Leading a double life may be something only seen in movies or read in books. But for Brice McCasland, doubling as an art teacher and a working artist is the norm as on October 4 and 5, his artwork will be displayed in Richardson.

“The Cottonwood Art Festival is a local show where artists around the country submit their work and they ask, I think 240 artists a year,” McCasland said. “It happens two times a year, once in the spring and once in the fall. It’s a cool thing because for a lot of people, art is like a detachment. Many people don’t go to galleries or museums because they feel pretension there. Whenever you put something outdoors, bring live music, it makes people more free to come out and experience it.”

McCasland’s work is displayed in about six shows or art festivals around the country every year, but this particular one is special to him.

“I have always loved [this festival] because it’s local, and I feel like Dallas isn’t a place with a lot of local pride,” McCasland said. “People talk like there is, but it’s all local pride in things that I don’t really care about, like the Dallas Cowboys. But this is something that I feel really connected to, and I love whenever you can kind of forget the city a little bit.”

With his job at the high school taking up the bulk of his days during the week, McCasland finds other times to work on his art.

“I paint constantly. I paint every weekend, every morning at four a.m. before I come to school,” McCasland said. “They told me I was going to be the featured artist six weeks ago, and the work that they wanted to feature, I was all sold out of that, so I had to make more. So this is what I have been focused on the past six weeks. Luckily, I create about 120 to 150 pieces a year.”

A huge honor for McCasland, he has been working extremely hard to prepare for this, with his colleagues at school supporting and promoting his show.

“Mr. McCasland was selected to be the featured artist at this year’s Cottonwood Art Festival,” art teacher Jeff Seidel said. “It is a huge honor. His work will be featured on all advertising, posters and t-shirts for the event. He will be given a booth on the main concourse, which is a premium location. Creating artwork away from work is important to him for many reasons. Many of his artworks are based on his spiritual and/or family life. He creates because he is passionate about art. The extra income is important because it allows his wife to stay home with their son, which is very important to them both.”

Even some of McCasland’s students intend to visit the festival to see their teacher’s hard work.

“I am going to go to the festival,” freshman Sophia Desjardins said. “I go to the festival every year with my family, so it will be really cool getting to see my teacher’s art work. Going to the festival also allows me to see how he applies what he teaches us to his work.”

Being an art teacher for high school students can be different from teaching many other classes as teachers need to continuously practice what they preach.

“It is essential that art teachers are practicing artists as well,” art teacher Amanda Beller said. “Teachers should be relevant to their students and able to convey information learned through their own practice and discovery. Art is my passion… and I can’t imagine trying to get students excited about art if I wasn’t making it myself.”

That’s a feeling shared by McCasland as his art is much more than a hobby.

“I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t [create art],” McCasland said. “There’s this thing that when you start creating stuff, that you have to share. It’s really hard not to, so if you tried, you could go a little crazy. For me, I don’t know how I could stop.”