Artist Bio
My name is Helga Casagrande and I was born in 1951 in a suburb of Hamburg/Germany. My desire to survive a serious illness a few years ago made way for a new direction in my life. It was important to think positively and do something that revitalizes all the senses by satisfying them with pleasure.
By chance, I heard about a landscape painting course in 2007 given by a former student of the famous German painter Fritz Mackensen, co-founder of the Worpswede Artists’ Colony and spontaneously decided to take a trial lesson. The smell of the oil paint, the mixing of individual colors, thinking up new motifs, sketching them on the canvas...I knew immediately that this was the right direction, the beginning of something new.
After my teacher‘s death in 2008, I took a few lessons in the studio of the North German Realists, where I learned to paint „water“. I felt a new enthusiasm to bring the colors of the sea, the sound of the mighty waves, and the smell of the wind and the seaweed onto the canvas. In this period I created a considerable amount of paintings in all shades of blue and green.
As for the portraits I taught myself learning by doing, growing better from work to work, beginning with my nearest relatives, stars, and commission work.
From 2010 to 2012 I was appointed member of the board of the Aumühle/Wohltorf culture support group. I had a break for a few years to study guitar until my passion for painting attacked me again.
At the moment I mostly do portraits, followed by vintage cars and motorbikes.
I am a Korean fan! I am fascinated by the culture and people of Korea. The K-Drama-Series on Netflix inspired me to start a series of superstars from South Korea.