A dedicated perfectionist, Lassen labors on just one project at a time. His works “Circle of Life” and “Our World” each took six months to create“I have seen the effects of pollution in our waters, the oil spills, the debris we humans carelessly cast aside, the merciless slaughter of endangered species,” says Lassen. “However, I have also seen incredible beauty, the dazzling rainbows of reef fish, the graceful curve of a dolphin’s tail, the reflection of light on the crests of the waves. The breaching of a whale still takes my breath away.”“An ideal day is one that consists of the perfect wave, inspirational painting sessions, and spending time with family and friends.”Lassen’s porfolio extends to sculpture and a debut album, “Turn the Tide.” He’s the author of several pictorial books including “The Art of Lassen” and a children’s book entitled “Treasures of the Sea.” Lassen finds artistic inspiration in tropical retreats including a home in Kapalua, Maui. Look for a feature article on the artist’s various Island residences in the October 2006 issue of Hawaiian Style.Lassen’s newest series, , focuses on life’s inspirational journeys. The insightful and inspirational works are a series of three original paintings entitled --- “Heaven’s Path,”, “Seeking the Light,” and “Illumination.”. Other projects Lassen is working for release in 2006 are another animated movie project and a new art book chronicling his works. “My only challenges were that I had them,” Lassen says. “There has never been a door opened to me that I have not wanted to walk through.”

Lassen’s galleries are located in Hawai`i and in Las Vegas. A visit to any of these sites quickly establishes that the artist’s stylistic versatility offers something for almost every taste. The romantic style that he calls “Illusionary Realism,” for example, was employed in a work called “Freedom” that portrays exuberant dolphins leaping from a classic, curling “surfer’s wave” at midnight, against the backdrop of an oversized full moon and starry sky.Ultra photo-realism was employed for another dolphin portrait, “Verua Moana” (meaning “Ocean Angels”). This work offers a close-up view of two happy creatures as their heads break the surface of the water, seeming to smile at the observer.Lassen’s impressionistic mode was employed for “Lahaina Harbor Shore,” a work depicting pleasure boats tied up on the dock, with the whites, greens, blues, and pinks of the boats, trees, and sky reflected in the blue-black water.The versatility of Lassen’s style is reflected in his varied choices of mediums and materials as well. He typically works with acrylics, liquefied airbrushed paint, or watercolor, and has innovated a number of printing techniques to ensure that his vivid hues are transferred faithfully to all reproductions.The titles of his paintings are another clue to the man behind the work. “Galaxy of Life,” “Cosmic Voyagers,” “Whale Star,” “Temple of Light,” and “Ancient Mysteries” among others convey the outlook of a mystical environmentalist, which is precisely who Lassen is. A portion of the proceeds from sales of his paintings goes to Sea Vision, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving sea life and promoting other green causes. (His mother Carol heads this outfit.)

This combination of a childlike, almost naïve aesthetic vision with commercial savvy is one key to Lassen’s remarkable success. Shrewd marketing strategies have made Lassen’s work known worldwide, embraced enthusiastically by individual enthusiasts and collectors, and by corporate giants around the world -- from the Walt Disney Company to Japan’s Sumitomo Bank. One key strategy is marketing not just his paintings, but Lassen himself. His blonde, bare-chested image is reproduced on his website, in his books, and in every press release issued by his company. (In this case, the style is the man…and apparently, the marketing strategy is the man, too.)Another strategy is aggressive licensing; Lassen imagery is found on backpacks, wristwatches, collector plates, neckties, jewelry and even bank checks. A third marketing strategy is crafting major corporate alliances. In the case of Disney, for example, the iconic Mickey Mouse has been permitted to appear in some of Lassen’s creations.But Lassen shows it’s possible to be a savvy salesman and a genuine idealist at the same time. If the meek ever actually do inherit the earth, Lassen’s example may offer one successful model for how to go about it.

Lassen’s Hawaiian connection is legitimate and of long standing. Born in 1956, he moved with his family to Maui at age 11. He began surfing while a junior high school student; by age 20 he’d earned his pro designation. Lassen also learned to paint in Lahaina, the seaport village at the foot of the West Maui Mountains. Taught only by his mother Carol and the public schools, he graduated from painting designs on t-shirts to crafting full-blown canvases. As he mastered both the painter’s craft and a surfer’s skills, Lassen’s daily views of the Lahaina Harbor, the boats, the sea, the sky, and the Hawaiian sea life all made a powerful – and lifelong -- impression on him.Like every vital artist, Lassen constantly finds new forms of expression for his creative energies. Painting series, for example. Just as musicians may group songs with a similar theme together to create a unified “concept album,” Lassen enjoys producing a series of paintings that evoke a single theme or tell a continuing story. For example, his “Beyond Hana’s Gate” paintings are a line of idealized Hawaiian oceanfront scenes that portray a boy-girl love story in terms of landscape and seascape. Some of these paintings contain “clues” to the plot of the ongoing fictional saga they depict – about “a beautiful Island girl” who pines for “her handsome foreign lover, who has gone to sea.” It’s a charming conceit, and also a clever marketing strategy that virtually ensures collectability.

Mystic With A Brush by Patty Baralt

Christian Riese Lassen: Mystic With A Brush
Hawaiian surfer and environmentalist is both an idealistic artist and a savvy business owner“The world opened up and I was compelled into it. The world is my palette, theatre, audience and earthly surrender to paradise and the sea.” So declares Hawaiian painter Christian Riese Lassen. In this case, the romantic style actually is the man, both in his language and his remarkable paintings.There is an unapologetic idealism in his voice when he says things like, “My love of preserving the world in all its glory is my dream come true.” The same unabashed romanticism is evident in the credo on his website, www.lassenart.com: “I believe in making a difference through my art. In my work, I seek to act as a messenger, alerting people all over the world to the deterioration of the global environment, and to encourage a greater understanding and respect for the world’s diverse cultures.”Equally passionate is Lassen’s art, consisting mainly of seascapes and marine life. His oeuvre covers a range of styles from lushly romanticized to photo-realistic…with occasional side trips into neo-impressionism, and even an occasional foray into abstract modernism. But Lassen is best known for his idealized, dreamlike, or even fantasy-drenched images. These are a genuine expression of a personality that comes honestly by its passions…and that leads us to Lassen himself.A tanned, muscular athlete with shoulder-length blonde hair, Lassen grew up in Maui and looks as if he’d be equally at home on a surfboard or the cover of a glossy romance novel. In this case, appearances are not deceiving. When this onetime professionally ranked surfer is not riding the waves or wielding a brush, he might be found composing music, writing essays for his books, making regular network and cable TV appearances, producing films, or lobbying for pro-environmental policies through his nonprofit SeaVision Foundation.

The Temple

At the most fundamental level, highly acclaimed master artist, Christian Lassen is proud to announce his first-ever released of the Essence Monks. Inspired with their ancient practice of peace and tranquility. Mr. Lassen's composition of the essence water drops and the striking presence of the Monks radiates good will and the aloha spirit. The connections has entered the temple of enlightenment.

The Essence Monks

World renowned master artist, Christian Lassen takes his Essence to a whole new unique perspective. Inspired by the ancient spiritual practice of the Monks. He discover the perfectly balance of soulful serenity and his breath-taking Essence connected between harmony and peace that embrace Asian sensibilities. Through his composition of work, we are able to journey in mind and spirit to a place of great beauty and tranquility, far from the modern world.