In pursuing the skills she would need as a fine artist, Bohannon studied painting, drawing, sculpture, printmaking, aesthetics, art history and philosophy at the Laguna College of Art and Design, graduating with honors and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2005.
Bohannon’s artwork consists of deeply compassionate, penetrating and emotive figurative pieces along with intensely studied works from life and nature. The artist describes much of her work’s content as: “The invisible yet perceptible quality of awareness, emotions, experiences, memories and expectations, the ethereal nature of the human soul and a searching for comfort and familiarity in the sublime unknown. “
Candice’s body of work is contemplative, expressing a sincere philosophical pursuit of truth and meaning, and an exploration of the robust human spirit. Her work is contemporary yet naturalistic, soulful yet rational, and touches upon the complex relationship between man and nature.
Her works have garnered the attention of fellow artists, collectors, and galleries worldwide. Her paintings have been featured in publications such as: Fine Art Connoisseur, American Art Collector, Southwest Art, The Artist’s Magazine, International Artist, Artists and Poets, Professional Artist Magazine, and ArtSee, along with inclusion in several art books. Candice has exhibited at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, the USC Fisher Museum and fine art galleries throughout the United States. Her work has received numerous honors: A host of awards from the Art Renewal Center including 2nd Place in the figurative category in 2016, Fine Art Connoisseur’s Award of Excellence in 2013, 1st Place in The Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition in 2012, a Certificate of Excellence from the Portrait Society of America in 2012, and more.
As a full time artist, she is constantly exploring new ideas and methods in art making, and devotes herself fully to “creating something of human value: artwork that helps to enrich this world, to connect the lonely, to console and revivify our wounded hearts and somnolent minds.”
Her artistic process pays tribute to traditions dating back to the old masters, while utilizing modern high quality materials to create stable, long lasting works of art. A typical oil painting can take her months to create. It is the result of many years of experience and training, as well as months of concerted effort, and is an exquisite one of a kind object of rare quality and aesthetic beauty.
Candice’s work is in private collections throughout the US, Europe and Canada. She currently resides in Texas, and shares her life with fellow artist Julio Reyes and their two children.
Artist’S Statement
“My paintings are labors of love, full of heart and intensity. I endeavor to create works of substance and beauty, share tenderness and generosity towards my fellow man, and leave something behind that will serve others. I strive to create objects of human value: serving to enrich this world, to connect the lonely, to console and revivify our wounded hearts and somnolent minds. I love to explore the rich connection between strangers, the long unbroken line of human endeavors and ideals, and the heroic heart within. I am fascinated with symbols of great significance in seemingly mundane environments, the invisible yet perceptible quality of awareness, emotions, experiences, memories and expectations, the ethereal nature of the human soul and a searching for comfort and familiarity in the sublime unknown.
It is my belief that art can help us to refocus our attentions on our most important beliefs, expand the scope of our compassion and understanding, and connect us with those who have walked a different path, in a different place. I strive to capture a glimpse of the beauty, awe and wonder of this world before I leave it, and to share that with others.”
