The Blue Door Artists in Fernandina Beach are featuring the artwork of Casey Matthews, during the month of July.
Art by Casey Matthews
Casey is an abstract artist and her current work incorporates collage, handmade paper, and recycled materials within her layered, mixed-media paintings. Her painting is a process that explores her intuitive relationship with the actual work at-hand and the individual life it develops along the way. Her intention is to create layers of information through her technique. “I gather inspiration from life, and then translate it into my terms. My work hovers between consciousness and intuition, combining emotional content, observation, technique, exploration, and reinvention. I intend to create surfaces that are visually intriguing with expressive colors and organic shapes, leading the mind’s eye on an aesthetic journey throughout the emotive process of destruction and contradiction. Each painting begins with several layers of paint and collage. I incorporate simple vine charcoal drawings between layers until a rich texture emerges. I embrace the drips and splatters that develop along the way; and at times they lend themselves to an unfinished journey. I am interested in structure, energy, gesture, color, and the enduring relationships between them.”
About Casey
Although a native of San Antonio, Texas, Casey has considered the Southeast her home for 20 years. She studied Art and Art History at Texas Christian University and the University of Alabama. Her many subjects are approached with light-hearted enthusiasm and delivered with singular verve and style, yet very introspective and spiritually enlightening. For Matthews, it is important not to become complacent, and not to be afraid of challenge or risk. Her artwork is a direct outgrowth from her life events and past remembrances. Matthews has been painting professionally since 1998; since then, painting has come to define her existence. “I cannot remember any moment in my life when I did not want to be an artist.” This award-winning artist has sold to private collectors throughout North America and Europe, and currently works from her downtown studio in Fernandina Beach, Florida.
The Blue Door Gallery & Studios are located at 205.5 Centre Street in historic downtown Fernandina Beach. Regular hours are Monday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. For more information, call 904-556-1119 or visit www.bluedoorartists.com and www.caseymatthews.com.
Submitted by Suzanne Batchelor
Suzanne is an artist on Amelia Island. She can be reached at www.ameliaislandartist.com.
