So this is usually the way that I# work.

I, like, section off where I need to fill in the gap.

So this is her finger,# like her little finger.

And then I'm doing like the bust of the top part.

So I have to like map# out where the darks are.

So this is like darker.

This is darker up here, it's dark on# this edge.

There's a little highlight that I have to add here 'cause there's# light reflection that's hitting that, and then I start filling in the rest of it.# Which is what I would do in painting.

My name is Kandy G. Lopez.

I'm an artist and I'm also# a professor at Nova Southeastern University.

I love teaching as much as I love making.

I am# a portrait maker, so I've been painting for a long time.

I love oil paints.

Even with the fiber# work, I would consider them fiber paintings.

It's just using a different medium.

There's so many# different yarn colors, and textures, and types.

So this is more of like a sculptural kind of# portrait painting.

And I really enjoy it because it's hard to do.

I need a challenge.

I get bored# with painting 'cause I feel like I understand the medium.

So, like, I'll do printmaking for a while,# and like try the different printmaking techniques, and then cut up those prints and they become# collages, and then those collages turn back into paintings.

I'm also dealing with stained glass at# the moment 'cause that's another challenge.

Yeah, I get bored fast.

But fiber has been something# that I'm still learning, so I think that's why I'm still figuring it out.

So I like to add the gold# and silver to the... Details.

Like, I really love details.

It's one of the things that I like, I# really enjoy about painting, too, is getting like the reflection color of whatever's underneath of# the object or the person.

So this is like my way of doing that with a different fiber.

When I first# started, there was not that many browns.

It was like three or four, they were called like skin# tones, but it was like generic kind of browns.

And I've been on a scavenger hunt for browns, and# people like donate and send me boxes of like their grandmother's yarn.

Or I'll go to the thrift store# and they have like random like bags of yarn that I just take.

And I've been collecting more and# more browns.

I think it's that and like greens are one of the colors that like I really look for# because there's subtleties in them.

And I'm also thinking about dyeing.

So like dyeing my own yarn# and figuring out how to get the correct color, like I would if it's a painting.

if I'm like done# with a specific color, then I use the needle that I have in my hand.

But it's usually like, hmm,# maybe eight to 12 different needles at this point.

Because, again, there's like more browns, and# that's usually the color that I'm working with.

So just like a paint palette where there's like# multiple colors on the palette.

this is like my palette.

Sometimes, I have an idea of what I# wanna make.

Sometimes, it's just like somebody walking past, and I'm like, "Who's that person?

"# So like building up the courage to be like, "Hi.

Little me, I'm Kandy, I'm an artist.

Would# you be interested in being immortalized?"

Is the word that I use, and they're like, "What?

What do# you mean?"

And then we have a conversation, then I get to know them, and then I tell them to wear# their swaggiest outfit, whatever they feel the most confident in.

A lot of people come with like# multiple outfits, which is a real challenge for me because I'm, like, "Oh, my God, I'm gonna have# to do like four or five of this person," because I'm attracted to like that.

The patterns, the# texture, the color, the body language, the tumbao that people have.

Like, I'm really interested in# that.

And sometimes it's like friends of friends, and so it's like constantly making the most# swaggiest people that I can find.

When I take the picture of the person, I'm usually on the# floor.

I like the perspective of them looking down at the viewer.

I also like to start with the eyes# because I think the eyes are the most important part of the person.

I want the eyes to also# look at you, the viewer.

I think of hierarchy, I think of our history and religious works.# I also think of sexism within the arts, too.

I want my subjects not to be submissive.

I want# them to be a little confrontational and sometimes a little vulnerable in that presentation.

And# then once I have that image, then I have my hook rug mesh, which is like the backing of a# rug that I use.

And depending on the picture, it's usually eight feet by something or a little# larger.

And then I dry with the Expo marker.

I give myself like five minutes to just do a gesture# 'cause, usually, it's incorrect anyway, so I keep like editing as I move down the subject.

And I# want them to fit the whole space.

So they should be on the whole canvas.

Sometimes, their foot like# hangs off, which I like, 'cause they're stepping out of the frame.

Like, I just wanna put the work# out there and let the work do what it needs to do.

Some people cry when they look at the work, which# makes me super emotional.

Some people connect with the people that are in the works because it# reminds them of a cousin, or a friend, or an ex, or there's like emotions that build up, which I# like.

Some people think they're paintings, and then they walk up and I hear the , and that like# I melt every time I hear that.

Having community in the space and people being able to see themselves# in those spaces is important for my work.