Education
Laguna College of Art and Design
BFA in Painting and Drawing, Minor in Sculpture 2005
Selected Group Exhibitions
- “Suspension of Disbelief” Richard J Demato Gallery June 24th – July 16th 2017
- “Our Collective Conscience” Richard J Demato Gallery Oct 8th-Nov13th 2016
- “International Art Renewal Center Salon Exhibition”, Salmagundi Club, NY January 18th to February 4th, 2016
- Parallel Universe, RJD Gallery, Sag Harbor 2016
- The ART of Discovery – Exhibition to Benefit the Retreat “where violence ends and hope begins..”, RJD Gallery, Sag Harbor 016
- “Small Works 2015″, Principle Gallery, Alexandria, VA Dec 5th-31st 2015″International Art Renewal Center Salon Exhibition”, Museum of Modern Art (MEAM), Barcelona, Spain Nov 20th – Dec 28th 2015
- “Solitary” Candice Bohannon * Julio Reyes * Aron Wiesenfeld , Maxwell Alexander Gallery, CA Nov 7th -25th 2015
- “Works on Paper”, Arcadia Contemporary, NY, NY August 14th – 31st 2015
- “Drawn-In 2”, Q Art Salon, Santa Ana, CA July 11th, 2015
- “104th California Art Club Gold Medal Exhibition”, USC Fisher Museum Of Art, Los Angeles, CA Exhibition March 30 – April 20th 2015
- “A Treasure Trove of Real Art”, Haynes Galleries, Nashville, TN November 21st – Dec 20th 2014
- “Black Friday”, Maxwell Alexander Gallery, Culver City, CA November 28th-29th 2014
- “Women Painting Women”, Richard J Demato Fine Arts Gallery, Sag Harbor, NY October 11 – Nov 17th 2014
- “Women by Women”, Kwan Fong Gallery, Thousand Oaks, CA Feb 13th – April 12th 2014
- “The Still Life: Mundane to the Sublime”, Haynes Galleries – Nashville, TN Jan 31st – March 8th 2014
- “Small Works”, Principle Gallery – Alexandria, VA – December 7th 2013 – Jan 2014
- “Black Friday”, Maxwell Alexander Gallery – Culver City, CA November 29th – December 6th 2013
- “North vs South”, Robert Lange Studios – Charleston, SC November 2013
- “Small Works”, Arcadia Contemporary – NY, NY Sep 19-30 2013
- “Women Painting Women: (R)evolution”, Principle Gallery – Alexandria, VA Sept 20th – October 18th 2013
- “Women Painting Women: A Room of Their Own”, Haynes Gallereis – Nashville, TN Aug 23rd 2013
- “The Art of Drawing: Line, Texture, Form & Light”, Haynes Galleries – Nashville, TN July 19th – Aug 17th 2013
- “102nd Annual Gold Medal Exhibition”, California Art Club at the USC Fisher Museum – Los Angeles, CA 2013
- “Selfish”, Katherine Cone Gallery – Culver City, CA 2013
- “Great American Figurative Exhibition”, Waterhouse Gallery – Santa Barbara, CA 2012
- American Art Invitational “Small Gems”, Exhibition, Saks Galleries Cherry Creek – Denver, CO 2012
- “Stories of Contemporary Realism”, Brigham Galleries www.StoriesofContemporaryRealism.com 2012
- “101st Annual Gold Medal Exhibition”, California Art Club at the Autry National Center – Los Angeles, CA 2012
- “Small Gems”, Waterhouse Gallery – Santa Barbara, CA 2012
- “Crocker Art Auction”, Crocker Museum – Sacramento, CA 2011
- “100th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition”, California Art Club at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, CA 2011
- “Go Figure”, Elliott Fouts Gallery – Sacramento, CA 2011
“Women Painting Women”, Robert Lange Studios – Charleston, SC 2010 - “Oil Painters of America Western Regional Exhibition”, Mountain Trails Gallery – Jackson Hole, WY 2010
- “Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2010 AD”, at the Fairhaven Mausoleum – Santa Ana, CA 2010
- “99th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition”, California Art Club at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, CA 2010
- “Roseville Arts 33rd Annual Open Juried Exhibition”, Blue Line Gallery – Roseville, CA 2010
- “Juried Group Exhibition”, Placer Arts – Auburn, CA 2009
- “Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2009 AD”, Fairhaven Mausoleum – Santa Ana, CA 2009
- “98th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition”, California Art Club at the Pasadena Museum of California Art, CA 2009
- “Roseville Arts 32nd Annual Open Juried Exhibition”, Blue Line Gallery – Roseville, CA 2008
- “Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2008 AD”, Fairhaven Mausoleum – Santa Ana, CA 2008
- “Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2007 AD”, Fairhaven Mausoleum – Santa Ana, CA 2007
- “LCAD 45th Anniversary Alumni Exhibition”, 7 Degrees – Laguna Beach, CA 2006
- “Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2006 AD”, Fairhaven Mausoleum – Santa Ana, CA 2006
- “Summer Exhibition”, Gallery 821 – Laguna Beach, CA 2005
- In Collaboration With LCAD, “Works of Art”, Richard MacDonald Gallery – Laguna Beach, CA 2004
