Lela Kometiani
Art teacher
Lela Kometiani is an artist, illustrator, and educator. She holds a B.A. in Teaching (painting/drawing) from Nikoladze College of Arts, Georgia and an M.A. in Graphic Design from the State Academy of Fine Arts, Tbilisi, Georgia. She continued her studies at Pennsylvania State University, taking additional courses in graphic design. With over 20 years of experience as an art educator, Lela has taught drawing studio classes at Virginia Commonwealth University for over 8 years before relocating to Charlotte. She has created work for a wide variety of clients, including the University of California, the Penn State University, and NJ Children’s Museum.
Lela has illustrated more than a dozen books, including “We All Have a Heritage”, “Grandpa is Everything Black Bad?”, by Sandy Holman, and “Lucy Lou’s Magical Phone”, by Jayme Trainor. Her illustrations and designs have also been featured in publications such as the Davis Enterprise, Inter college Publication at Penn State and The Centre Daily Times. In addition, she has received several first place awards and earned recognition in both design and book illustration, including a Writer’s Digest national award, and a Skipping Stones award among others. Lela has served as a juror for art competitions, including the Tuckahoe Library fine art competition and Read More Books youth illustration competition. Her paintings are included in private collections in the U.S. and Europe.