Todd M. Casey was born and raised in Lowell, Massachusetts. His artistic education includes a BFA in Communication Design from Massachusetts College of Art in Boston, Massachusetts.
After receiving his degree in 2001, he moved to New York City where he worked as a Graphic Designer. He then relocated to San Francisco to pursue a Masters in Animation at the Academy of Art. While taking the foundation classes for his MFA, he discovered that his true passion was painting. Decision made, he soon returned to New York City to the studio of Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier and began his classical painting training in 2007.
Casey’s work touches on more than simplistic realism. There is a haunting, nearly literary quality to each frame— a feeling that subjects are viewed from behind mottled glass, burnished by enigmatic candlelight, or brushed by the soft, hazy edges of a half-remembered dream. His work is classically styled but progressive in approach. Fine, somber details are apparent in each frame, subdued by a gentle, melancholic lens.
Casey paints images that are not constrained by the details of each subject’s frame, rather they emerge from their housing, passionate, contemplative, reverent, or regretful. Make no mistake, Casey’s work is more than line and brush stroke. It is a colorful tour through the very powerful emotions surging through one man’s mind. Drawing inspiration from classical art, historical literature, and personal experience Casey imbues each piece with a love of both pragmatic form, blended with storied function. Every painting has a tale to tell, brewed from a deep well of introspective thought.
His paintings have been honored with awards several times in recent years. Most recently, he won first place 3 years in a row in the Portrait Society of America Members Only Competition and placed first in oil painting from the Allied Artists of America in 2015. His work can be found in collections throughout the United States, and on the East Coast at Rehs Contemporary Gallery, in Midtown New York City, and Simie Maryles Gallery in Provincetown, Massachusetts.
In resulting years, Todd has made the transition from painter to author and teacher. He published his first art book The Art of Still Life in 2020 with Monacelli Press. His second book The Oil Painters’ Color Handbook comes out in May of 2022. His work will also be featured in Cocktails: A Still Life, by Christine Sismondo and James Waller, which is slated for release in June 2022. When not painting, writing, or illustrating, Casey teaches classes for the Massachusetts College of Art and The Academy of Art University Online, The Art Students League of New York, and through private online classes and workshops.
Casey lives in Connecticut with his wife Gina, and their daughter Scarlet. When not painting, writing, or teaching, he enjoys reading and spending time with his family.