HIGH POINT
Emily Cassidy may have gotten a late start on her art career, but the High Point-based pet portrait and animal artist has more than enough work to keep her busy.
“My background is animal science and veterinary technology — that’s why I like to draw animals,” Cassidy says. “I don’t do a lot of landscapes — that’s not my thing — but animals are fun to draw because they’re so different. I’ve sold a lot of them, entered art shows and won several awards.”
She also has a two- to three-month waiting list of clients eager to see their pets’ images on canvas.
In the meantime, Cassidy has a three-day solo art exhibition coming up in Winston-Salem. The show, “All Things Bright & Beautiful,” will be Wednesday, May 27, through Friday, May 29, at Reynolda Village.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Wake Forest University Chaplain’s Emergency Fund, which provides financial assistance to WFU students, faculty, staff and contract workers who need help with such essential expenses as housing, utilities and medical costs.
Cassidy followed a long and winding path before finally reaching the art world.
“I liked art as a kid,” she says, “but by junior high, you had to choose art or music, and I chose the music route.”
Her senior year of college, she took a basic drawing class and enjoyed it — and her professor praised her potential — but she didn’t pursue it any further at that time. With degrees in animal science and veterinary technology, she eventually established a career in cancer research.
Cassidy didn’t return to her love for art until early 2020, when she took a drawing class at Forsyth Technical Community College. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit and led to the class being canceled, she found an online instructor and continued learning.
At Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, where she worked, Cassidy entered a couple of employee art shows. After receiving positive feedback and encouragement from those, she asked if she could create about a dozen pet drawings and hang them in the gallery.
“I hung them in January 2021, and I’ve had commissions ever since,” she says.
Cassidy alternates between three media — colored pencils, pastels and oils.
For more information about Cassidy — and a gallery of her work — visit emilylcassidyart.com.
Want to go? “All Things Bright & Beautiful,” a solo art exhibition by High Point artist Emily Cassidy, will take place Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the stArt Gallery in Winston-Salem’s Reynolda Village. An opening reception will be held Wednesday from 4 to 6 p.m. A portion of all proceeds will go to the Wake Forest University Chaplain’s Emergency Fund.
