DECEMBER 2013DECEMBER 2013

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2013 in review

Like a phoenix

risingWe Three Kings, Randal Spangler

24 December 2013

UNDER THE CANOPY

Throughout their careers,

most professional artists

and craftspeople produce

original works that number in

the hundreds, thousands or

even tens of thousands. But how

many can truthfully lay claim to

creating an entire world?

Missouri artist Randal

Spangler certainly can — and a couple of young, fire-

breathing dragons, aka Draglings, are ready to back him

up should any questions arise on that front.

Named Dagmar and Dewey, the Draglings were

the first denizens to emerge from Spangler’s expansive

fantasy franchise, which he dubbed The Land of Ohm.

The duo made their presence felt as early as 1977 and

gained their names just a few years later.

“They sort of developed their own personality and

have taken over,” Spangler explained, “and I’ve created

this whole world around them with other characters.”

Speaking of which, another individual who factors

Randal SpanglerBy Nate Shelton

SA Editor

OHM

The

WIZARDof

Home Is Where the Magic Is

Waiting for Santa

www.sunshineartist.com 25

heavily in Spangler’s fictional universe is described

by the artist as “…kind of a professor. A wizardly-type

magical person [who’s] a little bit like Santa.” The

sage’s name just happens to be Ladnar — which is, of

course, Randal spelled backward.

Not that Ladnar is Spangler’s only presence in

Ohm. “I put myself into all of my characters, actually,”

he admitted. “They do things I like to do. They like

things I like.”

His creations are also informed by his experiences,

particularly a storybook upbringing on his parents’

farm in Kirksville, Missouri. Complete with big family

gatherings, a well-stoked fireplace and a beloved

grandfather who told stories while smoking a pipe,

that aspect of Spangler’s past has long held an

undeniable impact on his life’s work.

“It was just really an ideal childhood; …that warm,

fuzzy, happy feeling that you get at Christmastime,”

Spangler recalled. “That’s what I try to put in the artwork

— that great feeling.” (The Christmas holiday also

factors into many of his pieces, as seen in this issue.)

With that history in mind, one could argue

that Ohm’s origins stretch back far beyond the first

Dragling sketch, to when a much younger Spangler

Treasure Quest

26 December 2013

chose his future profession. As he said, “I knew

in second grade that I wanted to be an artist.”

First, though, he served in the U.S. Navy,

where he worked as a dental assistant. He then

continued with that profession as a civilian for

about six months, at which point he “…decided

that wasn’t for me.” Instead, he enrolled in the

Kansas City Art Institute.

Said Spangler: “From there, I kind of

stumbled into the art show business. It was

better than unemployment at the time. It

worked out real well.”

Even “real well” might be a bit of an

understatement. In addition to exhibiting at

more than a thousand art fairs and Renaissance

festivals to date, Spangler has earned more

than a hundred awards, and his work has been

featured on a wide range of licensed products.

His creations have also been spotlighted at

numerous museums, art galleries, libraries

and schools, and annual sales of his prints are

robust, to say the least.

So, how does this wizard go about his craft?

As is the case with many artists, it’s all about

taking things one step at a time. “I draw things

out roughly,” said Spangler, further specifying

that he doesn’t like to refine his initial drawings

too much.

“Sometimes you draw it out in the

sketchbook, and you really get detailed and

involved, and it’s really wonderful. And then Fireside Fairytales

Cooking by Candlelight Bedtime Stories

www.sunshineartist.com 27

you try to put it over here on the other paper … and

it just kind of loses a little bit of that [energy].”

When he’s ready to expand on a sketch in earnest,

he breaks out some tan-colored museum board and

recreates the image. From there, he adds a watercolor

base, followed by considerable use of colored pencil

on top.

“Occasionally, I go back over it with a little more

watercolor to create more intense colors or even out

areas of color,” he said. “And because I work on tan-

colored paper, my final step is to go in with my white-

colored pencils or some opaque whitewash to add

my highlights.”

Upon finishing, he’s left with another masterpiece

that’s sure to please his legion of admirers. And in

his experience, there’s no better venue for selling

his creations — and meeting those fans — than art

shows, which he’s been attending for 35 years.

In fact, Spangler has done this for so long that

he remembers when exhibitors had to put together

homemade displays because no commercial options

existed. “You kind of had to build your own out of

chicken wire and 1x2s,” he said, “but it was a very

inexpensive way to get started in the business.”

Indeed, Spangler’s first-ever show only charged

him about $25 in space fees, and he was “thrilled”

with the approximate $150 he made from sales and

an award. “That got me started.”

Today, he routinely exhibits at some of the

nation’s top events, with St. James Court Art Show;

Chantilly, Virginia’s Craftsmen’s Classic Art & Craft

Festival; Villa Park, Illinois’ Autumn Festival, An Arts

& Crafts Affair; and many others on his upcoming

schedule at the time of this interview. Yet his personal

favorites are Ohio’s Boston Mills Artfest, which he’s

done for 34 years, and St. Louis’ Art Fair at Queeny

Park. “It’s an indoor show,” he quipped about the

latter, “and the older I get, the more I love indoor

shows.”

He also loves his patrons and always looks

forward to interacting with them. “The main thing I

get at shows, every day, over and over and over, is

people walk in and go, ‘It makes me happy. It makes

me smile,’” he said. “And that’s a really wonderful

thing, that people are getting that out of the artwork.”

When asked about his future plans, Spangler

says he’ll largely continue as he has since the ‘70s:

creating new art, telling new stories and earning

more accolades and followers with each new piece.

“I’m always working toward various projects,” he said,

before rather tantalizingly adding, “I’d like to move my

work into books and various things, but nothing to

announce [at this time].”

In other words, it’s safe to assume that The Land

of Ohm’s residents and fans have little to worry

about with Spangler and his 2-D alter ego Ladnar

at the helm. And so long as the artist has his fellow

exhibitors and patrons, he’ll be happy.

“One of the greatest things about all this is not

only the … family of artists that you get to know and

have known for 30 years, but it’s also the customers

that come and buy from you for 20 and 30 years,” he

said. “It’s just really wonderful, all the people you get

to know.”

More of Randal Spangler’s work can be found on his

website, www.randalspangler.com. ❂

Literate DragonCurl Up