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Born in March 1970, the genesis of Casey's artistic path began under humble circumstances, copying Disney characters and immersing himself in an imaginary world at age 10. He recalled how the animators would make rough sketches of, for instance, water ripples or the movements of trees and the rustle of leaves in a cold wind and encorporate these effects to add a sense of mood. It was the attention to detail and observation of nature that gave a certain honesty and depth to the created work. The seeds of his work lay here - this early self-manifestation of awareness of 'atmosphere' and attention to detail and his impressive technical skills. |
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Casey chose technically difficult subjects early on and drawings such as these illustrate a natural ability. Church Square, Cape Town done at the age of only 13 years, after an etching by Tinus de Jongh, reveal exceptional draughtsmanship for his age. The sketch at right was done when he was 14 years old and the concept of proportion was instilled in him in such exercises. |
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In 1983, at the age of 13, Casey watched a national television documentary of his great grandfather, Tinus de Jongh. So impressed was he, that he began on a determined mission of self-learning and throughout his life he bares the stamp of the De Jongh heritage. Oddly enough, his first drawings were copies of etchings by Rembrandt and Tinus and a year later he was able to cross-hatch in the manner of the etchings. Spurred on by his own progress he immersed himself further, neglecting school studies, and began his first forays into painting landscapes in watercolours. |
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These drawings, after Rembrandt, were done at the age of 14 and show his mastery at an early age. The imposing figures in The Syndics of the Clothworkers Guild had left a mark on the young artist. At this young age he was already aware of abstract concepts in art viz., metaphorical analogies, use of complimentary colours, geometry and hidden perspective and the simple "power" that character poses and imagery brought forth. |
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At 14, Casey started his first pictures in oils and these included portraits after Rembrandt and intermingled with his first landscapes, but his first difficulties at this stage were in obtaining the correct colouring. Nevertheless, with perserverance, he overcame these and other technicalities and a year later he completed some competent landscapes and naturally studying and copying the works of Tinus intensely as a way to making further progress.
The decline in his school academic performance, resulted in him being sent to a private boarding school in Grahamstown when he was 15. The House Master allowed Casey an additional private backroom at his residence to paint - his first studio - and he could now work in private which allowed him to work through his problems associated with painting in oils.
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By copying from the etchings of Rembrandt and using photographs of marble sculptures, Casey honed in his drawing skills to a very high level of competence by the time he was 14. These early exercises taught him the concepts of proportionality and aspects of Academic art tuition; the creation of form by light & shadow nuances and the intrinsic ability to 'feel' or associate with the material he is drawing; the smoothness of marble or the textured nature of material and so on. |
The etching ,Drawing at a Window, by Rembrandt |
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Michelangelo's sculpture Victory
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By studying the prints of Tinus and Gabriel and visiting the nearby gallery that housed Tinus' large Steenberg and Jonkershoek, Stellenbosch oils, Casey was able to make progress in his oils. After a year of painting in oils he had progressed enough to create works such as this one painted when he was 15 years old. |
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Always one to appreciate those who had passed before, he immersed himself in learning about the lives & works of artists; from Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rembrandt, Turner, Goya through to the impressionists ; Pissarro, Renoir, Monet, Cézanne and Vincent van Gogh and the cubists including Braque and Picasso. He related particularly to Van Gogh - the brutal honesty and simplicity with which he expressed himself - and no doubt the many literary notes he left further exposed this sensitive soul. Works like The Sower ,The All Night Café and The Starry Night with their associated metaphorical analogies left a lasting impression. A hard work ethic, an innate empathy for the subject were to be some of the cornerstones he would take from his youth; the patient introspection and reflection of Cézanne towards his subject ; the analytical portrayal of the human condition by Rembrandt and Picasso ; the towering genius' of Michelangelo and Da Vinci.
Immersing himself in his art and school work now structured his mind to be able to operate on two very different mindsets - art & science. Unhappy with the rigid life of boarding school, he left Grahamstown at the end of 1986 with his hard work paying off - he finished at the top of his class and more importantly he had set a solid foundation for a craft that would serve him well and that allowed him a freedom of expression & creation.
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A pencil drawing done at the age of only 15, after an etching by Tinus de Jongh
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A 15 year old Casey with his great uncle
Gabriel de Jongh in his gallery at Lanzerac, Stellenbosch |
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A 1986 watercolour of Oudegouwboom, Holland |
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| With schooling over, Casey wisely decided not to make art a full time career for now, and began his studies towards a degree in civil engineering. He would nevertheless paint on weekends and often take time out with trips to Cape Point and the Winelands. His seascapes of this period are dark and moody ; from a windswept Kommetjie to the enchanting mists off Scarborough and onto the mystical cliffs of Cape Point. |
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As a boy Casey was always fascinated with the sciences, and his interests now were especially focused on astronomy and to a lesser extent particle physics. With a combined career as an artist and engineer in mind he completed his second degree, in electronic engineering at the University of Cape Town between 1999 to 2001, and financed all his expenses by painting on weekends. Unfortunately, opportunities in his field of interest were rather limited, and he was left with very little time to paint. Since then he has been working as a full-time artist and although he is a commercial artist he manages to do work which is more experimental and personal whether it be sunflowers swaying in the wind under a threatening sky, a windswept Scarborough, expansive fog on the West Coast or a tender portrait. The departure from the De Jongh paintings is thus; not interested in creating 'picture perfect' Cape scenes, Casey is more subject to introspection and the subject matter is of key importance, together with complimentary colouring and to a lesser extent technique.
Local gallery with the artists work
Below is the preliminary charcoal sketch on canvas (120 x 90 cm) for the oil painting, Nude with Guitar (The Lyrical Lady), started in March 2008 and it will be one of the artist's key works.
"There is no abstract art.You must always start with something....It is what started the artist off, excited his ideas, and stirred his emotions." - Pablo Picasso
The advent of the digital age has resulted in the fine arts being blurred with fields as diverse as industrial design, installation art, digital motion art, photographic art and so on. The lines of true artistic skill appear blurred, but in an age where the individual is rapidly becoming irrelevant this scarcely matters and modern artworks reflect this trend. Casey is very aware of the changing face of society and embraces an open and free one , in which views and opinions are freely expressed and exchanged. Although, at this point, he is not into social commentary as a departure point for expression, he likewise appreciates and accepts the diversity of other artists. He has a deep sympathy for the hardships faced by the farming communities at large - both the environmental and socio-political issues they face. Artists need to evolve both in terms of their vision and expession of images & ideas and although largely commercial in nature, the artist does produce other 'experimental' works that are off his mainstream line. These works may provide the seeds for future growth into hitherto unchartered domains.
Casey has travelled extensively from the Karoo to the Cape and along the Garden Route and West Coast through to Botswana, Victoria Falls and Mount Kilimanjaro.
His works hang in corporate and private collections throughout South Africa and also in the USA, United Kingdom, Monaco,Germany and New Zealand. | |
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