Someone with Sand in His Shoes
photos courtesy of Alan Casagrande
by Ken McKnight
posted 2003-11-19
The portrayal of surfing in art is full of nuances, recollections, emotions, and a firm understanding of the ocean and the lifestyle that surrounds it. You can’t really bring the intricacies of riding waves, living the beach lifestyle or being a surfer onto a canvas without truly understanding it all.
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
Many an artist has tried and failed to replicate the moods, people, textures and feelings one gets from riding waves, duck diving or hanging out at the beach because they themselves had not been a part of it all.
Authenticity is an integral key in presenting any art form and within the realm of surfing, well; bullshit is pretty easily spotted from a mile away. If you haven’t lived and existed with sand in your shoes then you better not try and present yourself as a surf artist.
The multi-media artist Alan Casagrande is the perfect example of not just an artist who surfs, but also a surfer who paints as a lifestyle. His involvement in his muse has been a lifetime dedication that finds him not only successful, in his own right, but constantly creative and striving to keep his work fresh in any of the art forms he participates in from simple sketches to carving wood, from making music to placing color on canvas.
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
He has been selling his surf art for over 30 years but has been perfecting it since he was a young child.
“Depending on the subject,” Alan said from his studio, “you have to figure out which medium to work in.”
From clay to water colors, acrylics, pen & inks, pastels, woodcarvings, oil paintings or life drawings, Casagrande’s work is easy to spot as he has refined a style that is uniquely his own. You may have even seen his work in Long Board Magazine thru the years.
“I’m kind of the happy, mystic, disgruntled artist.” Alan laughed at himself.
” I just do what I do. And really, the art just comes out. I like an upbeat, loose style. Art that you would want in your pad or office.”
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
Casagrande is a surf artist who has spent the time in and around the beach and it shows in his work. From dreamy lineup shots to mystical beach scenes, ethereal tropical settings, or the many faces of the unique surfing locals plying their trade, Alan has a beach touch with a sense of twisted humor. For instance he has found great success with such classics as, “Marilyn at Malibu,” “Beatles on Safari,” “Crucifixion,” and the “Surfing Rat Pack.”
Or, there is his strange take on Swamis spiritual leader the ParamahansaYogananda holding a surfboard under the temple on Coast Highway. Or the tropical scenes that make you want to be somewhere under a palm tree, toweling off after a morning stint on the reef outside of a beautiful aqua blue marine lagoon You couldn’t paint or draw these ideas without an intimate relationship with the ocean, the lifestyle and the enjoyment one gets from standing on a surfboard.
Inspiration comes in many forms in art and Casagrande’s oozes from the myriad of location she travels to or visits in his mind’s eye.
“I think about this stuff, sometimes for years,” he freely admitted, “For instance I’ll wake up in the middle of the night with all these different ideas and I can’t wait till the morning to get on it. Often I just knock something out and then run it by my wife (Julia) when she gets up. She is a good critic and provides solid feedback.”
“My stuff is like a travelogue,” Casagrande explained over thick black coffee, “Loose, not overworked, real fast. Kinda like a feeling.”
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
It is that exact feeling that makes Alan’s work so accessible and easy on the eyes. Yet somehow he is able to put the beach culture lifestyle into his work that makes us feel apart of that world, the beach culture world, no matter where the painting is supposed to be. It’s a free spirit romp thru the Casagrande imagination that tends to capture the whole spectrum of why we do what we do. Maybe it is because Alan has spent so much time on the road and in and around the ocean. He seems to easily keep the sand in his shoes or the beach in his psyche.
Alan surfs whenever the waves are there. He travels extensively with his wife, Julia often going to the tropics for surfing and diving excursions. Hawaii, Mainland Mexico, Belize, Palau, Fiji, Yap, and the Cook Islands all are perfect for inspiring the art and the Casagrandes feel right at home in any tropical setting.
“I really like being caught up in the local color,” he freely admitted with enthusiasm.
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
“I’m never short of ideas in those climates. The huts, the people, the land forms, just being there you get absorbed in a groove.”
He always has a sketchpad or water colors with him.
“I also get a lot of inspiration from diving. I like to lie on the bottom of a tropical lagoon and flash on all the different colors and angles.
“Most recently I finished a series of paintings depicting the locals and area around the Cook Islands. I like to hang around, sit by the docks, or wherever, and watch people and the water, the way the locals surf and interact. Just Take it all in.”
His home is his studio and a workshop that any one who ever tried to sketch or paint would absolutely drool over. Not only does his own work adorn the walls but he collects all types of other artists works as well as important surf memorabilia, from Nat Young autographs to hard to find 60’s surf movie posters. There are Hawaiian plates, Ukulele’s (Alan is well versed as a musician), painted guitars, bongos, photos, Tiki’s, a lot of Hawaiiana, and an incredible model boat in a glass case.
His work studio is filled with stacks of prints and mats and color emanates from every nook and cranny. His hand tools are lined up on benches and tables just waiting their turns to go at it. There are multiple works in progress, and then there is the great equalizer, a Ping Pong table that doubles for a workbench when not in play. Be careful though as he will fleece the unknowing player with a variety of table tricks.
And then there is his wife’s underwater photography on the walls that is as good as any you may have seen. Beautiful tropical fish shot up close and personal in one, a huge black tipped reef shark feed by hand in another. Julia Casagrande is an avid photographer and a professional in her own right. She has a keen eye for art as well and often helps Alan with good positive critiques of his pieces.
Courtesy of Alan Casagrande
The world of art is congenital for Alan and it seems to come easy for him. Inspired and coached by his late father, John Casagrande, himself an artist, Alan grew up with a paintbrush or pen in his hand. It was his father’s wish to gently nudge his son’s talents with a palette and colors to a higher fruition.
“I was interested in art as far back as I can remember, from elementary to Junior High and on and on. My dad was an artist and he really helped me out,” spoke Alan proudly, “
” He kind of got me into it. He built models, carved wood, painted watercolors, everything you could imagine artistic. He was always trying to get me to kick it up a notch.”
