Courage and Kindness in Community
Monthly online gatherings, seasonal in-person events, and an ongoing community for presence-based creativity.
Your ongoing community for creativity, presence, and connection The Ripple Circle is a membership-based community for those seeking conversations, meaning, and companionship. Share your creative journey. Witness others with compassion. Gather between gatherings. Small on purpose. Deep by design.
Inside The Ripple Circle:
Ongoing community conversations and support
Exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, narratives and photos
Deep dives into techniques or ideas
A space to be vulnerable, ask questions, share works in progress
An online haven where presence matters more than perfection
What Ripple Makers Say
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It surprises me that I feel a sense of connection with those who gather. I know their voices and a bit about their lives which feels meaningful. I think this is due to the way you set the table as a place of welcome, creativity, and openness.
Melissa Maxwell-Doherty, Ripple Room participant
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I was surprised at how at home I felt even in a space of people that I had only just met. There was an ease and peaceful sense of being there together. There was no competition or judgment, just everyone showing up to learn and play and experience and be vulnerable together.
Laura Menezes, In-person gathering
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Thank you for both the skills you taught me and for allowing me to just be. You have this really beautiful way of holding space for people and for their process without judgment and it always feels very safe to be in connection with you.
Anna Maria Brodkey, In-person gathering
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I carry with me the positive energy created among group members.
Tajana, Ripple Room participant
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Working under time constraints really helped the artist's block! And it still looked beautiful—probably more beautiful than if I thought about it much longer. Small things, quick projects, can be beautiful and leave a person feeling big.
Julianne Evans, In-person gathering participant
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I am carrying the calm and kindness of the group through the rest of my day. I am also inspired by the items you all create.
Leslie Perez, Ripple Room participant
The Ripple Room
Monthly live Zoom gatherings to create, connect, and slow down
Every month, we gather on Zoom to experience The RIPPLE Practice together. No replays. No perfection. Just presence.
What happens in The Ripple Room:
60 minutes of unrushed creative time
Optional sharing and connection
Space to simply be while making
A collective exhale with others who value depth over speed
Each month has a theme—but you're always welcome to create whatever your hands want to make.
November Ripple Room: Making Space for Gratitude
This month’s Ripple Room is an invitation to craft a thank-you token, write a note to someone you love, or make simply for the joy of giving it away. The theme is: Making Space for Gratitude.
October Ripple Room: The Colors of Fall
This month’s Ripple Room is an invitation to make room for richness, texture, and seasonal pause. The theme is: The Colors of Fall.
A Backyard Gathering where Art & Kindness Intersect
On September 14, I’m opening my backyard for a 90-minute creative circle (7 spots only). We’ll slow down, explore monoprinting, and create kindness tokens—tiny works of art to keep for yourself and to share with others.
This isn’t about being “artistic.” It’s about discovering your own expression and letting it ripple outward through kindness.
September Ripple Room: Nurture
This month’s Ripple Room is an invitation to gently care for what’s already within you. The theme is: Nurture.
Ripple Room: Unrushed
Whether you draw, stitch, collage, write, or simply breathe alongside others, this is your permission slip to create without rushing.
In-Person Creativity Circle
We'll create personal story zines and gratitude tokens in a beautiful, light-filled space. This is about presence, connection, and meaningful making—not perfect art.
July Ripple Zine: A Seasonal Celebration
A gathering to make a zine quietly, together. No pressure. Just presence.
We’ll meet on Wednesday, July 23 at 10 a.m. PT for a 90-minute Zoom session. This event is capped at 10 attendees.
I’ll open with a soft prompt—nothing you need to prepare for. You’ll receive a suggested supply list before the session begins.
Then we’ll make. You can collage, paint, write, draw, or type. Follow along as I create my own zine—or simply respond in your own way. Let your hands guide you.
We’ll pause halfway for a gentle check-in, then return to our page. At the end, we’ll share a sentence, a silence, or nothing at all.
This isn’t about output. It’s about rhythm. Attention. A tiny act of self-trust.
You don’t need to call yourself an artist or a writer. You just need to show up.
Questions? Send me a message or review the FAQs here.
Beauty Culture: The Sequel
On June 27, Jeannie, Felicity, and I peeled back the layers of beauty culture—the pressure, the performance, the quiet cost of being looked at before being listened to.
The conversation didn’t end when the livestream did. It kept echoing in our text messages and in the conversations that continued in the comments y’all left.
So we’re back for round two: Beauty as Physical Currency—and Aging.
