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Arts & Entertainment

Meet the Artist: Patsie McCandless

Dunedin artist brings paper-based art to Dunedin.

Name: Patsie McCandless

Hometown: Jamestown, RI

Time in Dunedin: Three years

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Keys to Awesomeness: McCandless has her own display running throughout the month at the Dunedin Fine Art Center. McCandless works with an art form called PaperSolo. The practice involves working with layers of paper. No pen, paint or ink is used in the design. PaperSolo has won McCandless awards in juried shows and museums throughout New York City, New England, Springfield, Ill., Washington, D.C., and St. Petersburg, Fla.

When did you start practicing in your medium?

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I was introduced to PaperSolo in 1999 after winning a public works contest in Savannah, Ga. I had been working with watercolors for 25 years. Serendipity intervened when I was given a roll of handmade Japanese papers. These papers became the basis for my design.

Where can people find your art?

I currently have a show in the Octagon Gallery at the . I also have a gallery in Jalisco, Mexico, that carries my smaller pieces, and a home studio on Edgewater Drive in Dunedin.

What keeps you doing it?

PaperSolo smiled its way into my creative soul and launched me into a wondrous world of paper. Discovering the wonder of an idea, and the delight of perfect, handmade paper helps the creative process flow over and over again. 

Who or what has been your greatest inspiration?

Flowing color and contrast have a great impact on my work. Music -- especially the album "Masterworks" by the Florida Orchestra -- is a powerful inspiration. Poetry also affects my work.

What is your advice for those starting out in a similar medium?

Patience, patience patience. I like to say, "Let it all in, imagine all it will be, allow your dreams to lead and follow, dancing, let it all in."

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