Working professionally as a photographer, yoga teacher, and skydiving instructor, Jodi is passionate about living life to its fullest. Through her art and teaching, she hopes to inspire others to do the same. She believes that when we live an authentic life of creation, we are able to overcome fear and achieve our greatest truths.
Though an Illinois native, Jodi spent most of her childhood summers with her grandmother in Maine. It is here where she truly began to develop a deep respect for the pristine beauty of nature. Her photography is inspired by an appreciation for the natural landscape. As an artist as well as an advocate of the arts, Jodi has worked on both sides of the equation. As a student, she was awarded a Purchase award for her photography at Parkland College.
This ultimately inspired Jodi to return to school to receive a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors in photography at Columbia College, Chicago, in 2008. While employed at Columbia College, Jodi created exhibition opportunities for students, staff, and faculty that are still in place today. Through personal experience, she has come to understand the profound impact that recognition can have on an artist.
Though Jodi has been practicing yoga since 1991, it wasn’t until the loss of her mother that she began to appreciate the power of the practice to heal. The many tools that yoga provides to cope with grief and loss have inspired Jodi to receive yoga teacher certification in 2012. It is through teaching that she is able to give the gift of yoga to others who are in need of its ability to strengthen and to heal.
Jodi’s most memorable moment at Parkland: “I was taking photo classes at Parkland when I was floundering. Peggy Shaw and Craig McMonigal were inspirational. Peggy was the one who encourage me to enter some of my images for juried exhibitions. At the Annual Fine Arts Juried Exhibition in 2003, Parkland awarded me a Purchase Award.