I'm elated to share the extraordinary art of Rachel Alvarez, a native of Salisbury, Maryland. She received her BFA in Painting and Photography from Salisbury University in 2002. Her original work has been exhibited at a number of local galleries, and her prints, notecards, and decals can be found in shops across the United States. Her work is inspired by her 2 children. Each piece in her collection was completed during their nap times and reflects her family’s love for backcountry drives, beach outings, and hikes in the woods.

Let me tell you one of the joys I find in the world – ART. Art matters, and art about place brings incredible happiness. I have long followed our Artist of the Month, Candace Rose Rardon, for just this purpose – moments of joy. Candace is an extraordinary writer, sketch artist, and illustrator with a passion for connecting with the world through art.

I've never seen anything like it - and am so grateful to the internet for the discovery! When first seeing our Artist of the Month, Dan Miller's art, I was stunned. Every time I see something by him in my feed, I am happy, pause, reflect, breathe. He has an unusually calm and detailed way of sharing the natural world with viewers - one for which I am grateful. His medium? Colored pencils!

The painter and sculptor Dimitry Domani has an amazing story. Born in Romania, he grew up under the communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. In 1978, Dimitry and five friends walked 75 miles trying to escape his oppressive homeland. They walked at night, swam the Danube River, and walked 5 more miles into Yugoslavia, where they were captured by the Yugoslavian police. At this point, he became a political prisoner in another communist country.

I first spotted them as we drew into the parking lot of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's Visitor Center. Stunned at this unexpected, extraordinary beauty, I hopped out of the car almost as soon as Ed had put it into park.

I first noticed the incredibly beautiful art of my friend Yuliya Talinovsky on my facebook feed, as she was in Newfoundland for a bit with her family, and I LOVE those row houses in St. John's. It's amazing how once something is on your radar, how you keep seeing it. Her paintings kept popping up, and I kept being so very happy to see them. Guess what? Her kids are also extremely talented - I'm so happy that this love of art and painting is growing in this world.

An artist of an inspirational talent, Luba Kostenko was branded an art prodigy whilst still attending Secondary School of Art in Leningrad, Russia. She entered the prestigious Academy of Fine Arts in Leningrad in 1965 where she was taught by the distinguished professors E. E. Moiseyenko, I. P. Veselkin, P. T. Fomin, D. A. Shuvalov, and A. A. Mylnikov. 

You may have seen our Artist of the Month, Mark Hicks, before on Wandering Educators - we love his work, and have shared much of his art.

Just look at our artist of the month this month – she exudes joy, both in writing and in her art. Born in 1963 in Faro, Portugal, Manuela Martins-Karman (Manny) is honing her skills as a visual artist in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Manny graduated from Red River Community College, where she majored in Graphic Design and minored in life drawing. There, she developed her acute attention to form and spatial analysis.

We are very happy to present you Carla O'Connor and her wonderful watercolor art. I have been following Carla's art ever since I took a DVD workshop with her. I loved being introduced to her technique and also to her open-minded generosity. Thank you Carla for accepting to be presented as our artist of the month at The Wandering Educators.