She received her BFA in Photography from LIU. For ten years she owned and operated a successful fine art gallery in Southampton, New York that featured the work of renowned contemporary Native American artists. For the next 14 years she had a career as an educator specializing in photography, digital printing and stop-motion animation. As an educator she traveled extensively, taking students on annual trips that combined photography with humanitarian service, to locations in Australia, Kenya, New Zealand, Brazil, Morocco, Peru and throughout the United States. In recent years her photographic work has earned her numerous international awards.