- “Summer Exhibition”, Gallery 821 – Laguna Beach, CA 2004
- “Best of Show”, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA 2004
- “Summer Exhibition”, Gallery 821 – Laguna Beach, CA 2003
- “Juried Student Exhibition”, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA 2003
- “Celebrating Freedom Through Imagination”, FORMA – Irvine, CA 2003
- “Collector’s Showcase”, at private residence – Laguna Beach, CA 2002
- “Summer Exhibition”, Gallery 821 – Laguna Beach, CA 2002
- “Juried Student Exhibition”, Laguna College of Art and Design – Laguna Beach, CA 2002
Selected Publications
- The Artist’s Magazine, May Issue 2017. Brushing Up Article “The Mouth Tells All”
- The Figurative Artist’s Handbook: A Contemporary Guide to Figure Drawing, Painting and Composition by Rob Zeller 2017
- Art Renewal Center International 2015/2016 Salon Competition Catalogue
- New Realism: Contemporary Takes On The Figure, Pg 104. Nov 2016
- American Art Collector, “Solitary” Pgs 152,153. Nov 2015
- iArtistas, Issue # 16 – Front and back cover, June 2015
- Tikkun Magazine, Volume 30, Number 2. Pg 1 Spring 2015
- Poets and Artists, Issue #59 “The Power of Drawing” Currated by Steven Daluz. Dec 2014
- Poets and Artists, Issue #56 “Celebration” Currated by Daniel Maidman. June 2014
- Fine Art Connoisseur, March 2014 “Candice Bohannon and Julio Reyes: A Passion for Art” Pgs 22-26 March – 2014
- Art Renewal Center International 2014/2015 Salon Catalogue, Pgs 42, 191, 192 – 2014
- Art Journey Portraits & Figures: The Best of Contemporary Drawing in Graphite, Pastel & Colored Pencil, by Rachel Rubin Wolf. Pg 22, 218. 2014
- Strokes of Genius 6, The Best of Drawing: Value | Lighes and Darks, by Rachel Rubin Wolf. Pg 5, 136. 2014
- Southwest Art Magazine, Volume 43, No. 7 – Pg 78 – December, 2013
- American Art Collector, Issue 95, Pgs 1, 54, 55 – September, 2013
- Art Renewal Center International 2012/2013 Salon Catalogue, Pg 50 – 2013
- California Art Club 102nd Annual Gold Medal Exhibition Catalogue, Pgs 21, 80 – 2012
- The Artist’s Magazine, December issue 2012. Winners feature for 1st Place in the Annual Art Competition. Pgs 56, 57 Dec -2012
- The Artist’s Magazine, June issue 2012, article titled “Memento Mori” June – 2012
- California Art Club 101st Annual Gold Medal Exhibition Catalogue, Pgs 22, 82 April – 2012
- Art Renewal Center International 2011 Salon Catalogue – 2011
- The Artist’s Magazine, Dec Issue 2011 Dec – 2011
- California Art Club 100th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition Catalogue, Pg 26 April – 2010
- California Art Club 99th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition Catalogue, Pgs 20, 79 April – 2010
- American Art Collector, Volume 61 – Pgs 98-99 Nov – 2010
- California Art Club 98th Annual Gold Medal Exhibition Catalogue, Pgs 18, 92 April – 2009
- Southwest Art Magazine, Volume 35, No. 4 – Pg 87 Sept – 2009
- Southwest Art Magazine, Volume 35, No. 3 – Pgs 46-48 Aug – 2009
- The Artist’s Magazine, December issue Pg 58 – 2008
- International Artist Magazine, Issue 46 Aug – 2008
- Coast Magazine, Volume 15, Issue 8 – Pg 56 Jul – 2006
- Art Renewal Center International 2006 Salon Catalogue 2006
- International Artist Magazine, Issue 35 – Pg 6 Mar – 2004
- 100 Ways To Paint A Landscape, Volume 1 – Pgs 10, 27 – 2004
Selected Awards And Honors
- 2nd Place, Figurative Category, “Long Valley”, Art Renewal Center’s 12th Annual Salon Competition
- Arcadia Contemporary Award,”Overflow”, Art Renewal Center’s 12th Annual Salon Competition
- 3rd Place, Drawing, “Ascension”, Art Renewal Center’s 12th Annual Salon Competition
- Honorable Mention, Drawing, “Pleading Heart”, Art Renewal Center’s 12th Annual Salon Competition
- Chairmans Award for “Daydream”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2014-2015
- Finalist for “Timberland”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2014-2015
- Finalist for “Constellation”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2014-2015
- 3rd Place for “Bed of Gold”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2013-2014
- Finalist for “Bear the Light”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2013-2014
- Honorable Mention in Southwest Art Magazine’s Artistic Excellence competition 2013
- Award of Excellence for “Ice Flow” from Fine Art Connoisseur Magazine in the 102nd Annual Gold Medal Exhibition 2013
- Award of Excellence for “Ice Flow”, Southwest Art Magazine in the 102nd Annual Gold Medal Exhibition 2013
- Finalist for “Ice Flow”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2012-2013
