I am a Teaching Artist passionate about art education for visual communication and creative thinking skills.  Based in TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behaviors) and VTS (Visual Thinking Strategies), my unique open studio method teaches my 5-step creative process and challenges students to develop and express their concepts. 

I have an MFA from Otis College of Art, Los Angeles, and a BA in Cinema from the University of Washington, Seattle.  I have been teaching art since 2002, including in my own classroom studio at a middle school (LAUSD) and, prior to that, elementary (CCUSD).

In 2015, inspired by project-based learning (PBL), methods for teaching creativity, and nature study, I began homeschooling and hiking with our two gals. I enjoy continuing to teach art, lead art walks, and organize weekly hikes for the homeschool community.

In my alone time, I work in my studio with a variety of media in order to explore our fraught relationship to photography. Together with my husband and girls, I love to travel, hike, and entertain, as well as admire my succulent garden, which thrives despite me.

natalie@trellislearning.org