When snow blanketed Fredericksburg in January 2013, I captured a photo of the main house at Kenmore Plantation.
Months later came an email from local artist Casey Alan Shaw. He’d seen my photo, and he wanted permission to paint it.
“Kenmore in the Snow” debuted during the December 2013 First Friday reception at Art First Gallery in Fredericksburg. It was also the first time photographer and painter met.
Shaw, who is a member of Art First Gallery, said vintage travel posters from the early 20th century heavily influence his art. He also creates folk-art inspired designs, and is an award-winning cartoonist. He adapts some paintings into posters. Some of his folk-art is available as greeting cards, including cards featuring Fredericksburg scenes.
The Fredericksburg resident is relatively new to painting. “I’ve drawn ever since I was a kid, but for some reason I didn’t pick up a brush to try my hand at painting until my 50th birthday,” Shaw said.
Shaw previously worked as creative manager for USA Today’s USA Weekend Magazine. His graphic of Pope John Paul II was adapted as the cover for a special Dec. 18, 2005, Christmas issue of the magazine.
Shaw has received dozens of national awards for illustration and design, including recognition from the National Headliner Awards, the Society of Publication Designers, the Clarion Awards, the Print Regional Design Annual and American Graphic Design Awards from Graphic Design USA Magazine.
Historic Kenmore Plantation was completed in 1775 by George Washington’s sister Betty Washington Lewis and her husband Fielding Lewis. It is owned by The George Washington Foundation.
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