Craig Alan was born in 1971 in San Bernardino, California. Though he was always drawn to the artistic side of life, Craig’s creative luminance did not wholly shine until his family transferred to New Orleans in his youth. It was here that Craig’s capacity for detailed visual interpretation took root. In this city by the sea, rich in its culture and outlets for creative expression, Craig began exploring his own ingenious impulses.
Craig’s earliest experimentation took the form of street portraiture, an endeavor that helped him perfect his flair for replicating the human figure and afforded the budding artist a sense of economic autonomy. He saved money he earned during this stint for school and supplies. Though he always planned to pursue a formal art education, Craig continued to develop technically and conceptually through his own diligent studies.
It was not until his sophomore year at the University of Mobile, Alabama, however, that Craig began vigorously training in art. Craig’s enthusiasm for his chosen program of study immediately thrust him into the scholastic limelight. With a focus on studio arts, Craig earned an area award for academic excellence. The university’s most prestigious exhibition, “Art with a Southern Drawl,” featured 42 of Craig’s pieces, chosen from a field of more than 1,600 submissions.
Craig’s collections run the gamut from abstract expressionism to haunting, graphic realism, each one a reflection of its creator’s unique vision. Craig’s prolific career is a culmination of textbook artistic knowledge and keen aesthetic sense, one developed not through intensive schooling but deep within recesses of this artist’s brilliant mind.