It was an article about the best surf artists on instagram that led me to our artist of the month, Spencer Reynolds, and his partner, Stacey, who helped facilitate our interview (thanks, Stacey!). 

Here are photos of some animals, made in stone, at Kjørstad, Eidsfjord, Vesterålen. It's a 40 min drive from my home. You can see cormorant bird, cow, eagle, fox, puffin, black grouse, seagulls, a stone church, a stone man, and a turtle.

They are placed around in the woods, not far away from the gravel road. A person made these things out of rocks. Take a look...

Magic.

When I look at Elena Feret's work, I fall deeply in love with her art, world, and the magic she creates - and represents. From marvelous creatures to a worldview that takes us deep into the imagination, Elena's extraordinary art inspires, gives joy, and brings an enchantment to our lives. When I first saw her art, I KNEW that she was special and that her talents needed to be shared!

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.

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!

Paul Jaekel has had an interest in photography for many, many years. For a long while, he only took the usual pictures of clouds and nature with his cell phone. Then, in early 2015, he started fully acting on that growing interest by turning it into an amateur hobby. As a lifelong resident of Southeastern Michigan, he began by driving around to places nearby his home. As he ventured, he found places that he never stopped at before. Later, he traveled to places further out from home - towards Detroit and up into the thumb of Michigan.

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.