- 1st Place, Artist’s Magazine Annual Art Competition 2012- Portraits/Figures 2012
- Finalist for “Grace”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2011-2012
- Certificate of Excellence for “Grace”, Portrait Society of America’s International Portrait Competition -2012
- Honorable Mention for “Chary”, Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2010-2011
- 1st Place, 33rd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Blue Line Gallery Roseville, CA 2010
- 2nd Place, 33rd Annual Open Juried Exhibition, Blue Line Gallery Roseville, CA 2010
- 1st Place at the Fairhaven Art Exhibition 2009 AD, Fairhaven Mausoleum, Santa Ana, CA 2009
- Semi-Finalist in the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery’s Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2009
- 1st Place in the Juried Group Exhibition at Placer Arts Auburn, CA 2009
- Finalist in Painting Competition in the International Artist Magazine 2008
- Honorable Mention in Figurative Painting in the Art Renewal Center Salon Competition 2006
- 2nd Place in Landscape Competition in the International Artist Mag 2004
Interviews available online:
John Dalton’s Podcast “Gently Does It” Episode 48 – Dancing on the Precipice with Candice Bohannon and Julio Reyes.
Candice Bohannon: Oil Portraits With Pathos
This article on Candice Bohannon, written by Selena Reder, originally appeared in the June 2012 issue of The Artist Magazine.
“Color plays a key role in Dementia (oil, 38×48),” says Bohannon. “The cold hues of the water against the fiery reds of the barren grassland reflect the inner turmoil and isolation of this elderly woman, Edith”
At an upscale assisted-living facility in Newport Beach, California, Candice Bohannon arrived with pencils and sketchpad. A woman had hired Bohannon to give drawing lessons to Edith, the woman’s aunt. The opportunity presented one of the most difficult and poignant subjects Bohannon had ever struggled to capture. Edith suffered from Alzheimer’s disease.
Depicting a Psychic Void
“It was hard to watch someone dealing with that amount of frustration—her mind and body becoming this prison,” says Candice Bohannon. “What the situation began to represent for me was the horror of dying without anyone knowing who you are.” The familial pain wrought by this cruel disease was personal for Bohannon, who had lost two grandfathers to Alzheimer’s.
Photographs record physical details, but drawings give Candice Bohannon a more visceral connection to her subjects. “The information I gather from life studies, such as Sketch of Edith (graphite, 14×11), is vital to the success of a large oil piece that I plan on creating with the help of photographic references,” she says.
In Sketch of Edith (above), Candice Bohannon renders Edith’s curls as a loose array of disorderly strokes. They hang over her face like a malaise. The small graphite sketch has the expressive naturalism of works by German Expressionist Käthe Kollwitz, whose work Bohannon admires. “The sketches of Edith,” says Bohannon, “focus on capturing the expression in her face, the feelings and mood of the moment—things a photograph cannot fully capture.”
: ”The composition of Edith with a Silk Scarf (graphite, 24×15¼) is simple,” says Bohannon, “so that the many textures, values and patterns can shine forth.”
When Candice Bohannon doesn’t have the luxury of posing a model for an extended period, she works from photographs. This was the case with Dementia (at top), derived from photos taken outside Edith’s home. A brutal color combination of fiery orange grassland and a steel-gray lake makes the small woman smaller and transforms Edith’s surroundings into a “landscape of the mind.” For Dementia, Bohannon chose a birch plywood panel for her substrate, taking advantage of the smooth surface by giving her strokes an expressive forward thrust. She vigorously laid in the color and texture of the grasslands with bristle brushes. Thicker paint defines the directional movement of the grass, while color and light effects accentuate that movement. Mongoose and sable brushes, selected for their spring, allow for smooth and subtle applications of paint to add quiet detail to Edith’s face. Art historian Simon Schama writes in his book Rembrandt’s Eyes that the Dutch master often painted eyes obscured by shadow, thus suggesting the subject’s introspection or the “inner eye.” Bohannon, who admires Rembrandt’s work for its emotive quality, similarly veiled Edith’s striking green eyes with shadow. Bohannon, however, uses the technique to different effect; in Edith’s darkened gaze, the divine spark is gone.
