About

I was born in 1970 and grew up in Austin, Texas. My family fostered a love of creativity, surrounding me with music, woodworking, and theater. This may be why, rather than specializing in one particular discipline, I find inspiration in working across mediums. Using watercolor, ink, wood, string, fabric, and thread—sometimes all, sometimes one—allows me to listen deeply to what’s calling, explore movement, and play.

After attending Hampshire College and graduating from the University of Texas with a B.A. in Fine Arts in 1994, I pursued painting, illustrating, and music.

My father Robert Jarry is a fine woodworker and my appreciation for his work combined with my own passion for bringing my characters off the page led me to the O’Neill National Puppetry Conference in Hartford, Connecticut. In 2004 and again 2006, I worked with Jim Rose and Phillip Huber to learn the intricate art of marionettes.

From 2005 to 2013, I worked as an assistant puppeteer to Don Harms with Harms Marionettes Productions in Austin, Texas. After falling in love with bringing marionettes to life, I co-founded Hey Lolly Productions with Laura Freeman in 2007. Our company was on the Texas Commission for the Arts Touring Roster, creating original handmade puppet shows and music for children throughout Texas and the Southwest.

In recent years, I have retired from the stage but continue to tell stories with multimedia installations that include puppets, paintings and drawings, written story, and found objects. In 2022, I created Ostara and the White Hare for the 14th Steet Really Small Museum with new installations daily across the month of April. And in 2024, the Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library hosted my month-long installation of the story of Wilma Rudolph’s life. I love the slow art form of marionettes and the daily, evolving tableaus feed my desire for spontaneity and movement in my art.

Diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy early in life, I have lived with erratic seizures that are often invisible to all but those closest to me. The condition has a dreamlike nature, and I find that art allows me to bridge worlds and go beyond language, something I’ve been compelled to do my whole life. I hope to serve as a conduit of sorts connecting inner, intangible worlds to the physical world and my community.