Candis McKinzie

I began drawing six years ago when I retired and moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Previously I was an Interior Designer in Dallas, Texas specializing in color consultation for businesses & residential homes. Like most “creatives”, Santa Fe motivated me to pick up a pencil & draw. I started documenting New Mexico’s unusual places, unique beauty & diverse historical cultures. I enjoy drawing a variety of objects that “catch my eye” with their unusual subjects, lighting, and compositions. I also love to draw odd images that trigger memories, create smiles & please the eye in a contemporary way. I work with a combination of sketching, my imagination & original photos. My media is lightfast colored pencils & fine archival papers. I enjoy choosing from their hundreds of rich colors. I combine them in multiple light layers to create specific colors & textures, then use various ways to blend the colors to create a smooth painted look. It’s very detailed, labor intensive & requires patience, but it also sparks great pleasure and satisfaction. I am grateful to have the ability to draw, express creatively what I see & share it with others.

Affiliations:

Colored Pencil Society of America
International Guild of Realism
New Mexico Art League
New Mexico Rio Grande Art Association

Awards:

First Place – Encantada! Art Exhibition, Rio Grande Art Association, Albuquerque, NM

Accolades:

Accepted Juried Art Shows 2024
ArtsThive Art Exhibition- Albuquerque Museum.  3/17– 4/14
New Mexico Art League- NMAL Gallery- Common Ground Works on Paper. 4/18 – 5/19
CPSA International Art Exhibition- Brea Gallery- Brea, CA. 7/20 -9/15

Accepted Juried Art Shows 2023

Encantada! Art Exhibition – Rio Grande Art Association. 11/03 – 11/29 (Awarded 1st Place)
IGOR International Guild of Realism Fall Salon Online. 10/20 – 12/20
Old Church Fine Arts Show – Corrales Society of Artists & Corrales Historical Society. 10/6 -10/15
Arizona Colors – Sonora Desert Museum – Part of a CPSA 212 group exhibit.  8/19 – 10/10
Exchange Rate (the Art of Currency) Art Show – Santa Fe City Art Gallery.  6/16 – 9/7
New Mexico Art League- NMAL Gallery -Terra Firma Art Show. 1/18 – 2/18