Meet The Teaching Members

As a young girl Debra Ballou spent weekends on her grandparents’ farm listening to the stories her grandmother told. This New Hampshire native now tells stories to people of all ages involving the natural and cultural history of the world. Some stories include musical instruments, like her Native American flute, singing, and/or audience participation. Debra immerses her audience in the wonders of the real and imaginary in her workshops and performances bringing from the mountains to the sea Tales from the Heart.  A professional storyteller since 1996, with a B.A. in biology and M.S. in Environmental Studies Education, Debra tells a variety of stories including folktales, fairytales, Native American stories, original stories, personal stories, and poems for all to enjoy across New Hampshire and beyond. As a non-formal educator, she conducts workshops about a variety of topics including storytelling, environmental education, and most recently Native American flute playing. She performed on radio programs for Portsmouth Community Radio and “The Talking Stick” at Colby Sawyer College as well as on PPMTV cable channel 98, Portsmouth, NH in “Stories by the Fire” and Stories in the Garden”. A member of New Hampshire Storytelling Alliance, she has volunteered and performed at many of their storytelling events. In 2012 she received the Gateways Award from NHSA for “Consistently Promotes Community, Understanding and Appreciation through the Oral Tradition of Story Telling”. Since 1997 Debra has played her Native American flute for storytelling audiences in New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts in many places including nature centers, libraries, schools, museums, Powwow storytelling circles, storytelling festivals, retirement homes and other venues. Her flute music was used for the voice of the magic flute in Shawn Middleton’s story version “Jack and the Magic Beans” on his newest CD and for the introduction of this new CD, “Storytelling with Shawn, More Tales for the Wee Little Ones“, released in 2018. Now Debra is happy to become part of Creative Community Space as a teaching artist to share and learn as she helps others who are in search of creative, fun learning experiences.  

Vandy has a Masters of Education degree in Creative Arts in Learning, Curriculum and Instruction from Lesley University in Boston. She teaches students of all ages from pre-school through all of adulthood.  She has been certified to teach Art for grades K-12 in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. She is passionate about teaching pre-teens and teens. Vandy says, "Middle and High School students are the perfect art students.  They are curious and want to learn new things, but once they learn the "right way" they aren't afraid to push the limits and take their art to whole new levels."  In addition to visual arts, Vandy is a professional storyteller of 25 years, specializing in Spooky, Wisdom, Personal, and Folk tales. Vandy is a trained SoulCollage® facilitator and leads these magical workshops at Creative Community Space and out in the community. Vandy is the Creative Community Developer of Creative Community Space.

Natalie Rotman Cote is a photographer, painter and surface pattern designer who loves nature and loves to play in many mediums. She enjoys travelling with her husband Steve and hopes to capture and share the beauty of the world through her art. They are avid animal lovers and their family currently includes 2 dogs: a rescued Blue Tick Coonhound and a Foxhound rescue. Natalie got started in art when she took a drawing class and encourages other adults to get started in the arts. She has studied at the NH Institute of Art and has taken workshops with many professional photographers, surface pattern designers and painters over the past several years. Her art is available for purchase online at www.natalies-art.com or at Lane House Arts Center in Hampton, NH.

I am a teaching artist, puppet builder, & the owner of Homeslice Puppetry. My business specializes in building custom puppets and teaching puppetry classes and workshops to both children and adults alike. I teach a wide range of different puppet building classes in: foam puppets (carved & patterened), shadow puppets, rod puppets, hand or moving mouth puppets, and mechanisms. I am always looking for inspiration of new pupperty classes to add as well to my repitore. I also teach a wide variety of techniques from things as simple as how to create a character for a sock puppet to skills like creating a silicone skin for your foam puppet. My degree is from SUNY Buffalo and I have won an award in professional puppet building from BJ Guyer and the Stan Winston School of Character Arts in October of 2015. The majority of my experience as a teacher prior to my business, came from my 15 years of experience as a teacher and program coordinator for an outdoor and experiential education program called Nature’s Classroom. Although primarily self-taught in the field of puppetry, I have been building and teaching puppetry classes since 2006. I am an active member in the Connecticut Guild of Puppetry, founding member and current President of the Western Massachusetts Puppetry Guild, newly elected North East Regional Director for the Puppeteers of America, and an active member of the Puppeteers of America as well. Homeslice Puppetry began as a way to turn my craft and passion into a career, and as a way to bring this passion to a new audience who want to learn how to make puppets. I have been captivated by the creativity and innovation from Jim Henson and the "Muppets" ever since I was a child, and that has never left me. I love building puppets but my real passion is teaching, and nothing brings me as much joy as inspiring people to be creative in this world. In an effort to spread this knowledge and inspiration, pre-pandemic I took my business on the road teaching in various schools, maker spaces, camps, and art studios throughout most of New England, but recently pivoted my business into the virtual teaching world which has brought me here. The thing that I love the most about puppetry is how it is an art that draws from almost every other art form and thus inspires boundless amounts of creativity.

I am a full time Tie dye Artist and nature lover living here in Epping. I am passionate about sharing my love of this art form with as many people as I can! I have always had a love for and been intrigued by tie dye, but in 2020 I began to teach myself how to make my own. Three years later, what began as a hobby has now grown to be much more. When I’m not tie dying, I like to spend as much time as I can in nature, using a-lot of earthy colors and patterns as inspiration in my designs. I find tie dye encourages those who wear the bright colors to step out of their boxes and embrace their free spirits. In the true spirit of tie dye, I aim to spread Peace , Love , and Joy one tie dye at a time!