Casey Child’s self portrait

I have been on the road in Utah the last few days and had a little extra time to stop into the Springville Museum of Art in Springville, Utah.  If you ever have the chance to go to this wonderful museum, don’t miss it.  Springville is not a large town, but it is big on art.  It is nicknamed ‘Art City’ and I have seen some amazing works there over the years.

Today was no exception.  I went there to see the show titled “Face-off: Portraits by Casey Childs”.  If you aren’t familiar with Casey’s work then I am happy to introduce you.  His work has a wonderful immediacy and ease to it.  It never looks labored or forced, but lively and spontaneous.  Casey is equally at ease painting alla prima as he is creating more developed work following the academic tradition of creating a series of studies escalating to the final canvas.

Casey continues to gain a broad audience and recognition for his work.  I will resist my usual long winded writing and let his work take the front seat.  Enjoy.

Two really strong charcoal drawings.  The one on the right looks like he is listening intently to what is being said.  There is character and wisdom in that face.

This painting (above) might be my favorite piece from the show.  I love the simplicity of it as well as the large shapes of the hair and neck.  Her profile and mouth are a great mix of angles and curves.

Another great profile.

I love these three children’s portraits.  Creative and inventive.  The gold leaf had a nice isolating effect, pushing the oil paint into the foreground.  

 Casey did a series of drawings of influential figures.  There were quite a few on display and many more in a book.

Here is a shot of the book.  You can see Casey offers insights and in-progress shots.  Here is a link to the book on Blurb.
It is an impressive show.  I only included a small portion of the works on display.  If you are in town, go check it out, it will be on display until the first week of January 2015.  If you can’t make it, go check out his website (link below) as well as the Museum Exhibit page.
Links:
Springville Museum of Art Exhibit Page
Casey Childs’ Website

Howard Lyon
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