About Me

My family moved from the U.S. to England when I was seven years old, crossing the Atlantic on a ship called the Seven Seas. 

As we sailed away from the New York harbor right past the statue of Liberty, I couldn’t yet imagine the role that both countries would play out like opposite magnetic forces, in my world. 

My father, cartoonist J.B. Handelsman worked for Punch and The New Yorker. I grew up watching him draw - quick pen and ink sketches that captured the visual essence, accompanied by witty captions. My love of art and literature came from him. A love of music, from my harpist mother.

At a young age, I moved to West Wales, fell in awe with the wild countryside, made lifelong friends and met my future husband, singing in a band called Swamp Talk. 

I lived in Wales until the tragic death of my first child drastically changed the course of my life. I began to write about this and all aspects of my life in memoir, essays and poetry. Inspiration comes from my children, my family and the natural world. Words and language, both fine and whimsical art have become a universal platform to share. 

I’m a word shuffler, a bread baker, painter and puppet maker. I pay homage to birds creating them from newspaper, wheat paste and fabric. 

I am an art teacher living on Long Island, N.Y.