A Note from ChristaD, Education and the Rainforest Editor:  
This post was written by Kailini C., a high school student from the Gunston School in Maryland.  Kailani is a participant in the 2015 Amazon Workshops Student Field Reporter Project which enlisted the help of several students to share their 2015 Amazon experiences with us. Over the coming months, the Education and the Rainforest posts will feature Kailani's words, photos, and reflections – giving you a student's perspective on travel to the Amazon and its educational impact!  
 

Do you like modern still life paintings?  Do you just love good art?  Either way, we have a real treat for you this month. Judy Prisoc is such an artist who lives and works in Gig Harbor, Washington.  

Her food paintings will make you absolutely hungry for more.  Her still life work is positioned so the focus of her work is clear, leaving you no doubt as to what inspires her for each particular painting. She has a beautiful, painterly way with oils which will leave you starved for more.

My grandfather was a history professor and Benjamin Franklin scholar. We grew up playing fun games with him - like giving him a random date and he'd tell us something cool that happened on that date, or he'd drop interesting tidbits about historical people, and we'd try to guess who they were - he built a love of history in us that has enriched our lives. Friends of mine recently penned a new book that I know he'd have loved: Philadelphia Liberty Trail: Trace the Path of America's Heritage.

The white walls of Puerto Vallarta’s La Leche restaurant stand as a contrast to the vibrant-colored buildings all around it. Black swirls crawl up each side appearing both whimsical and orderly, signaling to visitors they’re in for something surprising at this eatery tucked away from the Mexican city’s main center.

Music speaks in many ways: melody, tone, timbre resonance, rhythm, instrumentation, and word -- but what if you do not understand the words being sung? Dan Storper noticed that people were responding to, and asking about, the music from Latin America and other parts of the world which he played to enhance the atmosphere in his clothing and handcraft stores.

The Museum of Fine Arts Houston will be cloaked in magnificent opulence when the exhibition “Habsburg Splendor: Masterpieces from Vienna’s Imperial Collection” opens on Sunday, June 14. 
More than 100 artifacts and paintings from such artistic icons as Titian, Caravaggio, Correggio, Rubens, Tintoretto, Velazquez, and others will be displayed in all their glory at the MFAH through September 13.

By birth year I am technically a millennial, but sometimes I feel a little more Generation X. Perhaps it’s the stigma that millennials love technology, which I do –I’d cry if my laptop crashed before I remembered to back it up (and not to the cloud because ‘nobody understands the cloud’)- but that doesn’t mean I love all advancements of technology, and sometimes want to be stubborn toward them. 

A Note from ChristaD, Education and the Rainforest Editor:  
This post was written by Kailini C., a high school student from the Gunston School in Maryland.  Kailani is a participant in the 2015 Amazon Workshops Student Field Reporter Project which enlisted the help of several students to share their 2015 Amazon experiences with us. Over the coming months, the Education and the Rainforest posts will feature Kailani's words, photos, and reflections – giving you a student's perspective on travel to the Amazon and its educational impact!  
 

Decay is a huge part of her life. It isn’t something we often talk about, but Fiona Long has been exploring decay from an art perspective for years and finds there is still so much more to know. You would not think a nice English girl would be so enamored with something like decay, but Fiona isn’t your typical English girl.