Summer Artist Feature: Casey O'Connell!

Casey is one of the most inspiring painters I've ever been in contact with. She is SO REAL and her paintings come right from her heart and life! I've never met her, but from our email communication, I can tell that she's an amazing person. She is a brave woman and killer artist who lives and breathes painting!!! Get inspired!

When did you know that you were passionate about art? I was six when I realized that all my favorite things to stare at were created by my grandmother. It totally blew my mind, that she was the one in charge of choosing all the colors and lines to make her stories visible. From that day on I was hooked.

What is your favorite kind art to create? Acrylic paint on wood panels.
How did you get your start? I was living in NYC, collecting rejection letters, when I submitted my work to StartSoma Galleries in San Francisco. I am eternally grateful to the founder, John Doffing, who gave me my very first art show and an offer to paint a room at the Hotel Des Arts. He is my proof that it doesn't matter how many "No's" you hear(forty-two) all it takes is one "Yes".

I heard you painted a hotel room! That’s incredible! What was that like? It was the ultimate fantasy. For one month I got to live inside a painting. Layers of paint and scribbled secrets flowed from sink to celling, windows to furniture... everything we are taught not to draw on, was a blank canvas. It is definitely one of the greatest times of my life.

Tell us about your favorite art adventures…Sitting shotgun while one of my biggest art heroes drove a rented mini van backwards down Lombard street.

I love your paintings! What are they about? Where do you find inspiration? Thank you so much, it really means the world to me to know when people connect with the work. I think that is what is so special about what I get to do... I mean the work is really about my day to day existence and how I encounter the world, so to know that others can understand where I am coming from makes it all seem a little less lonely. I don't mean that in a self deprecating way, just that sometimes the work seems so personal, like a journal of embarrassing sixth grade moments, that when others say they too have been there it somehow becomes okay for me to just be me.

What’s up next for you?I am going to paint for the rest of the afternoon, take Duncan (our great dane) for a walk and then have left overs with my boyfriend and his family for dinner.

happy Tuesday everyone!