The four hands that conceived me were of the earth. Taurus hands. Hands that dug deep and made all kinds of medicine. My father’s hands made music. My mother’s hands made theater. Together, their four hands made gardens, collaborative art, and me. I was born into a community of creators, who’s artistic processes drew from the natural rhythms and teachings of mother earth. I am an outgrowth of these roots, here to feed the continuum with more medicine. 

My ancestral bloodlines span from Central and Eastern Europe to the Middle East. In my DNA are the journeys of Jewish mystics and Gaelic druids, nomadic peoples and pagans. 

I was born and raised in New York — living in downtown Manhattan for the school year and in the Catskill mountains for the summers. I am woven of two fibers that are part of the same cloth. My friends call me a CIty-Country Woman; I ran through corn fields and city parks; I followed dirt roads and subway tracks; I harvested dinner right from the garden and ate takeout right from the carton on our fire escape. 

My unofficial herbal training began in my good witch mother’s kitchen when I was a child. Plant medicine was a central element in my upbringing. My formal herbal training began at the California School of Herbal Studies in Forestville, CA about a decade ago. I have since completed the Berkeley Herbal Center’s 3-year clinical herbalist certification program in Berkeley, CA. 

I received an MFAIA (Master of Fine Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts) from Goddard College in 2017. My central art practice is what I call Plantáge: the integration of visual art and plant medicine. I am presently working on an ongoing series of mixed media collages depicting feminine personifications of plants. 

I have a private practice based in Albany, CA, offering individual herbal “Well-Being” consultations both locally and virtually.. 

A central part of my work as an herbalist is as a facilitator and educator, offering group workshops and ritual spaces for communing with plant medicine. I partner with organizations and institutions that center healing justice work and movements for liberation through the lens of the arts, spiritual practice, leadership development and community health. For example- Goddard College, Port Townsend, WA; Othering and Belonging Conference (Omi Wellness Space), Oakland, CA; Creating Space Conference: Freedom to Lead and Leading for Freedom, New Orleans, LA; Leader Spring Center, Oakland, CA; Women’s Cancer Resource Center, Berkeley, CA; Gender Equity Resource Center, UC Berkeley, CA; San Francisco Foundation’s Multicultural Fellowship Program, San Francisco, CA.  

In addition to my professional work, I am currently raising a son and continuously learning from the Plant Teachers..