art// Candy Weil
Dark Sugar: The Art of Candy
by Sara Ray
Cartoonivorous pin up girls who upon closer inspection wield dangerous goods of a few kinds, Candy lived up to her bestowed nickname with sugary 60s styled succubae wrapped in fruit flavored hot rods in a dessert tray display of wonton hot rodding tomfoolery. Working in a mountain town with a 2 year old wolf child and her vinyl aficionado husband she finds enough time to etch a canvas and sling some pigment in between her daily duties. I asked Candy to turn down the Clash’s “Magnificent Seven” blasting in the background and give us the back story on a couple creations for your Freudian fantasies…
Tell me about the “Demon Wiener” painting; its one of my favorites.
"Scared Meatless" (aka sausage man dream) - I really just wanted to call a piece 'scared meatless'... I think it's funny and when titles or phrases make me laugh, I have to share! She's a rough riding 60's chick sleeping away after eating her fill of campfire sausage... but the sausage, or as Rob and I call him ‘the Demon Wiener’, returns to her in her dreams and attacks, scaring her meatless (vegetarian).
Satanic Sausage? Lycanthropic Link? Black Forest Bandit? Horned Beef Hash? One of your most popular pieces - tell me about the Rock-A-Billy Betty piece .
"Kulture Queen" is supposed to be the embodiment of the hot rod scene, hence the "K" in Kulture. It's more the silly iconic side of it, though. You rarely see a rat rod without a Mexican blanket, or 50's car without fuzzy dice...Pin-ups, Rat Fink, Mooneyes stickers, eye balls, pin striping... ya know, all the little things that contribute to what we know as Car Culture crammed into one big piece.
And the big haired bad girl with the cornucopia of culture?
"Strange Do" is another piece that relates to the many things I love about the hotrod scene, or the consequence of using too much Aquanet. I have a 65' Studebaker Commander which inspired her emblem earrings...Her hair is filled with classic and modern weird-ohs and finks, some of my own little monsters, pins, stripes and so much more! It's more or less a tribute to cartoons, cars and the style of the 1960's.
Tell us a little about your artistic process-how you get something started from the nothing to the something?
I like to wake up early, make some coffee, have a smoke and get to work! Working in day light without a screaming 2 year old really sets me up for a good painting session. My pieces usually begin with a little sketch. Often the best ones are mindless and drawn on ripped envelopes, napkins and the backs of receipts. I don't know about other artists, but I don't turn a drawing into a painting unless I'm really excited about it. Like, I feel like I can't wait to get started on it. It's almost obsessive. There will be a few colors in mind that I want to utilize, the basic sketch and my pieces just kinda snow ball from there into what they become. Married and with my son I can't paint for 18 hours a day like I want to any more but when I do I'm much more focused and patient. I feel like my quality of work has much improved because of these guys. Love them!
How did you get the nickname Candy?
When I was 19 I was working at a coffee shop in our hometown of Long Beach and my manager and I were looking thru Juxtapoz; a fella walked in and said "hey that guys a good friend of mine" referring to the big spread they had done on our ol' friend the Pizz. He then proceeded to tell us that he was lookin' for an intern/art slave. I was going to art school at the time and didn't feel like I was really getting anything out of it, so I volunteered immediately. Before I'm even past the threshold he asks "what's your name?" I tell him it's Meghan. "What's your whole name?" he demands. "Meghan McMahon," I reply. He then says "Hmmmm....Candy." And so, my new name was Candy.
Rattle me a handful of your favorite/most influential artists:
Glenn Barr, Camille Rose Garcia, John Bell, Miles Thompson, as well as a slew of artists from Hanna-Barbera, Disney Studios, MGM, etc. from the 50's and 60's.
If you could be a professional in any other career what would it be?
A circus contortionist or hula-hoop champion of the world!
www.candywild.com
