Teresa Marie Staal-Cowley 
Nana’s Bells [EPUB ebook] 
An Advent Journal

Teresa has had a passionate interest in the visual arts
since her pre-school years, always drawing and fascinated
with beauty. In kindergarten her teacher informed her that she
was an artist. In first grade when she began reading she was
fascinated with God’s Word in the family Catholic Bible and
there was influenced by the paintings and calligraphy. She took
her first art class from an artist when she was ten years old.
She studied art, design, art history, graphics, and calligraphy
in middle school, high school and college. Teresa has taught the arts to elementary,
middle school and high school students. She has taught art in classes with those who
are in low income housing, who have alzheimer’s and dementia, those with mental
health assessments and physical impairments. She has taught art with children who
have learning disabilities. Teresa has advocated for children with the arts who are in the
judicial and social service systems. She has trained and goes through monthly trainings
first as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) and secondly as a Dependency
Guardian Ad Litem (DGAL). Teresa returned to college to complete a prior learning
from experience program to document the value and the benefits of the arts in her career
at the Evergreen State College. She also has trained with Washington State in a Teaching
Artists Training lab for K-12 academic standards.