Paint Us! Paint Us! - a painting by Candy Crawford Day

One of the blessings of getting involved in the art community is the opportunity to make connections with other artists. I once wrote that painting has brought an entirely new dimension to my group of friends. Such a true statement! One such friend is Candy Day. She belongs to the Plein Air Painters of the Southeast and is a fellow Georgia girl. I grew up in Georgia - mostly Rome, but also Ellijay and Griffin. As it turns out, Candy went to the same high school I attended and married the boy who lived next door to us when we lived in Rome, GA. Literally right next door! Although I knew her husband when we lived in Rome, I never knew Candy.

I met Candy for the first time when PAPSE was in Leiper's Fork back in September 2018. As we chatted at one of the PAPSE get-togethers, I found out that she now lives in Ellijay. Our family lived in Ellijay before we moved to Rome. And she is also a cousin of my brother's best friend from Ellijay. Small world.

Besides the school, town and neighbor connections, I saw immediately that Candy is a gifted artist. A few months back, she posted a photograph of a painting she was doing of three little girls at the beach. I immediately loved that painting. There's just something about their facial expressions, and the way they're standing in the painting. Candy explained the setting for the painting. She had been painting at the beach, and the girls came up to watch her and then cried, "Paint Us! Paint Us!" So Candy painted them.

"Paint Us! Paint Us!" oil on 16x20 panel

That was about six months ago. I figured someone snapped up that painting quickly. Then six or so weeks ago, I saw that Candy had posted a painting she was working on, and in the background I saw "Paint Us! Paint Us!" on the wall. I messaged her and asked if it was still available for purchase. She said it was, and we agreed on a price. Since my mother lives in north Georgia, I decided to pick it up in person so we wouldn't have to deal with shipping. So my mother, two sisters, and I made a day trip out of it. Candy recommended a good restaurant in Ellijay for us to have lunch. We drove to Ellijay (just a 90-minute drive from my mother's home in Rome), had a delightful lunch, and then drove out to Candy's house and studio. It was great to see her studio, to chat with her and her husband again, and I loved the painting even more in person.  Here is a photo of Candy and me in her studio.

I brought the painting home and it is now on the wall in my dining room. Next to it is a painting by Kathie Odom, "Homestead Remnants" and below it is a painting of mine, "He Planted Wildflowers for Me."  (I could've moved the hammer out of the photo, couldn't I? Or cropped it out of the photo!  LOL!)

Each time I pass that painting, it grabs my attention - it touches my heart. I'm a little in awe that I own it! Art is so personal and individual. Art affects us based on our unique experiences, thoughts, and ideas. We react to what moves us. Maybe it's my years of teaching elementary school age children that makes a painting of children so special to me. I also know how difficult it is to capture the essence of a person in a painting. In "Paint Us! Paint Us!" the  individual personality of each girl just oozes out of the painting. I couldn't be happier with this addition to my art collection. 

To me, a home filled with art - especially art by people I know - my own art - art that tells a story - art that moves me - is the home I want - and blessedly, the home I have.

Candy Day - one day art workshop

This past Monday I went to a one-day workshop in Talking Rock, GA at the Chateau Meichtry Vineyard and Winery, taught by Candy Crawford Day.  It was a great day.  Candy is good teacher, and I FINALLY understood about how to use a paintbrush to "measure" to get proportions right.  There were only four students in the class (or was it five?) and I was definitely not in the upper 3 or 4 as far as skill level.

The first part of the day, Candy did a demo using a model.  We were inside, and the model sat on the hearth with her black and white dog at her feet.  Candy did a great job.  After lunch we went outside, and the model sat on a rock wall - this time with the dog by her side.

Now, at this point, I STILL did not understand about how to get proportions right.  Candy showed me, but it didn't make sense to me.  I THOUGHT it made sense at the time, but it didn't work for me (because I was doing it wrong). But I tried. The model put on a hat because the sun was so hot.  My photo is dark - I think because my setup was in the shade, and the sun was so bright outside the shade.  So my proportions aren't right. And you will notice that I didn't even attempt the dog!  LOL! 

Before I left, I walked around looking at the other artists' paintings, and their's were SO much better.  As I drove home (almost 4 hours), I was mulling over the whole proportion thing - thinking about the painting above, thinking about the painting of Sophie on the beach - and Ron and Bradley hand-in-hand on the beach - and how all my figures are too short and stubby looking.  Then suddenly a lightbulb went off in my head and I understood what Candy had described - how using the paintbrush to measure would help me keep the proportions right.  So I'm anxious to try another figure soon and try out my paintbrush measuring skills.  

Meanwhile, my painting from this class will remain in my ever-growing "too bad to be seen" stack in my studio. :-) It's so bad, I don't want to even try to make it better - just start over on something else.