Claudia Chandler - Art Addiction
My Creative Journey
What inspired me to become an artist?
Quite early in childhood – in fact, the moment I could grasp a chubby crayon in my tiny hand – an artist was born. I experienced intensely abusive episodes as I was growing up, and art was my only escape from that world – it was my private sanctuary where I could create my own reality. As decades passed and my skills developed, what mesmerized me was the minutest of details in even the simplest of objects. People comment that my art creations look like photographs. I realize that I see elements in real objects that many others may not initially be aware of. It is this intense attention to detail that draws the viewer’s attention.
When I began drawing animals, the eyes became my primary focus. That is when I created my tagline, “The secret to their souls is through their eyes.” Establishing the personality and the emotion of a living being – be it human or animal – is through the eyes. This emotion in my creations is where the art term ‘hyper-realism’ came to be part of my description for my art. I vacillate between photorealistic and hyper-realistic illustrations.
I can tell you, that regardless of the masterpiece that I am meticulously creating, I still escape into my own secluded realm where reality of the living world becomes my quest for perfection in art. It is where I freeze a specific moment in time for all who will experience it today, and for everyone who will experience it 100 years from now - and beyond. That moment will live on through my art.
What inspired me to work with the mediums I use?
Colored Pencils provide softness of the lead that allows for brilliant or soft colors that can be blended to create exquisitely realistic detail.
Graphite The intensity of black and white brings out distinctive details where emotion is captured.
Scratchboard art was introduced in the 19th century. The board is coated with white porcelain clay, then layered with black ink. Images are created by scraping away the ink with special artists' scratch knives to reveal the white clay. Remarkable detail is achieved with this art medium. The process to create scratchboard is quite labor intense, and the end result is spectacular! I use only the highest quality clay boards to create images. Color is added by combining various inks and art pencils to achieve stunning details.
What inspires me to draw the subjects I create?
Art is life. The reality of the world around me is what inspires me to draw the subjects I create. It is nature, landscapes, and animals that arouse an insatiable compulsion for me to capture the moment forever.
Nature’s perfection: perhaps in a bee, a butterfly, or a flower. The colors and details are incredibly compelling. To capture the beauty of a bloom that will soon fade and be gone for eternity is my gift to all who will never have had the joy of seeing it. Gardening is a passion of mine. Truthfully, it’s an obsession! Small creatures’ and birds’ attraction to flowers brings yet another level of tranquility – and the opportunity to observe the vast array of colors in their wings and their feathers.
Landscape Art creations are the connection to a personal adventure that will be as beautiful in 100 years as it is today. It evokes a memory that can be shared through stories and conversations held with others who also experience its emotion.
Animals, both wildlife and domestic, are the heart of my creations. Each has its own personality, which is communicated through its eyes. This is the primary focus, always, when I illustrate a human’s best friend, or an animal in its natural habitat in the wild. The eyes truly are the secret to the soul.
What inspired me to start selling my art?
The first art piece I sold was a pet portrait. A friend had told a colleague about my work because this individual’s boss had recently lost his beloved dog. I was commissioned to create an illustration of his dog so that she could gift it to him – she knew how devastated he was over losing his fur baby. That gift still hangs on his office wall. The emotions that were experienced by the recipient, as well as by the gift-giver brought tears to my eyes. The rest is, as they say, history. I create from my heart. I put my heart and soul into every detail of every illustration.