audience who would not...

I had an absolute blast designing this opera at U-M, directed by the fabulously creative Greg Keller. Great process overall with amazing...

We’re trying a Saturday morning Urban Sketchers class at our local art center. It is very interesting to be a student again. I’m really...

One last post as I reflect on teaching Advanced Costume Design last term. I developed another mini-project that disrupts the “paper...

Next up in my series of disrupting the paper project model- a collaboration with the Dept. of Musical Theatre on their New Works...

Here we are, deep in to winter term- I am continuing to reconsider what skills to practice in an advanced costume design class. The way I...

Bernarda Alba opened a couple of weeks ago and it was so wonderful to be back in the theatre. The content is challenging, but the...

I'm delighted to be immersed in the process of designing Bernarda Alba, musical by Michael John LaChiusa based on the Lorca play. While...

It’s hard to believe another school year is about to start. I want to get back to writing about process after sharing some news: After 1...

This weekend was a gift. After a semester with a very heavy administrative lift and not enough art I volunteered to be backstage to help...