ABOUT THE ARTIST & AUTHOR

I  have always been interested in painting but working full time and raising a family left me little time to seriously devote to it.

Once  I retired, I decided to take up pastel painting which I had dabbled at through the years. I took a class at the Springfield Art Association and  made the acquaintance of several experienced pastel painters from whom I  learned quite a bit.  At first I tried traditional pastel subjects like  landscapes, flowers, sunsets, etc.  However, I soon discovered that my talent was not in accurate reproductions of nature.  Instead I found  that I needed to release my imagination, use a freer hand and put my own slant on things.  

I began experimenting with cityscapes in which buildings were slanted, angles distorted and viewpoints  exaggerated.  My style demanded that accuracy take a back seat to pleasing shapes, forms and colors.  My representations, I realized, were not so much what the subject actually looked like but to the feeling it emoted.  Since my work was semi-cartoonish in nature, I moved on to trying my hand at caricatures of celebrities and other subjects.  

I  have only been painting for about 3 years and my style is still  evolving.  I work every day on my craft, have already received several commissions and presently have some of my work displayed at various  sites in Springfield.  I am excited about where my talent may lead me in the future.

I  am the author of six novels and a collection of some of my short  stories.  The titles and publishers are listed below.  Through the years  I have had dozens of short stories published in various magazines and  anthologies. Several of my tales have received Honorable Mentions in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror.  

Published Works

• Howling Hounds - The Haunting Tales of Phil Locascio, (Sarob Press, 2004)
  
• The Sorcerer of Hooterville, (Coscom Entertainment, 2005)
  
• The Sins of Orville Sand, (Mundania Press, 2006)
  
• The Harbor of Ill Will, (BeWrite Books, 2012)  http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=phil+Locascio
  
• In His Hands, (Endeavor Press, 2013)  http://www.amazon.com/In-His-Hands-ebook/dp/B00C2TR5UK/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366318877&sr=1-2&keywords=phil+locascio 
  
• The Fragility of Contrition, (World Castle Publications, 2013)   https://www.worldcastlepublishing.net/phil-locascio
  
• The Restoration of Josef Mundt , (World Castle Publications, 2014)   https://www.worldcastlepublishing.net/phil-locascio
  
• The Bane of the Curious,  (World Castle Publications, 2014)    https://www.worldcastlepublishing.net/phil-locascio 

 "Thanks again, Phil, for that great painting of Jimi Hendrix. Maybe you will find time to do Neil Young for me next. Love your Wrigley! Paint on! "

-Jim 

"I love your vision of the Dana Thomas House! It is a special place. Just absolutely love your talent! "

-Karen

" You can take the girl out of the Capitol but you can’t take the Capitol out of the girl 💕 Thank you for this original 3D art piece of the Springfield capitol!"

-Sheleda