JUNE 2026 NEWSLETTER

I hope this note finds you all well. I had some distressing health news and multiple tests back in late April. Still seeing specialists, but it does appear than my vision in one eye is shot permanently. Whether my other eye will be affected is unknown at this time. So with that cheery news, I’d like to share happier news: a new children’s book, reproductions of my icons for sale as well as illustration art for sale for the first time on my website. I hope you enjoy browsing both my early work and most recent work.

NEW PICTURE BOOK: ELIZABETH: Princess, Abbess, Saint by Mary Ford

I was honored to have had the opportunity to work with Orthodox scholar and teacher Mary Ford on her first book for children. (She has written many Orthodox books for adults.) What an intriguing story—how does a princess become a saint? Elizabeth was a remarkable German princess who married into Russian royalty but gave up a life of luxury to serve the needy in Moscow during the Russian revolution. She was martyred  in 1917 for her association with the Romanovs. It took a great deal of research to make the settings and costumes as true to the period as possible, and I was also fortunate to find quite a few photos of her life.

FIND OUT MORE on the Ancient Faith Store website, including a video interview with the author and me, speaking about our journey with the book.

NEW! A CHRISTIAN-themed category in my online SHOP

I have created several Orthodox icons over the past few years with the blessing of my bishop, including one of St. Elizabeth the New Martyr. I have been selling laminated copies at my church. Recently I found a source for unfinished wooden plaques and I am offering them the first time on my website. The laminated 4×6″ icons are mounted on 3/4″ thick painted 5×7 beveled plaques. I am offering them simply laminated as well.

I have a very few first edition copies of THE NATIVITY, a picture book I created that was published by Little, Brown. And I’ve self-published my out-of-print title TAPESTRIES: Stories of Women in the Bible, renaming it simply Stories of Women of the Bible for this new edition.

Click HERE for the Shop link.

NEW! ILLUSTRATION Original Art for Sale

I’m planning to place/donate most of my major paintings that are not currently offered  at the Michelson Gallery in Northampton, MA. to museum collections. However, I have a great deal of art from my early books, including several Golden Book titles I did in the 1980″s. I’ve sold most of this art over the years, but have a few pieces left that I’m offering for the first time on my website. ILLUSTRATION for Sale

And check out a few new plein air paintings added to PAINTINGS for Sale.

THE MIRROR OF TRUTH NEWS

I am slowly working to complete the illustrations for my Young Adult  retelling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. Having one “less than optimal eye” is a bit tiring and is making my work much slower. (Took a full week to update my website and create this newsletter) I’ll be sending out a detailed newsletter with lots of pictures to that Newsletter sub-list along with the first TWO chapters for free. I am still tweaking the manuscript since I’m planning to run a Kickstarter to fund an illustrated edition. If you’d like to be on that list, CLICK HERE to add your name to the MIRROR OF TRUTH NEWS. And my apologies–I just found one typo in the PDF of the two free chapters attached to the Newsletter sign up form, and have run out of spoons to go through all the steps required to fix that right now.

A PERSONAL NOTE

My friend and beloved author Jane Yolen passed away this month. I’ve written a tribute about our 40+ year friendship and collaborations on SUBSTACK —https://substack.com/@ruthsanderson77

Yours in art,

Ruth