Giving Vanitas a Face
Candice Bohannon faces the unsettling emotions of another illness in A Fall Come Early (below), a painting of an adolescent that expresses the anguish of a lost childhood.
In A Fall Come Early (oil, 42×34), Candice Bohannon wanted to tell the story of a brave girl in an extremely difficult situation. “Her clasped arms and resigned expression reg=present a solemn undertone,” says Bohannon.
The girl depicted in the painting suffers from Batten disease, a rare disorder of the nervous system. In addition to having lost her sight, she couldn’t spend much time out of bed because of impaired motor abilities. “She was so incredibly moving and gorgeous. I just had to paint her,” says Candice Bohannon, who found a spot in the woods near the girl’s home for a photo shoot. Before bringing the subject there, Bohannon had composed photographs in her mind while she sat and sketched a mossy patch of large rocks under the cover of trees.
Capturing her precise vision in a photo shoot isn’t always possible, however, so Candice Bohannon uses Photoshop to build what amounts to a technically generated mock-up or compositional drawing. She rearranges her images and sometimes even brings in different landscapes.
During a painting session, she’ll make use of all her reference material. She has sketches tacked onto her studio wall, and she’s also known to hold photographs and extra brushes in her right hand as she paints with her left hand. “It is a bit of a juggling act,” says Bohannon.
For a sensitive portrait like A Fall Come Early, Candice Bohannon prefers a canvas or linen substrate. She sized her canvas with rabbitskin glue and chose lead white primer because of its durability. Aware of the health hazards of lead white and other toxic substances associated with oils, she wears nitrile examination gloves (used by healthcare professionals), which allow for tactile sensation while protecting her skin. “I don’t want there to be any reason I cannot paint until I am old, gray and arthritic,” says Bohannon.
Nothing feels warm in A Fall Come Early, not even the girl’s gorgeous red hair. Her skin is so pale, it glows, and small blue veins whisper through her flesh. “A Fall Come Early is the darker piece of the series,” says Bohannon. The girl in that piece looks into the future at her coming death.” Like the vanitas genre of the Dutch Baroque, the painting is a tribute to beauty and transience. “The piece I’m trying to finish right now is more about the acceptance of death. This girl has an amazing amount of grace. She’s not at all angry about her condition or her lot in life.”
Candice Bohannon’s Change and Growth
Camdice Bohannon exhibits her own brand of acceptance and grace in regard to her art. She’s not afraid to make drastic changes at any stage in her work. The slightest incorrect angle can make her feel a painting is too tight and stuffy. An unsuccessfully mixed color isn’t tolerated. What she cannot remedy with a brush, she’ll sand down and paint over. It’s a gutsy practice she learned as an undergraduate at the Laguna College of Art and Design, where Professor Cynthia Grilli taught her to create with courage. Bohannon explains: “The professor would say, ‘If you can draw it once, you can draw it twice.’ She was famous for wiping out our drawings when we were on break.”
“Piles of clothing that seem to wrap around and consume the figure convey a sense of being overwhelmed,” says Candice Bohannon. ” I made Downpour (oil, 48×72) large because I didn’t think the painting would read as powerfully on a smaller scale.”
Such courage gives Bohannon the freedom to reach beyond her current considerable accomplishments and continue experimenting with media, methods and themes. She’s not interested in being defined solely as a portrait painter this early in her career. “I see myself as a representational painter,” she says, “but the subject of those paintings might be landscape, still life, portrait or a combination of those genres.” At this point, she chooses not to pursue gallery representation, avoiding any possibility of subordinating her artistic development to a client’s expectations. “I know that I’ll find the right gallery for my work eventually,” says Bohannon, “but the freedom to explore themes and ideas, such as those found in the Edith series, is invaluable to me at this formative stage.” For all Candice Bohannon’s grueling hours spent at the easel, she’s happy to be right where she is—at the beginning of a long career.
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
Candice Bohannon Painting
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