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Artist in residence

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Daniel Phelps
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Airman 1st Class Candice Moore, 20th Medical Operations Squadron mental health technician, first heard about the competition to create a dorm logo in January of this year at a dorm dinner. The 27-year old, Georgetown, S.C., native saw this as an opportunity to get back to her roots.

Her beginnings as an artist started early on life. She was working on a drawing around Christmas time when her teacher saw her eye for detail and recognized her talent.

"He told me I left nothing unturned in my drawings," Moore said. "I also won my first art competition that year."

She continued drawing through high school, taking advanced art classes to improve her skill.

After high school, Moore attended Winthrop University in South Carolina and received her bachelor's degree in psychology. She then spent a couple years in the civilian work force and was looking into graduate school, only she couldn't afford it at the time, Moore said.

She then joined the Air Force as a mental health technician.

"I never I thought I would be able to do this," she said. "I love my job. Its right up my alley. I love helping people."

Being a mental health tech allows her to bring experience from college to help get the job done, the psych major said. "I'm also able to think outside the box."

A couple months after arriving at Shaw, her first duty station, Moore leapt at the opportunity to draw again and created picture that represented dorm life to her, she said.

There were 13 entries in the contest, said Tech. Sgt. Brian Ailstock, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron dorm manager. Most of the ideas were able to be eliminated pretty quick.

"She really captured the essence of what being in the dorm was all about," he added.

The drawing had a couple Airmen and a Soldier sitting and relaxing in what appears to be a day room.

"It really related to dorm life," he reiterated. "She nailed the purpose of this."

Moore was pretty ecstatic when she found out she won.

"I was excited and humbled at the same time," she said. "My first thought was, 'I must have been the only one to submit something.'"

The South Carolina native said that her idea for the design came from the idea of how many think the military is all about working, then partying and painting the town red.

"It's not like that all the time," she went on. "I wanted to show that. A lot of times people work, and then they come home, crash and fall asleep. Then get back up and do it again."

Her art work generally carries a message, the artist said. Her inspiration for drawing is emotional. It's a way she communicates. She makes statements through it.

"Sometimes it's a joke and sometimes I use it to make a point," Moore added. "I feel the visual works better in saying what I want to say."

Drawing and creating art work help her to relax, she said.

"I love to create," Moore said. "I'm in the zone when I draw and it helps me forget about the problems of the day. It's very cathartic."

Moore believes her talent and creativity run in the family. Her mother is a seamstress and her father is an Army mechanic.

"Being a mechanic, my dad can take apart a car and understand how each part works and what it makes work," Moore explained. "Drawing helps understand how things work. The visual helps me understand life."

Tech. Sgt. Emily Johnson, 20th MDOS mental health technician and Moore's supervisor, said she has yet to see Moore without her sketch pad.

"She carries it with her everywhere and draws whenever she has a minute to spare," Johnson added. "Because of her talent and love for drawing, she has been asked to submit a sketch for Shaw's mental health and could end up designing the Air Combat Command mental health coin."

Moore said you never know how far something can take you.

"It's been beautiful to share this God-given talent," Moore exclaimed. "Everyone has a talent, and it's meant to be shared, otherwise it's a waste."