ABOUT OUR SPEAKER: Chicago-based artist and illustrator, Samantha George Decarlo graduated from the American Academy of Art with a degree in illustration.

In recent years her focus has been on her fine art with an emphasis on surrealism, pushing the boundaries between what is physically possible  with what cannot be so.

She works mainly in oil paint on wood, and because she is very adventurous in her work, she also experiments with spray paint, acrylics, and plays with unusual paint application methods.

Her work is often bold, sometimes with a touch of whimsy, and is always sublimely rendered with abundant use of rich, vivid colors.  There is often an element of the unexpected in her paintings as if each one contains a mystery waiting to be solved.

She captures nature as you\'ve never seen it before, always with an unusual twist.