Some things that Jeannie and I hope to dive into this time:
What happens when the currency loses its value?
When the face that once “opened doors” is ignored?
When the body that was once praised becomes invisible, dismissed—or worse, mocked?
What it really means to “age gracefully” (and who gets to decide)
How we prepare our daughters for a world that will one day devalue their most “valuable” asset
The strange liberation of becoming “unseen”
Bring your questions. Bring your stories. Bring your complicated feelings about watching your reflection change.
This isn't about finding answers. It's about naming what we're all thinking but rarely say out loud.
Ripple Room: Permission Granted
Your Monthly Creative Drop-In
We gather every month in the Ripple Room to pause and play. To create from a place of presence and possibility.
This isn’t a workshop. There’s no step-by-step, no outcome to chase. Just an open hour for you to reconnect—with yourself, with others, and with whatever wants to emerge.
PERMISSION GRANTED
This month in The Ripple Room, we’re tossing out the rules and making space for brave beginnings, playful messes, and art that doesn’t need to prove anything.
Creative permission is about letting go of the shoulds:
should be neater,
should have a purpose,
should look a certain way
and returning to the quiet joy of making, just because you can.
Whether you’ve been feeling blocked, burned out, or just hesitant to start, this open studio hour invites you to:
Doodle without judgment
Scribble with delight
Make something “bad” on purpose
Try what you’ve been too afraid to try
Questions? Send me a message or review the FAQs here.
Ripple Room: A Playful Summer
Your Monthly Creative Drop-In
We gather every month in the Ripple Room to pause and play. To create from a place of presence and possibility.
This isn’t a workshop. There’s no step-by-step, no outcome to chase. Just an open hour for you to reconnect—with yourself, with others, and with whatever wants to emerge.
June’s Theme: A Playful Summer
The smell of sunscreen. A memory sparked by music. A watermelon wedge on a hot afternoon.
We’ll let summer’s whimsy guide us—through color, story, or stillness. Bring whatever brings you joy: paints, paper scraps, old notebooks, silence, poetry, or a stubborn case of creative block.
All are welcome here.
No agenda. No judgment. Just one big collective exhale.
Whether you’re:
feeling creatively stuck
longing for a moment of quiet connection
craving a little low-pressure play
This is your space. A place to start small. To make something imperfect. To feel less alone.
You might leave with a painting. Or a poem. Or just a lighter heart.
However you arrive, you’re in the right place.
Unfurl: A Reading Celebration
On June 11 at 7pm ET/4pm PT, we’re gathering on Zoom to celebrate the release of UNFURL, the newest issue of Yellow Arrow Journal.
A Talk on The Creative Process
Join Kristin and me as we explore her creative process versus mine: daily discipline and structure versus spontaneity and a disorganized mess.
June Ripple Zine: A Seasonal Celebration
A gathering to make a zine quietly, together. No pressure. Just presence.
We’ll meet on Saturday, June 7 at 10 a.m. PT for a 90-minute Zoom session. This event is capped at 10 attendees.
I’ll open with a soft prompt—nothing you need to prepare for. You’ll receive a suggested supply list and a simple zine-making template on June 4.
Then we’ll make. You can collage, paint, write, draw, cut, glue, or type. Follow along as I create my own zine—or simply respond in your own way. Let your hands guide you.
We’ll pause halfway for a gentle check-in, then return to our page. At the end, we’ll share a sentence, a silence, or nothing at all.
This isn’t about output. It’s about rhythm. Attention. A tiny act of self-trust.
You don’t need to call yourself an artist or a writer. You just need to show up.
Questions? Send me a message. Registration closes on June 4.
In-Person Gatherings
Several times a year, I host intimate, in-person gatherings capped at 8 attendees. We slow down, explore creative techniques, and create kindness tokens together. This isn't about being “artistic.” It’s about discovering your own expression and letting it ripple outward through kindness.
NEXT GATHERING
March 22, 2026: Spring Fundraiser for Santa Rita Elementary School, Los Altos
$120 per person
Limited to 10 participants
Join me for 90 minutes of creative kindness in support of Santa Rita Elementary. You don’t need any art experience to join this joyful morning of making. We’ll dive into playful monoprinting, an art form where no two pieces are alike, and create kindness tokens that reflect your unique expression. This isn’t an art class. It’s a space to slow down, play, and experience yourself as an artist. You’ll come curious, maybe even unsure if you’re “artistic,” and leave with the confidence that art is simply play—plus a bundle of tokens ready to ripple out into your community.
Have questions? Read the Live Events FAQs.