What's more fun than imagining animals surfing in outer space? Not much.
Jonas Claesson agrees. He's even made it an artful reality many times over. An Australian trasnplant, Claesson grew up in Stockholm, Sweden in a place called Saltsjöbaden, where he lived until he was 22.
"It is a really beautiful place right by the ocean," says Claesson. "No waves right there, but if you drive an hour and a half north or south there are some waves to be found if you time the storms properly."
Claesson has been living in Australia since 2002. He moved there to attend school – with the added benefit of surfing a whole lot in the process.
"We lived in a nice old house," he says. "Six surf-starved Swedes and an Aussie under one roof, right by the beach. Good times! We all arranged our schedules so we had school for three days of the week, and surfing and hanging out the rest of the time."
Claesson's pursuits led him to Billabong, where he worked as a designer, and today, he churns out some of the most charming, imaginative surf designs in the canon of contemporary surf art.
"I draw things that I like to do and would like to experience. You start with a blank piece of paper. It's nice to complete something. Sometimes it looks nice, and sometimes it doesn't. It's very relaxing. You stop thinking about emails and lists of things you need to do. Sometimes it's been an hour and you haven't been thinking about anything else, and that's probably what I like the most about it."
Sounds a lot like surfing.
The Inertia: The Definitive Voice of Surf, Mountain, and Outdoors // http://www.theinertia.com
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