CURRENT MISSION

Just live life to the fullest!

ABOUT ME

I'm, as stated, a freelance artist. Since the economy has made it difficult to make a living at my art, I also help people with their four footed family members. I love to travel and meet new people, and think this is a fabulous idea to allow for more of both! I still have yet to make use of Couchsurfing, but have really loved connecting "virtually" with people from all over the world through the forums.

PHILOSOPHY

I just love to share this wonderful adventure we're all on together.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

HOW I PARTICIPATE IN COUCHSURFING

I love chatting over the forums, and hope to become more active with the local CS'ers in person.

COUCHSURFING EXPERIENCE

Never done it before "officially" but have a network of friends throughout the US and Canada who do this all the time with each other. Sure helps with expenses, and is a whole lot more fun than just staying in a hotel by myself.

Interests

I'm currently really into training dogs, and do Flyball, Agility, Tracking, Herding, Rally obedience, Canine Freestyle, Therapy dog visits to a local hospital, schools, libraries, and an assisted living facility.

I also am running irregular workshops in various art media and techniques.

I paint and sell my art at art fairs and Renaissance Festivals, have done this for almost forty years.

I and my husband are into camping, traveling, canoing, bicycling, cross country skiing, science fiction conventions, organic gardening, traveling just for the fun of it, and love to learn new things.

• pets
• cats
• dogs
• arts
• festivals
• running
• gardening
• traveling
• painting
• camping
• skiing
• agriculture
• communications
• freelancing
• science

Music, Movies, and Books

Love folk and classical music, jazz, some rock, host house concerts. Read voraciously, about all kinds of things.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

We recently threw the dogs in the back of our van, and drove in a huge circle down to TX, across to CA, up to OR, and back to WI, for a month, mostly car camping. And met LOTS of wonderful people along the way, mostly those we'd "met" online. Now we want to do it through the eastern half of the US, and up to Canada. Then there are all the places we didn't have time to get to, and those that were just so amazing that we want to go back...

We've wilderness camped and canoed in various places.

And, not so much traveling, but something that was an amazing "trip" was being instrumental in helping to rescue and rehabilitate 225 English shepherds from a puppy mill/hoarding situation, and see *every single one* of them go to good homes.

Teach, Learn, Share

I'd love to share anything about art techniques (I do acrylic painting, scratchboard, pencil, ink, pastel, watercolor, airbrush, egg tempera, oils, probably others but that's off the top of my head), being a self employed artist, selling at art fairs.

I also teach lots of classes in dog training, all the way from puppies to service dogs, and provide one on one training for any behavioral issues someone might have with their dogs or cats (and am getting training in other species of pets).

I'm pretty new to organic, sustainable "agriculture" in a small yard! ;-) and am always looking to learn more about that. We're starting to eat a lot of our landscaping, and I'm working on turning our whole home into a haven of healthy living, for us and all our friends.

Countries I’ve Visited

Bermuda, Canada, Cayman Islands, France, Mexico, Netherlands Antilles, Saint Lucia, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, United States, Virgin Islands, British, Virgin Islands, U.S.

Countries I’ve Lived In

United States

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