Young Mineral Artists

          Michael Rodak is a very promising young mineral collector and artist.  Michael has been interested in rocks since he was 2 years old. 

          Michael can often be found following the well-known nature artist, Fred Wilda, around his studio.  Mr. Wilda is one of the finest mineral artists working today.  Mr. Wilda says that Michael is getting better and better all the time.  As a teacher, Mr. Wilda tells Michael what to do, and Michael follows his guidance.  All of the painting work Michael does himself.

          Michael is successful for many reasons.  First, he has natural talent.  Second, he wants to learn and works hard at getting better.  Mr. Wilda praises him by saying, “Michael is a piece of raw material.”  This means he has great abilities that can be made better and better (like a gem ready to be cut and polished!)

          It is very likely that in the coming years you will be seeing Michael’s mineral art at mineral shows, in magazines, and maybe even on the walls in the collection rooms of many mineral collectors.

Left:  Rhodochrosite           

Right:  Aquamarine on matrix

Michael Carr

     When Mike created this picture, he was a 7th grader at a public school in upstate New York.  He is very athletic and loves to play baseball and basketball, and hopes to play football in the coming years.  He goes with his family to a lot of mineral shows (even though his brothers don’t really like to go).  In 2007 he attended the East Coast Gem & Mineral Show in Springfield, Massachusetts.

     Mike tells us, “I like to draw quartz crystals because their shape is easy to understand.  They have six sides and a lot of the edges are parallel to each other.  I also like to add the extra details, like the lines on the quartz crystal faces.”

     When Mike finishes High School he thinks he would like to become a police officer or maybe go into the Navy.

Quartz crystal group from Hot Springs, Arkansas

Mineral Artists from the Conejo Gem & Mineral Club Juniors’ Program

     A group of young mineral artists from the Conejo Gem & Mineral Club Juniors’ program in Conejo, California submitted their mineral art to Mini Miners Monthly.  Their art shows us what they saw, and perhaps even what they felt, when they were creating their pictures.

Left:  Tourmaline on matrix by Gregory.  Gregory focused on the different bands of color in these tourmalines.

      All the mineral art in this gallery is copyrighted by the artist.  No image can be reproduced, in any format, without the written permission of the artist.  Click on each mineral art picture and you will be taken to a lager image of that picture.  Please contact Diamond Dan Publications if you have any questions or wish to use any of these

images.

Above:  Cinnabar by Zachary.  Zachary saw the shape and deep red color of this cinnabar.  He included the matrix, but did not emphasize it.  The crystal stands out -  and it should.

Left:  Calcite by Tommy.  Tommy is showing the shape and color of a nice, twinned calcite crystal.  He even included the detail of the line where the two crystals meet each other.