My desire to explore new and exciting places brought me to New York City shortly after teaching and traveling in Ecuador and the magical Galapagos islands. With degrees in Sculpture and Art Education from University of Georgia in Athens I briefly attempted a teaching career in NYC. At an interview in a kids museum, I spent three times as long in the museum zoo then I did struggling through an interrogation on personal disciplinary methods and pedagogy. I left realizing I didn't want a teaching job-I wanted a Burmese python. And a basilisk. So I bought turtles in front of Pearl Arts in Chinatown one day on my lunch break. By that time I was working at a high-end boutique in Soho and had 4 internships: Whitebox, Sculpture Center, House of Diehl, and Gigantic Artspace. I later worked at Deitch Projects and Christo and Jeane-Claude's "The Gates" in Central Park. I'd call friends at home in Georgia, "I carried a Keith Herring piece!" or " I'm in a cab with a Yoko Ono!" and "I dropped off a folder at Vito Acconci's studio!" Excited as I was, I found myself drawn to the world of performance. I spent my free time attending circus, variety shows, Broadway plays, off-Broadway, cabarets, dance and much more.