Candace Tweedie
About the Artist
Candace Tweedie is a first-generation Australian artist living on the scenic Central Coast of NSW, Australia. She is the first in her family of origin to be born on this continent, her parents & older siblings having immigrated for a better life while she was just a twinkle in their eyes.
Having grown up as a child of the 70s in the Top End of Australia climbing mango trees & eating mulberries, she now happily calls herself a Coastie even if the sunsets can’t compare to the sinking sunset skies over the ocean near the equator.
This coastal landscape and accessibility to rugged coastal views and pristine beaches with nature trails are endlessly inspiring. Offering visitors a lively social scene and boutique breweries, shopping and artisanal markets, music festivals, and its newly established international eco-tourism recognition, it is an amazing holiday destination and one which we are forever grateful to be able to call home.
The Journey
Whilst her initial love of animals led her to qualify & practice as a small animal veterinarian for many years, the most enduring part of this was finding & marrying her hubby (also a vet!).
Despite being creative and “crafty” all her life she didn’t discover her artistic potential until taking an adult community class in pastels at the local council gallery (The Gosford Regional Gallery). Followed by a couple of stints in formal art education interrupted firstly by raising a young family (3 boys oh my goodness what mayhem!), and then by an ill-timed pandemic.
The latter was an opportunity to focus on artistic progression through the artist-led online creative community, Art of Flow, where the common interest in art-making provided connection and a willingness to foster generous loving support, leading to a genuine community of real humans bonded by and in service of creativity and personal growth.
Whilst a deep respect remains for the human-animal bond, at the heart of her inspiration lies Art and Creativity. She now wants to inspire others to trust their intuition over and above any “sensible” plans, to know that they too are creative beings and need only to follow their nudges of intuition, their curiosities, to finally connect with it.
Like the latter stages of her paintings, she is refining the details and setting her direction towards living a soulful and fully creative artistic life, in tune & aligned with nature as her muse.
What kind of art does she make?
Candace is currently working intuitively with acrylic paints and mixed media. She loves to explore what the materials can do, with experimentation at the heart of her practice. Aside from this she really likes discovering where the joyful “glimmers” are to be found….currently in cutting her own stencils and making collage paper, and adapting print-making into the painting process. She also seems to want to weave…
What is her art experience?
Her first realization in that pastel class was in 2005. Prior to that and ever since she lives creatively making & DIY-ing, enjoying the challenge of rearranging materials to fit her own taste & style. She has had some formal art training at tertiary institutions but would rather follow joyful creating than learning rules that later need to be unlearned. Leaning into artmaking during the pandemic has expanded her & accelerated her learning, allowing a unique intuitive style to develop. She continues to further her art education through online courses offered by independent artists directly, worldwide.
What is important to her?
Living authentically and sharing the message that we all have creativity within. Finding ways to be present with life and learning the lessons it sends. Treading lightly, on the earth and its inhabitants. Staying curious and present to our inner processes. Walking alongside & cheerleading others in their creative journeys to their best versions.
The Intuitive Process...
Expressive and free, releasing energy, feeling freedom
Chaos, uncertainty, where is this all going?
Look for the good bits, an exercise in positivity, how do I shift my perspective in this moment?
Listening to intuition, recognising it’s language… it’s not your thoughts or your discomfort
Introduce intentional marks, bring something in or take something out, orient to an outcome not yet completely tangible
Refine just enough to suggest imagery, allowing the raw expressive marks to be seen, thereby accepting all parts…
Tantalising, exposed, inviting curiosity and contemplation, sparking imagination and one of many interpretations
Energy transferred, connections made
The creative power that shifts another is our destination…not perfection
The story is only partly told, the ending remains yours to write.
Exhibitions
Festival of creativity Art at Work November 2023
Winter exhibition Art at Work July 2023 (recipient people’s choice award),
Hawkesbury Brewing Co Art exhibition (local artists) June 2023
The Neale Joseph Art Prize 2005- 2nd place Niagara Park Show
Art Education
- Gosford Regional Gallery Pastels 2005
- Hornsby TAFE 2006 Cert IV Fine Arts
- Hunter TAFE 2019 Diploma Visual Art
- Member Art of Flow Creative Community 2020- present, Gabbi Kitchener
- Creative Visionary Program 2024, Nicholas Wilton
- Numerous online workshops & challenges
- Weekend workshops locally
Other studies
Bachelor of Veterinary Science- BVSc. Melbourne University 1996
Diploma of Training & Assessment, Hunter TAFE 2016