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Editor's note: KSL.com does a weekly feature on artists in the community. If you have a painter, sculptor, musician or creative genius in mind, feel free to email your submission to fjolley@ksl.com. Please include a contact email for the artist, if available.SALT LAKE CITY — When it comes to Victorian-style portraits of fantastic things, this Utah artist has cornered the market.
Candace Jean Andersen is an artist and illustrator who specializes in fancy, feminine drawings of things like “deerbirds,” and stoic portraits of Wednesday Addams and Princess Leia.
Never formally trained as an artist, Andersen learned by doing.
“I have always had that urge to create,” Andersen said.
Several years ago, inspired by a dream she had about painting and selling cards, Andersen decided to literally follow her dreams and return to her passion of illustrating. She sold the cards at the coffee shop where she worked, and expanded to local shops, markets and craft shows.
Now a full-time graphic designer for a corporation, she makes time for her whimsical illustrations between work and raising her young son. Inspired by antiques, old books, flora and fauna, her work is imaginative yet classic.
“I was once told by a viewer that they saw my art as ‘Beatrix Potter meets Edward Gorey,’ and it's been my favorite, most flattering compliment to date,” Andersen said.
Her work is watercolor and colored pencil and goes through a process of sketching, painting, printing and packaging for online and in-person sales.
Candace Jean Andersen
One of her personal favorite pieces is called “Magnolia,” which Andersen painted in 2014. It depicts a girl with warblers and a magnolia bloom in her hair.
“It was the first time I'd tried a Dutch Flemish approach to oils and created a sepia underpainting for the piece,” Andersen said.
She takes a unique approach to the artist’s statement — writing a small backstory for those depicted in her art. The story behind Magnolia, as written on her site:
“The daughter of a plantation owner, this classy southern-belle dreams of turning her father’s cotton fields in to magnolia groves. The more blooms, warblers, and fragrant summer nights, the better.”
Andersen’s goal is to someday illustrate children’s books. She said she would love to create drawings for a reprint of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM or The Borrowers. However, with her storytelling abilities, she’s like to write and illustrate her own original stories.
For now, with the paintings standing alone, Andersen said she doesn’t mind how people interpret them.
“Even if I've come up with a story for the piece, it's what personal story my viewers give it to make the art ‘theirs’ that matters,” she said.
You can see Andersen’s work on display at the Children’s Gallery at the Salt Lake Public Library, at Craft Lake City Aug. 7-8, and at Salt Lake Comic Con Sept. 24-26.
Amanda is a writer and pop culture fanatic who studied journalism at BYU. She has written for a candy store, a US Senator, Deseret News, an art museum, Entertainment Weekly magazine, a beauty company, KSL and several artists and musicians. Find her on Twitter @amandataylor88.
