December 2021 Team Retreat | Santa Barbara
Patty founded Deep Space Sparkle in 2009 while working as an elementary art teacher in Goleta, California.
Sharing project ideas and tips on what was happening in her art room on her blog, Deep Space Sparkle (named after a Crayola crayon color!) Patty nurtured connection and support for art teachers, classroom teachers and artsy parents all around the world.
Patty created The Sparklers’ Club in 2016. It was one of the first membership of its kind for art teachers and has since served over 15K art teachers, classroom teachers and homeschool families.
In 2020, Patty started her second business, Primerry, as a way to get back to what she loves doing most — teaching art directly to children. Families can sign up their children for studio art classes in their own home right here.
Patty is the author of Draw, Paint, Sparkle Creative Projects from an Elementary Art Teacher (Roost Books 2018)
Neil Cutcliffe
AKA Mister Sparkle
Neil is the CFO and CTO of Deep Space Sparkle. He keeps all ships running smoothly and even tolerates glitter. In his former life, Neil worked as a computer engineer and manager before devoting his days to DSS.
Neil and Patty got married in Santa Barbara in 1992 and have three grown children; Newt, Tate and Elly.
Lisa Biggs
Operations Manager
With planning prowess and unending enthusiasm, Lisa reigns in our creative ideas and never-ending to-do lists with sparkly precision.
As a former educator and with a big heart for developing creativity, Lisa is the facilitator of our big ideas and programs.
Ashley Christian
Video Editor + Content Coordinator
Ashley meshes technical and creativity effortlessly by editing our amazing videos and managing the content for Deep Space Sparkle.
She ensures that all 1000 bits of content that our creative team creates on a weekly basis gets published in a timely manner. No small feat!
Fun fact: Ashley is a former student of Patty!
Amy Clay
Lesson Development and Curriculum Planning
Amy creates our lesson plans and art resources all with our Core Value of The Sparkly Standard of Excellence top of mind. She is the creative genius behind our mixed-media projects and art history curriculum.
Amy is a former elementary school art teacher with a Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction. She lives with her husband and sweet baby boy in South Dakota.
Heather Sparks
Lesson Development and Teacher Trainings
Heather hails from Georgia and has worked as an art teacher for 13 years before joining the Deep Space Sparkle creative content team. Heather is a master innovator and loves designing lessons that offer a unique perspectives on traditional subjects.
Heather lives with her two young boys and amazingly supportive husband in a fun, creative household in Georgia.
Alexis Watters
Graphic Designer & Maker of Pretty Things
Alexis is our resident graphic designer & illustrator. She ensures that our resources and lesson plans exceed our Sparkly Standard of Excellence that surprise and delight our members each month.
If it’s not “Alex-ified”, it’s not sparkly! Check out our special feature of Alexis on the blog!
Bethany Mees
Account Manager
Bethany loves cozy sweaters, mugs of steaming northwest coffee and helping our members. No problem is too small for Bethany and no question too simple. If you have any questions about your membership or questions about Deep Space Sparkle, Bethany is ready to help.
Bethany lives in Portland with her husband, 3 boys, 1 sparkly girl and a very large dog.
Mabre Lencho-Armstrong
Lesson Creator + Education
Mabre is a studio artist with a background in art therapy, elementary education and museum work.
She was an elementary art teacher in Gilbert, Arizona serving both in-person and remote students but now focuses on developing rich art experiences through our Sparklers Club.
Mabre specializes in mixed-media and clay.
Eva Lempert
Social Media + Communications
Eva is a multi-talented So Cal girl with a flair for words, a stylus and a camera. Eva brings her positive energy to our Deep Space Sparkle family by celebrating our little artists, connecting with members and helping Miss Patty navigate the world of social media.
Eva is married to a middle school Principal and mom to an 8-year old boy.
Rebecca Hoepf
Graphic Design
Rebecca is a graduate of Bowling Green State University in Ohio and brings her ninja graphic design skills to support our Creative Team.
Rebecca creates our beautiful blog graphics plus all of the graphic materials inside our Sparklers’ Club membership, including our new SPARKLE magazine.
Melanie Maricic
Communications
As a former Snow White for children’s birthday parties, Melanie brings a sparkly demeanor to our community groups and communications. She keeps all of our members and readers up to date with all of our new content and member resources.
Melanie loves crafts, baking and being a mother to her sweet daughter. This fellow Canadian lives with her husband and daughter in Seattle.
Elly Cutcliffe
Publisher and Support Assistant
Being in a unique position to see Deep Space Sparkle grow from the ground up, Elly has worked in publishing, special events, customer support and communications plus has been a willing lesson tester for more than half her life.
We’re super happy to have this CU Boulder Business School grad on the team. Sko Buffs!
Catherine Jones-Whitman
Lesson Creator
Catherine brings her talent, experience and passion for advocating and empowering students and teachers to find their voice through visual arts expression to Deep Space Sparkle Creative Team.
We’re thrilled to have our newest member of our growing creative team create and contribute to our workshops and membership.
We are a growing company of online resources for art teachers. We're looking to grow our team in the areas of social media, community support, product design and education.
In person and virtual positions opportunities available. We are located in Goleta, California.
EXPLORE CAREERS
