Brett Cassort is an International Award winning and published landscape artist who has covered the U.S., growing up in the Northeast and now calling Southern California home for over a decade. Living in the southwest has given Brett access to the wealth of natural beauty that surrounds him. The beaches, mountains and desert can all be experienced within a couple hour drive and provide so much inspiration for his work. One of his favorite drives is through the desert. There’s a solitude about it which provides a natural meditative experience, but at the same time it’s bursting with life and color in not so obvious ways. It’s calming, peaceful, vibrant and dangerous all at the same time depending on the time of year. Cloud structures that form over distant mountains can catch sunrises and sunsets at different angles. Often times those angles change the narrative by the minute giving the eye little time to differentiate. It’s in those moments that new ideas are sparked, captured by a dash camera and conceptualized into a composition for new work. His Road Trip Series has been showcased in juried gallery shows in Los Angeles, Dallas, and San Francisco. Most recently Brett was showcased internationally at the famed LA Art Show in 2023. In the media world you can find Brett in the September 2022 issue of American Art Collector Magazine’s (Landscape Collector’s Focus) and the March 2023 issue of VoyageLA Digital Magazine.
You grew up in the Northeast and now call Southern California your home for more than a decade. Tell us your backstory as an artist.
My journey as an artist started as a kid in the small town of Louisville, New York. Growing up my creative outlet started with drawing the animals from the family Outdoor Life Magazine. Everything from deer, elk and moose to hawks and eagles. The area I grew up in was mainly dairy farms and woodlands near the St. Lawrence River so outdoor activities were very common. Being surrounded by nature was a big influence on my work then, just as it is now with my road trip landscapes.
Drawing later turned into painting using house paint from the basement for mainly abstracts. Eventually I added spray paint and acrylic paint as I tried whatever new ideas and techniques that came to mind. I very much followed the logic that you never know how an idea is going to develop until you get it out of your head. Once it’s on paper, canvas or whatever material you’re working with, then you can decide where it goes.
You started with oil paint when you began studying under the graceful eye of Cheryl Kline at the Kline Academy of Fine Art. What skills and techniques did you learn that we see in your work today?
Yes, within about 30 seconds of meeting Cheryl she started finishing my sentences. I had gotten to the point where I didn’t have the skills and techniques to quite get the ideas out of my head and onto canvas. If I wanted to study with her I needed to strip everything down and master classical foundation first before I could go on to my own ideas. I had to go back to basic skills before moving on to reproduce two master works, a Rembrandt and a Caravaggio.
It was within that training that I learned how to deal with light, shadow, angles, glazing, edges and transitions. I studied with Cheryl for 5 years and I’m very fortunate to have her as a mentor and a friend. All of those skills you now see in my work today and I continue to learn and evolve with every painting.
You were honored in February 2023 in the International Open Competition, “BREAKTHROUGH” where you won the Artist Choice Bronze Award. What does this mean to you?
I’ve been fortunate to be honored a few times for different paintings on the international level and I’m very thankful to be recognized for my work. There’s so many great artists out there that I’ve done shows with that I’m always impressed with and humbled by. Seeing their amazing work drives me to be better with every new painting. So that recognition is very validating and a reminder that I’m on the road I’m supposed to be on.
“This road of life that we are all on has so many peaks and valleys, twists and turns, darkness and light, and obstacles that present themselves.” Your Road Trip Series has gained global attention. Who is this series for?
There have been a few stories that people have shared with me over the years about how my work has had an effect on them personally and how it offered them hope in different ways. From processing the grief of losing a loved one, handling mental health issues, dealing with self-doubt and fear, or any of several other issues we all deal with on a regular basis, people have found comfort and hope in their own way within my work. I always strive to leave room in my paintings for the viewer to form their own narrative. I’ve dealt with many of those similar issues so to hear those stories of resilience gives me some confidence that I’m doing something good in this world.
We’re all on a road going somewhere so wherever you find yourself on that road hopefully you keep moving forward with a sense of adventure and curiosity.
You’re also known for your abstracts. Tell us more about them.
They’ve been a lot of fun to do and have allowed me to explore creatively in a different direction using mainly concrete tools and pallet knives. It was more free form and spontaneous than the Road Trip Series at first until I decided to start exploring the combination of the two styles. You can see different aspects of merging those styles in “9 Saguaros”, “Breakthrough”, “Beach Cruiser”, and “Passing Storm”. That idea was a perfect example of not knowing how it would work until trying it out. If it works, great, if not then I’ll continue to explore in new ways. It’s nice to jump back and forth especially if I’m going through a little slump of any kind, it’s a good wake up exercise.
Tell us about your recent SUPERFINE SF exhibit.
My first showing in San Francisco was a wonderful experience. It’s such a beautiful city and the show was with Superfine @ Fort Mason overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge so you can’t ask for much more than that beautiful setting. Several originals and Limited Edition Prints went home with new collectors, and I was able to connect with so many people that wanted to chat about my work. It definitely refilled my creativity tank to get back in the studio and prepare for the next show.
Where can we see you next?
My next in person show will be July 27-30 at Superfine Seattle!! You can also connect with me on socials, @brettcassortfineart on Instagram, /brettcassortfineart on Facebook, and you can see my current inventory and show schedule anytime on my site www.brettcassort.com
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