Wednesday, July 11, 2018 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
9
Library exhibit features acrylic pours
By Helen Schmidling
Correspondent
Candice Bruguier’s acrylic
pours look like granite. Or
maybe they’re ocean’s swirl-
ing waters as seen from high
above. Or like clouds? What
do you see in the multicolored
shapes? Are they abstract?
Oh, look … it’s a wolf’s head.
Or maybe a raptor!
Wildly colorful acrylic
poured paintings by Candice
Bruguier are now hanging in
the Computer Room of the
Sisters Library, throughout
July.
Candice was an artist
before she could talk. Born in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
in 1981, she grew up along
the beaches and low coun-
try of the South. Her mother
carried markers, crayons and
paper to keep her busy wher-
ever she went. Throughout
school, she practically lived
in the art room, and everyone
thought she’d choose that as
her profession.
After high school, she
attended Coastal Carolina
University — as an art major,
of course — but that only
lasted one semester. She still
loved art, but the restrictions
of art class stifled her active
imagination. She knew that if
she enrolled in another class,
she’d lose her passion and
never paint, draw, or create
again.
Looking for the next
adventure, she left college
and went to flight school
and aviation mechanics air-
frame and power plant (A&P)
school in 2000.
“I needed something
interesting, unexpected, and
extraordinary,” she said,
something to challenge her
intellect and satisfy her quest
for knowledge. She earned
her pilot’s license and began
A&P training. Then the event
that changed our country for-
ever happened on September
11, 2001.
“I was conflicted and
unsure of my future, so I
joined the Air Force,” she
said.
Her assignment? Military
intelligence. She was
stationed at Shaw AFB in
South Carolina, assigned
to the 20th Fighter Wing.
During her time at Shaw, she
was deployed three times:
to Iraq, to Uzbekistan, and
to Bahrain. She still loved
art, but it took a back seat to
her career. Sometimes she’d
draw while riding in the belly
of an aircraft on assignment.
She was trained as an inter-
rogator for Army Human
Intelligence, and was again
deployed to Iraq.
Upon returning to the
States, Bruguier was sta-
tioned at Hurlburt Field in
Fort Walton Beach, Florida.
She became an intelligence
instructor at Air Force Special
Forces Weapon School. She
still carried art in her back
pocket. After Hurlburt Field,
she was selected for service
in the Army Warrant Officer
Corps, continuing her career
in human intelligence.
Fate intervened again.
A severe neck injury forced
a medical discharge from
the Army. But she contin-
ued to deploy to Iraq and
Afghanistan as a civilian
government contractor for
the next seven years. During
her final year as a contrac-
tor in Afghanistan in 2016,
she met her husband, Chase
Bruguier. When they got mar-
ried, she decided it was time
to come home — a new home
in Central Oregon.
Chase is the only brother
with four sisters in the multi-
talented Bruguier family,
from Sisters.
“His whole family is
musical and artistic,” Candice
said.
When Chase came home
and introduced Candice to
this area, she fell in love once
more, this time with art.
Her original art began with
realism, portraits, and exact,
almost photographic repro-
ductions of what she saw. But
during the long snowy win-
ter of 2016-17, she found yet
another adventure, one that
was as free as her personal
spirit: Pouring acrylics.
The technique involves
mixing acrylic paint with a
pouring medium, layering
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30 Years Experience Sisters Owned & Operated Chamber Member
selected colors, then letting it
all go on a blank canvas. No
two pours are ever the same,
even when the identical col-
ors are used. The whorls and
swirls, cells and bubbles, and
intense color contrasts and
combinations are eye-pop-
ping. Sometimes, the result is
suggestive of an actual land-
form, an animal, or a tree.
Then Bruguier will go back
over the piece to highlight
that suggestive form, or per-
haps add the silhouette of the
animal.
Every new painting is an
adventure. The wonderful
aspect is that a piece can be
created in custom shades for
a specific décor. Or, the décor
can come together around a
favorite poured painting.
While stationed over-
seas, Candice earned a bach-
elor’s degree from Southern
New Hampshire University,
online, where she’s now
working toward a master’s
with a focus on American
history, military history, and
Native American history.
Candice and Chase just
bought a home in Sisters and
they’re busy remodeling.
Candice acquired a horse, and
PHOTO BY HELEN SCHMIDLING
Candice Bruguier’s work is on display at Sisters Library through July.
traded to a new Harley.
“I just got a soft-tail
slim,” she said. “I was on
a Road Glide, but I down-
sized to the 1950s bobber-
style bike. Chase and I have
biked throughout Oregon,
and I biked a lot in North and
South Carolina,” she said. “I
love horsepower — and I get
that from my dad. I’m either
in leather chaps or a leather
vest and jackets.”
Every day, she continues
to work hard toward goals
and a future that might soon
include kids.
“I’ve been out of the mili-
tary for a while, but I worked
at contracting for so long.
I’m not sure what I want to
do, but maybe it’s just time
to own a business and have
kids,” she said.
“I want to own a biker bar,
really bad!” she said.