Tobey Crockett

I am a former New Yorker now living on California's Central Coast. In the spring of 2018, while working on a big slate of projects, I suddenly had a health crisis that nearly cost me my life ; I am still dealing with that situation. When I finally get back in the saddle later this year, I will be working on an eco-activism project, as well as offering online classes.

My life has been full of many unusual encounters and experiences. A former art critic, I was the managing editor of an art & fashion magazine in New York, and am widely published with well over 120 articles, essays and reviews and a few ghost written books. I love the arts, have had my own art gallery and I continue to paint and perform whenever I can. Like most in the creative industry, I have worn many hats, so I have also worked in the food and fashion businesses, taught art history at Cal State Northridge and elsewhere, and have had a variety of business adventures in Europe, China, and Canada. I speak fluent French and German.

My college years were spent studying Art History at Barnard, with graduate studies in Critical Theory at Art Center, Writing at CalArts and a doctorate in Visual Studies from UC Irvine, which I used to develop some philosophical inquiry into digital media. I have studied several of the world's great spiritual systems, with intensive work in Tibetan Buddhism, Qi Gong & Tai Chi, sacred clowning, Native American shamanism, as well as Reiki and energetic healing. I currently lead several women's circles at a distance, and look forward to resuming my teaching schedule late in 2020, with online classes on writing, empowerment, intuition and metaphysics.

I am married to the most wonderful husband ever, the writer Mark Onspaugh, and we have three quirky cats. We live near the sea and can hear the seals barking at night. We also get serenaded by owls. It's much more wonderful than the whalesong of early morning garbage trucks I grew up with in NYC.