Pet Portraits on Display at Library

Waldwick resident Maureen Casey, whose work is currently on display at the , has been drawing since she could hold a pencil, but it wasn’t until six years ago that she took up oil painting.

“My husband got me an easel and some oil paint and talked me into going to the Ridgewood Art Institute and taking a course,” Casey said.

She now takes a weekly class at the art institute, painting alongside fellow artists. The class is unlike others with John Osborn, world-famous landscape painter, overseeing the artists. Casey said Osborn doesn’t teach, but rather walks around giving advice to the individual artists.

“Many of the people who paint alongside me are professional artists. That’s what they do, and they are very willing to give me advice,” she said. “You get good and bad feedback. It’s just really a great place.”

Casey said people attend the Ridgewood Art Institute for a fun weekly painting session, to learn from their peers in an open-forum style class.

“It’s something that when you’re around other artists it's contagious,” she said. “Just seeing what the other people do is enough to inspire you and get you thinking along other lines.”

While she’s been an artist nearly since birth, Casey was forced to leave the art world to earn a living. She works as a technician doing IT and communications.

“The reason I went into that to begin with was just because I needed something that paid well and I found it difficult to get into the art field when I left school. So I just happened to find a job in technology and it paid well and I kind of had to pour myself into it to do a good job,” Casey said. “I left the art world behind and suddenly I just had this desire to get back into it again. I was always a little too busy with my daytime job to do that, but I went to the Ridgewood Art Institute and I haven’t stopped going since.”

When her husband pushed her to get back into art six years ago, Casey added oil and color paintings to her skills.

“I think oil would have been my preferred medium to begin with. I had only done charcoal, pencil and pen and ink most of my life but I would say if I were to choose a medium in color it would have been oil,” she said.

Casey now does traditional oil paintings of flowers, still life and pet portraits. The latter are her favorite.

“When I’m looking down into a face and the light's hitting it just right I can’t help but think, oh what a beautiful painting that would make,” Casey said.

Casey often paints portraits of her own three dogs and three cats. She’s got these on display at the Westwood Library this month, along with some still life, sunflowers and other animal portraits. Her first pet portrait she did of a Siamese cat is also on display.

“It was the first time I had ever photographed a Siamese cat so I did many paintings and kept a couple for myself,” Casey said.

She is selling all of her paintings that are on display this month. However, the pet portraits are acting as samples. Casey now does pet portraits for others, meeting people at their homes or in parks to take photos of their animal and then choosing the best picture to paint. She said she likes to choose a picture that best depicts the animal’s personality.

“My main focus is now custom pet portraits,” Casey said. “People look at my artwork say they like my still lifes, but they love my pet portraits.”

Casey’s work has been on display since July 14, and will remain up at the library, located at 49 Park Ave., Westwood, until Aug. 30.