Bold touch makes Casey Lynch’s work standout
Daisy Lynch works at an easel in the basement of her Valley home. Her recent work shows a frightened face reacting to a spider that dangles uncomfortably close.
Her work is deeply rooted in emotion and the daily escapades of her life as a 4-year-old. Her artistic talents come from her father, Casey Lynch, who takes up most of the space in their basement studio. Daisy doesn’t mind – she’s small and happy to be expressing herself.
Although Casey Lynch, 32, has been an artist quite a bit longer than his daughter, he doesn’t have much of a résumé, but that’s all right with him.
“I paint because every time I pick up a brush, I have the potential to touch someone deep in their soul,” he said. “I haven’t done that yet, and I probably never will, but the opportunity is still there, day after day.”
Like Daisy, his creative nature reared its head when he was a child.”Since I was 4 or 5, I’ve been cranking out drawings, and my mom always reacts as if she’s stumbled across a van Gogh at a yard sale,” he said. His mother’s encouragement as well as the encouragement from teachers and friends has motivated him.
He paints mostly with oils in a bright, bold and blocky style similar to the work in illustrations or cartoons.
“I’m trying to work on subtlety … I have none,” he said. “My pieces are bold.”
And though they are realistic, they give off the air of caricatures; his portraits are almost whimsical, and his still lifes are larger than life. Lynch is working on a series of “great thinkers,” including Shakespeare, Poe and van Gogh.
Lynch is a Central Valley High school graduate. He received an AA degree from North Idaho College, then graduated cum laude from Gonzaga University, where he won a senior art award.
Besides his senior show at Gonzaga, Lynch has only shown once at a Raw Space show in downtown Spokane. It was a couple of years ago and he displayed two of his paintings. One, an exaggerated motorcycle, caught the eye of an art connoisseur who commissioned Lynch to do a handful of paintings for himself and some of his friends.
Lynch has no lofty visions of success and doubts he’ll ever sell another piece; galleries in the area come and go and art is not a huge priority for most people. Still, he paints, draws and doodles, constantly working on developing his God-given gift.
“To not do your best to develop those gifts is a tragedy,” he said.
Lynch’s “day job” is landscape construction foreman. He is a husband to Maggie and a father to Daisy and 7-month-old Jack. He is an artist who at times is unsure.
“It’s tough to have a talent and not have a forum for it,” he said. He envisions a big warehouse with cubicles where artists can get together to paint and share ideas. For now, he shares ideas with Daisy.
“My dad’s work is pretty good,” Daisy said. “I paint because some people are pretty good at it, and kids are the best artists.”