Casey Burge paints\u00a0murals, also\u00a0illustrates for\u00a0children\u2019s book\u00a0company\u00a0<\/p>\n
LYNDEN \u2014 Casey Burge is an artist. Burge enjoys art. Maybe more accurately, art \u201cis more on the verge of a gripping obsession\u201d for Burge.<\/p>\n
When she was quite young, Burge would \u201chyperfocus on my drawing and would have to be reminded to take breaks to eat, hydrate or even use the restroom.\u201d To this day, Burge needs to make art regularly \u201cor else I tend to feel as though I\u2019ve lost a part of myself, my identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recently, Sahara Pizza opened its 18th restaurant, this time in Lynden. Dan and Tiffeny McDowell, two of the location\u2019s owners, live near Burge and her family.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mentioned we\u2019d like a mural done, as we also have one at our Birch Bay location, and I love supporting real artists as I happen to be one myself,\u201d Tiffeny McDowell said. \u201cI knew Casey had done Black Sheep in Bellingham\u2019s logo and asked if she would be willing to do a mural for us and she was immediately for it. We\u2019re truly thankful for her, her talent and professionalism.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tiffeny said she and Dan \u201chad a very rough idea of what we wanted\u201d for the mural.<\/p>\n
\u201cDan specially wanted a windmill with pizza slices,\u201d Tiffeny said. \u201cBut we did know we wanted it to describe Lynden and include what Lynden stands for but also include pizza, of course. Casey took what we had and elevated it. I have to say the Dutch girls eating and delivering pizza are our favorite.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge said the Sahara mural \u201cwas something that fell into my lap.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAs we got to know each other, it came up that I am a professional illustrator and artist,\u201d Burge said. \u201cI immediately started on an extremely rough sketch of an idea I had to implement pizza into a map of Lynden and from there I found a color palette I thought would match both Sahara and Lynden\u2019s cheerful vibes and hand-mixed all the colors myself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge explained that while at home she decided to include iconic images showing off Lynden\u2019s Dutch heritage such as the windmill and some Dutch women in traditional clothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I drew them on paper and then transferred those drawings to the wall at Sahara,\u201d Burge said. \u201cPainting came next, which took two months (and some change) to complete, for which I am very grateful to the staff at Sahara Pizza for their patience.\u201d<\/p>\n
A professional artist, illustrator and logo designer, Burge has had a passion for art pretty much from the start. Her mother introduced her to artists such as Cassat, da Vinci, Matisse, Monet and Picasso.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe always had books in our home that I would weave through regularly with pictures of their work,\u201d Burge said. \u201cShe was always coming up with some new craft for my siblings and I to do and never tired of seeing my artwork. She has always had a smile and encouragement, even when my drawings were simple stick figures at the age of 3 or 4.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although she said she\u2019s always been interested in art, Burge\u2019s first career aspiration was to become an astronaut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was raised on plenty of science fiction novels and films and fell in love with space,\u201d she said. \u201cBut drawing never ceased for me. In fact, I don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever stopped drawing or painting for more than three months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge also grew up playing soccer. In fact, she played collegiately at McNeese State University in Louisiana. At the time her plans included an English major with a focus on creative writing. However, a telephone call with her mother helped redirect Burge.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe posed the question \u2018what would you regret not doing?\u2019 Burge recalled. \u201cI knew the answer before she had asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge took a year off after college \u2014 then committed to the New York Academy of Art to pursue a Masters in Fine Art with a focus in painting.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had very little experience with paint as a medium and wanted to learn more,\u201d she said. \u201cTo me, that\u2019s what school is for, not simply a piece of paper and some title.\u201d<\/p>\n
At the art academy, Burge studied artistic human anatomy and figure drawing classes, \u201ceven an array of animals as well as a chance to draw cadavers from life at a local college.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because Burge has always been a reader, one of her goals as an artist is making illustrations for children\u2019s books.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Recently, that desire was realized when she signed a contract with a new children\u2019s book publishing company called Lavender Book Co.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have always felt that books had a large effect on my upbringing and decision in remaining creative and I am now a mother of two young children whom I hope to inspire to live their passions,\u201d Burge said.<\/p>\n
Catherine Parry is the owner and founder of the Lavender Book Co. She said she has a goal of making classic feeling children\u2019s books.<\/p>\n
\u201cA huge portion of that is having physical illustrators only,\u201d Parry said. \u201cI adored Casey\u2019s paintings. She had a very clear signature across all of her pieces, she loves to play with color \u2014 almost bending reality in color \u2014 and I was enthralled at the texture her work brings. There is so much emotion tied up there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parry explained that she and Burge \u201cboth found ourselves frustrated with a majority of modern children\u2019s books and wanted to make a change.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was ultimately her passion and pure love for creating that let me know I had to bring her on,\u201d Parry said. \u201cI can teach almost anyone the technical side of constructing a children\u2019s book, but the innate love for something so pure as art cannot be taught.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge said she also will continue to ask local businesses if they would like to wholesale her art prints, bookmarks, greeting cards and stickers, to name a few things, with a plan to \u201cdiversify my income to better strategize and support my passion as well as my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have shown my work in a couple galleries in New York, Louisiana and even in England,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I am currently not focused on specifically exhibiting in formal galleries until I have more time and financial stability to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Burge and her husband Zach have two daughters, Finley is 3 and Indy is 6. She explains her youngest only recently showed an interest in drawing, the eldest \u201chas been drawing since she was introduced to it as a baby.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although Burge doesn\u2019t sketch as much these days \u201cas a busy mother and business owner,\u201d she recently began to work with gouache paint. Pronounced \u201cgwash,\u201d Burge said she likes the medium \u201cas it dries quickly and it is more challenging for me to muck up the colors which are incredibly vibrant in gouache.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to work quickly and I\u2019ve found this suits me far more than oils,\u201d she said. \u201cThough my deepest love will always remain graphite pencil on paper.\u201d<\/p>\n
See Burge\u2019s mural at Sahara Pizza, in the Bender Plaza at 8874 Bender Road, Suite 109A.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Casey Burge paints\u00a0murals, also\u00a0illustrates for\u00a0children\u2019s book\u00a0company\u00a0 LYNDEN \u2014 Casey Burge is an artist. Burge enjoys art. Maybe more…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":906054,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[228,226,56751,227,1075,229,88],"class_list":["post-906053","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-arts_and_entertainment","tag-artsanddesign","tag-community","tag-design","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906053","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=906053"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/906053\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/906054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=906053"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=906053"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=906053"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}