Clarence “Crunch” Guice, a resident at Crystal Health and Rehab, has been drawing his whole life, but he hasn’t entered an art contest since high school.
The years of practice may pay off if he is chosen to be one of the artists featured in the Mississippi Health Care Foundation’s 2010 Resident Artwork Calendar.
Since February, Guice has been living at Crystal, where he is receiving physical therapy and treatments to lose weight.
He isn’t involved in any organized art programs at the facility, but he spends a lot of time drawing on his own. He mostly does pencil drawings, but he said he also enjoys oil painting and watercolors, as well as any kind of crafts, such as making the model airplanes that are currently on display in the lobby at Crystal.
“I’m comfortable in all kinds of mediums,” he said.
Guice, 35, has never pursued art professionally; it’s just a hobby that he loves to do that inspires him.
“A lot of it just hits me at different times. It’s spiritual sometimes the way it comes to me,” he explained.
Guice, who is from Itta Bena, has two daughters, Mary Clay, 16, and Zenesia Guice, 15. He said his older daughter has taken art classes at Leflore County High School and his younger daughter is beginning to “dabble” but they don’t have the “bug” for art as he does.
Since he began living at Crystal, the staff had taken notice of his talent and approached him about entering the contest.
All facilities that are members of the Mississippi Health Care Foundation, which helps provide services for health-care residents, can enter original artwork by the residents, and 13 entries will be selected to be featured in the 2010 Resident Artwork Calendar.
The winners will be announced at the MHCF Residents Convention in September.
The pencil drawing Guice created for the contest, “POW,” will be submitted on Tuesday. Doris Moore, activities director at Crystal, said he is one of the youngest artists entering the contest this year.
Crystal residents have entered the calendar contest before, but none has ever won.
“We hope this will be our first,” said Moore.
