EDUCATION
Arithmetike, 2016
Learning is my favorite. Education is a framework for obtaining it. Design makes it beautiful, fun, and effective.
My children - pictured above l(eft to right) Mariella Mae, Aubin Elise, and Will Henry - have been mostly homeschooled. Second to simply being a mom, learning along with them has been the greatest joy of my life. When I realized I’d qualified to join MENSA after taking the Miller Analogies Test prior to grad school, I knew it was because of what we’d learned together.
As a designer, I also delved deep into the presentation and process of learning and created a set of math manipulatives for a line that I named Arithmetike. Most of my plans are still in boxes for this one, but one day - maybe when I’m teaching the next generation - I hope to add to the product collection. These products are no longer for sale at DoDo, but there are some fabric versions available at my Mæula Spoonflower page.
Teacher, 2001-present
My first experience as a drawing teacher was for an adult audience at the NCSU Crafts Center. It was so much fun!
Although I taught weaving, painting, sculpture, pottery, and other skills as an art teacher at East Millbrook Magnet Middle School in Raleigh, NC and Triangle Math & Science Academy in Apex, NC, my favorite art students are my own children. :)
The image above is Aubin Elise’s drawing of Red Top Mountain State Park in Georgia. She kept a journal with drawing of each place we visited on our south/central/western USA trip in 2021.
Mariella Mae is a master when it comes to her artistic pursuits, which are vast. In addition to creating art for her fantasy books, she has created a manga series.
We also have a writing master mind of sorts. Nothing formal, just consistent sharing and refinement in our house. We started a publishing company in 2020 and both girls have work there as well.
Typewriter Aalphabet
(see more under “Exhibits”)
After creating the Typewriter Aalphabet art cards, went on to add an entire curriculum. In addition to being the sole designer and researcher, I was also the primary product manager, working with large scale production houses both in the US and China.
Production was all the things: excitement, drudgery, accomplishment, and my first full-on panic attack. But the joy of sharing the work of my hands and mind and creativity with the word was absolutely worth it!
You can learn more about my process on this website and peruse the DoDo Studio website for the final product offerings. There are fun dissection videos on YouTube as well.