Although Kandi’s books don’t focus on specific hobbies, her various interests do come into play. From Ana’s drawing to embroidery, to the El’Shad’n and their fire-dancing, Kandi’s eclectic past times make their way into her books.

Hobby-focused bio

From a young age, Kandi J Wyatt enjoyed coloring. Her mom decorated the home daycare with hand-painted toy box, step-stools, and other odds nd ends. By the time she had her first Barbie doll (at age sixteen), she and her sister would craft Barbie doll furniture out of nick knacks and cereal boxes. Her first crochet projects were Barbie outfits from hat to leggings and purse to headband.

In high school home economics class, she learned to cross-stitch. The counting of spaces, working of x’s and watching the image take shape fascinated her. It was soothing.

Her freshman year at college, her sister brought home a snub of a charcoal pencil. Thus started her love of graphite drawing. Her first subjects were horses, flowers, and mountains, but later she moved on to find her love—photorealistic portraits.

With five young kids, Kandi learned if she was going to get any time to herself, she’d need to get up early. Thus began her years of quilting. She started with a baby blanket for a young expectant mother in her church, but soon she moved on to full-sized and queen-sized quilts for each of the kids. Soon, she blended her cross-stitching abilities with quilting by making Lord of the Rings quilts for her oldest two boys. Aragon in monochromatic blues and Eomer in full color became the center pieces for the quilts. From there the colors and designs flowed each to make the specific boy and the specific character. The finishing touch on both quilts was the boy’s names in elven and dwarven.

Friday evenings in high school were family nights. From board games or movies to roasting hot dogs and marshmallows in the wood stove, the time was devoted to relaxing and having fun. Soon, they became times when Kandi and her sister would create worlds. They’d imagine their dream home and either write it or clip out images from magazines to design them. This world building soon moved to writing stories which came back into play in 2005 when she wrote her first novel.

Art

One of Kandi’s main hobbies is art. She didn’t start out with any formal art training but learned from her local art gallery which offered classes. As she practiced and improved, she began to share what she knew. Several summers she spent giving graphite drawing classes at Art by the Sea Art Gallery in Bandon, Oregon. She also tutored a young girl one summer. Most of her art is available for viewing on Deviantart. Her most recent portraits are hanging in her house. If you’re interested in learning how Kandi draws, you can check out the instructions for how to transfer an image.

Teaching Topics

Kandi can help you or your small group learn the basics of various art techniques.

*Basic Pencils
*Basic Colored Pencils
*Shading
*Drawing Eyes
*Drawing Faces
*Photoshop Basics
*Photomanipulation Basics
*Creating a Fantasy Image
*How to Cross-Stitch
*Quilt Basics
*How to Crochet
*Crocheting Barbie Doll Outfits from Scratch