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Cole the Hobby Painter: an artist spotlight

Art

Cole the Hobby Painter: an artist spotlight

Cole Chandler, a 20-year-old nursing student from CDA, dabbles with art in his free time.

His art houses a combination of undead-looking subjects, muted colors and the natural world, possibly confusing those who don’t look closely enough.

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A look into Chandler’s sketchbook.  -Michael Gray/NIC Sentinel

“I take an idea that I get and incorporate it with other, non-related things and then mash them together,” Chandler said.

Not looking to make painting his career of choice, he stays up until the wee hours of the morning balancing jamming on the guitar and painting all night.

Treating art like a hobby, sometimes he takes a day off. Sometimes he takes a month off. Sometimes he takes a year off.

For Chandler, art is not a living but a livelihood.

“Art should be more of a hobby because then you’re expressing yourself,” Chandler said. “You’re not thinking, what will I make to sell next? What will catch people’s eyes? I do it as a hobby just for me. Because it is a hobby for me. And I think that’s cooler than selling out.”

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Chandler drawing at his work desk at his CDA home. -Michael Gray/NIC Sentinel

He said art has been a part of him since sophomore year of high school. Although it hasn’t been until this past year that he’s brought his pieces literally out of the closet.

Taking classes at NIC has inspired his art, as he admitted college is useful for staying open-minded to new ideas.

Survey of art classes have allowed him to discover different artistic styles and nursing classes have introduced him to a new world of expression through art.

“The influence of and communication with people hasn’t affected my art,” Chandler said. “The nursing classes I take and physical part of science inspires me the most, not so much the social aspect. The physiology of how bodies work is really amazing and pretty mind-blowing.”

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Examples of what Chandler does with his free time. -Lily Anderson/NIC Sentinel

Although his college classes inspire him in unconventional ways, he also looks to old music and local painter Mel McCuddin to draw ideas from. He finds additional inspiration for a majority of his works in the summers living on a fishing boat in Alaska.

“My art is a piece of past events, current events, things that inspire me, music and science–all combined into one,” Chandler said. “I’m all about detail, I always include a lot of it in my pieces.”

He explained every artist is going to be a starving artist at first and only a few make it big.

He chose to start small, sharing his art in local coffee shop Calypso’s Coffee and Creamery and by making and selling prints on the popular art website Etsy.

“Getting art out there is important,” Chandler said. “Put it on Instagram. Put it on Facebook. Let people know about you. You can’t lose any money – if one sells or one doesn’t, you just have to sit there and wait.”

You can find Chandler’s art in Calypso’s and online at https://www.etsy.com/shop/LimpRabbit.

I'm a vocal jazz and journalism major from Hayden, Idaho. I enjoy making vegan treats, going on photo safaris, and jamming out to Madonna.

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