Candace Buethorn (President)
Watercolors and Collages
Watercolor artist Candace N. Buethorn paints evocative scenes of nature, joyfully capturing both the calm moments and quiet energy of our natural environment. From the day her artistic parents permitted her to paint a family room mural at age 10, Candace has wielded her brush — with both right hand and left — through more than three decades of inspiration, creating watercolors, collages, Giclee prints, and a widely collected and coveted annual watercolor calendar.
“I’m an optimist,” says Candace. “In my paintings I hope to emphasize the good and strengthen the fabric of goodwill in the world. The symbols of the circle, the spiral, and light-versus-dark are intermingled into my images, expressing strong spirituality.”
Those symbols — manifest by shape, color, and calligraphic line — define Candace’s florals, landscapes, waterscapes, and others — koi circling in a pond, cats reposing in a garden, the quiet grace of a madrona perched on a cliff. Her paintings are imbued with an expression of joy, inspiration, and a love of life and her environment.
Living in a fire lookout station in Montana informed her early mountain landscapes; a move to the crowded beaches of southern California brought the inclusion of people to her paintings. Those paintings found success at the Laguna Beach Sawdust Festival; simultaneously, she was commissioned to paint murals on prominent suburban garage doors, bringing further recognition to her loose, gestural style. This evocative body of work led to numerous shows in Bellingham, Washington, where she has resided since 1981, including a first-place award at the 10th Annual Northwest International Art Competition at the Whatcom Museum in 1989.
A Midwest native and graduate of Principia College in Illinois, Candace traveled extensively before settling in Bellingham. She continues to carry paint and easel to far-flung places, including Hawaii, but mainly draws inspiration from the Pacific Northwest environment, often painting “plein-aire” or outside on site. In late 2007, she won second place for her painting “Time for Downtown,” from the PAPO (Plein-Aire Paint Out) exhibit, organized by Bellingham’s Trish Harding from Studio UFO.
Candace lives in Bellingham with her husband of 25-plus years, three children, and assorted animals. She welcomes studio visitors by appointment and teaches watercolor classes at her Fairhaven studio location.
Artist's Statement
In my paintings I hope to emphasize the good and strengthen the fabric of goodwill in the world. The symbols of the circle, the spiral, and light-versus-dark are intermingled into my images, expressing strong spirituality.