Elizabeth Konecni loves teaching, learning, and creating. She began her teaching career at age seven in her family’s two-car garage in New Orleans, where her work was setting up the perfect classroom. Elizabeth and her dad spent every Saturday morning going to garage sales, searching for classroom materials, especially children's books. No surprise, Elizabeth grew up to be a classroom teacher, administrator, curriculum specialist, and instructional coach. Her work brings her into many schools across the New Orleans area, coaching teachers and principals. Through her years in education, she has seen the significant impact reading has on a child, and she believes books give readers an escape, a vacation, life lessons, and endless happiness. She strongly believes that a powerful book message can change the world. In her first book, Becky Fos and Her World of Color, she hopes readers will connect with the message that they can dream big and do anything, just like Becky did!
Ambassador of Color, Becky Fos, is an unexpected presence in a room. She injects life and color into a room, whether via her own presence or that of one of her paintings. Fos' artwork features bold, unapologetically bright colors and thick, defined textures, invoking movement and cheerfulness. Her medium is oil on canvas, an ancient method, but rather than a traditional paintbrush, Fos uses a palette knife to produce the rich, distinctive, and highly textured works that have become her signature style. Through her art, Becky Fos celebrates New Orleans and the wildlife that inhabits the nearby swamps and bayous, New Orleans' street musicians, historical figures, prominent architecture, and the beauty that envelops her. Her canvases depict radiant, deep-hued oysters in a rainbow of colors too beautiful to eat, and her pelicans and alligators are adorned with crowns, celebrating their iconic status. These hallmarks capture the imaginations of collectors around the world.
