I have lived and worked on all three US coasts, and currently reside in Los Angeles. For the past several years I have focused on project engineering and management; I also have strong background and experience in CAD drafting and the Adobe Creative Suite.
In my free time, I enjoy going on long runs and hikes with my sketchbook, pens, and watercolors. I also enjoy hanging out in my garden getting dirt under my fingernails while singing to my avocado trees (they're big Massenet and Bizet fans, even though my German is vastly better than my elementary French). I write music and sing with both classical/early music groups and rock bands, and I like to run major road races and sing at the spectators--the LA Marathon was my first, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. To offset the carb deficits of my running habit, I have been cultivating a pie-making habit for the past three years, and my sister and I like to trade secrets with (read: flex on) each other from across the country. The jury's still out on whether upstate NY blackberries or Sonoma marionberries are superior, but when are visiting and make food together, it's always a success with a side of mess!
Walsh Construction, Los Angeles, CA, US, Project Engineer
Hired as a temp to perform design review and analysis on a project's change mismanagement in order to discern whether the contractor had a case to build against their client.
Van Acker Construction Associates, Mill Valley, CA, US, Project Coordinator
Brought onto the team to keep subcontractors organized, solicit bids, perform design review, and for the design & construction of a remote project: a massive (68,000 sq.ft.) residence on Palm Beach with many special issues, from a maximum home security detail to photovoltaics and lighting protection to special variances and precautions for the construction occurring seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line.
After this project ended, I continued to work on David Dhaliwal's team, but now on five smaller projects as opposed to a single behemoth across the country. My favorite was a historic penthouse renovation in San Francisco, for a woman who was a patroness of my beloved SF Opera and an inspiring force in general. In particular, selecting the stone and plaster was a long but pleasurable process, and I also learned a lot during ceiling coordination meetings. I consider working under Mr. Dhaliwal a great privilege, as he pushed me past my self-imposed limits while keeping a positive attitude and encouraging me to balance out our lighting-paced teamwork with my extracurricular activities (running, Bikram yoga, and writing/recording music) and my occasional dips out of town to hang out in the Olympic NF temperate rainforests with my then-boyfriend. Leaving Van Acker, and particularly this empowering and encouraging boss, was one of the hardest decisions I've made.
NOLA+ Design, New Orleans, LA, US, Landscape Architectural Intern
Flexible position of part-and-full time in addition to my work with the architect next door. A variety of drafting, surveying, design, and project management/procurement tasks. This was a small firm at which which I worked directly with the principal, Aaron, and his associate, and learned about the hands-on issues of design-build and the satisfaction of getting to see small projects through to completion while occasionally getting some good dirt under my fingernails when I had the occasional pleasure of helping with field installations.
Barry Fox and Associates Architects, New Orleans, LA, US, Architectural Intern
Various drafting, design, procurement, and management tasks, working with other associates, interns, and eventually directly with Barry on a contract basis. Two years after I moved out-of-state, I accepted a monthlong freelance project back in New Orleans, working directly with Barry on the documentation and tax-credit pre-design drawings of an abandoned Greek Revival mansion in Uptown that had recently been bought and was set for a historic renovation. Working with Barry, Van, Jesse, Erin, and Mike taught me the importance of asking questions as well as using my best judgment and understanding how to share workloads and help my superiors delegate by showing them what I was capable of doing and willing to learn independently as possible. Barry passed away last year, and it was a great loss for the New Orleans historic preservation community, but my friend and colleague Erin upholds his legacy working with the Vieux Carré Commission, and Mike and his wife have established their own preservation-based practice, doing beautiful work that is sensitive and speaks to the unique soul of New Orleans as well.
Tulane University, New Orleans, LA, US, Bachelors, Architectural Intern
Spent two and a half years in architecture school while working several jobs and pursuing a minor in German Studies. I realized at the halfway point through my studies that I had much more to explore during my undergraduate years and was not ready to commit my time, finances, and intellectual energy solely to what at the time felt like "the art of learning Revit".
Upon much consideration, I chose instead to pursue a double major in Linguistics and German, realizing that one of my biggest critiques from professors was that I spent too long writing about projects and romanticizing my sketches. I love design and drawing, but the power of language was what really sang to me, and these "pleasant distractions" were in fact the essence of what I was doing in school. While I do not devalue the wisdom and knowledge of my professors, I had a hard time treating school like a job, as I had already learned more at my first summer internship with Fred Schwartz, both practical and theoretical, than I did in my first two years of school--and was also getting paid for the former. I decided that I would put an MArch to the side, explore the liberal arts as well as conservation biology and environmental science, and revisit the idea of becoming an architect after a few years in the "real world". This is still a consideration for me, although I were to go back to school now, it would much more likely be for Landscape Architecture with a concentration on xeriscapes and water issues.
