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*ARTSThe Art of Social Media is broken down

into a language you can understand, PAGE B4+ *EXHIBITS‘Appropriated: The Chronicled West’ is on display at Denver’s Robischon Gallery

through May 5, ideal for Western and contemporary art lovers, PAGE B5

*DRINKCheck out these eco-friendly imbibements beforemaking your Earth Day party purchases, PAGE B2

*SU

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STORIES, LEADS, IDEAS?

Contact Aaron Bibleabible@summitdaily.com

(970) 668-4626B1

SUMMITDAILY.COMT H I S W E E K E N D I N S U M M I T C O U N T Y ~ A R T S , E N T E R TA I N M E N T, A C T I V I T I E S & M O R EFRIDAY | APRIL 20, 2012

* BEST BETTim Murphy’sphotography is on display at Arts AliveGallery in Breck for 1 more week! PAGE B2

Yin & Yang, or unanswerable dichotomy?

By Aaron BibleABIBLE@SUMMITDAILY.COM

I've always been fascinated bythe duality in the artist-athletepersonality. What is it that

drives someone to push theirphysical limits, as well as theircreative ones, to the extreme?And how can these two partsof life exist so perfectly in thesame people?

This seeming dichotomybetween the athlete and the artist

was documented in the 1974 film byWarner Herzog called “The Great Ecsta-

sy of the Sculptor Steiner.” When I stumbled across thisfilm on Netflix a number of years ago I was blessed withone of those ‘Ah ha’ moments where one realizes they arenot alone in their emotionally intellectual quandaries.

In this seminal short film, Herzog documents his ownlifelong exploration of what he refers to as “ecstatic truth.”The film is about the famed ski jumper Walter Steiner,who shattered ski jumping (or as Steiner calls it, ski fly-ing) records from 1970-1977 and worked during the dayas a carpenter and wood carver. The duality of his artforms as a skier and sculptor is artfully deconstructed inwhat Herzog called one of his most important films.

The name of the film itself speaks volumes, referencingof course Irving Stone’s biography of Michelangelo, “TheAgony and Ecstasy,” and the film work is solemn, mono-tone, and filled with contemplative, introspectivemoments of both wood carving and ski jumping, inter-mixed with violent crashes and egotistical rants, paintingthe picture of this potentially conflicted personality. Itmade me realize I was not the only one consumed.

“These two pursuits that at first glance seem at oddswith each other really have quite a lot of similar thingsfueling them. The willingness to suffer, the ever-com-pelling jump between juxtaposing emotional states, theintrospective knowledge that comes from experiencingthem and the sense of accomplishment when the long

sought-after route is climbed or thepiece that took months to paint iscompleted,” said Marisa Ware, anathlete and artist who splits her timebetween San Francisco, Calif.,where she is currently pursuing aMaster’s in illustration at the Acad-emy of Art, and Boulder, and vari-ous climbing crags and camp-grounds around the West.

“All this said, I do feel constantlytorn between these two obses-sions of mine. When I’m on a

climbing trip surrounded by otherclimbers, I feel that one side of me is being wholly satis-

fied. I love sleeping in the back of a truck, waking in thecold morning, eating breakfast cooked on a camp stove,spending the day totally exerting myself and watching myfriends do the same, all of us witnessing each other’s tri-umphs and defeats, then returning to camp exhausted tosit around a fire and fall asleep under the stars,” Ware said.

“Yet within this partial version of my own paradise, Ifeel the absence of the other half,” she continued. “I don’tfeel my artistic side being stimulated or nourished, so Ireturn to the city, immerse myself in my classes, spendhours upon hours holed up in a dark room, inspired, soli-tary, engrossed in the workings of my own creativity,” shesaid. “Eventually, I start to ache for the feel of rock on myfingertips and the sharp air of the desert.”

“It’s all about exploration,” said John Gorman, a Port-land, Ore., based product designer, sculptor, painter andcyclist. “I ride and race my bike to get a different per-spective on life. Art and design thoughts run rampantafter depleting the more visceral emotions.”

After years of exploration and the depletingof emotions on so many levels, I know it hassomething to do with theneed to push oneself,emotionally, physically,creatively. That trulyexhaustive feeling thatcan only be achieved bysix hours of going hardin the saddle, battlingraging rapids or cling-ing to exposed sand-stone, and also byexpelling the emo-tions of a brutalchildhood ontopaper, attempting toquell an insatiableurge to tell a visualor musical story, orby photographingand printingsomething that

speaks to who we are as human beings.“Both pursuits require suffering,” said Ware. “All of my

teachers keep reiterating that point, as does my experience.There is joy, relaxation, and meditative states involved withcreating art, but those enjoyable states are balancedby frustration, vexation, and dissatisfaction. Thelevel of determination and concentration that ittakes to sit through a six-hour figure drawingclass is the same that a climber needs to trainfor hours at the gym in preparation for what-ever route they’re trying to climb.”

The life of the artist, however,doesn’t always lend itself well tothe life of the athlete. Artists liketo stay up late, dark emotionsoften lead to the best work, andthis leads to the same feelings ofecstasy and depravation we getfrom extreme sports. So how dowe find a balance?

“I think the essentialconflict here is the onewe all face — striving

PHOTO BY ANTHONY LAPOMARDO/SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

The artwork of Marisa Ware is equally as daunting as her climbing skills. This piece is pen, ink and prisma pencil, entitled

‘Eclipse.’ View more of her work at marisaware.com.

ARTISTS PAGE B2 ➤

ABOVE PHOTOS: SPECIAL TO THE DAILY/ERIC VICKERS

B2 SUMMIT DAILY NEWS | Friday, April 20, 2012 SUMMITDAILY.COM

By Aaron BibleABIBLE@SUMMITDAILY.COM

You love the earth and want to celebratethe 42nd annual Earth Day on Sunday. Butwhy support an environmental catastro-phe while doing so? Take a look at the fol-lowing eco-friendly alcoholic beveragesbefore making your partying purchases.

Pisco Portón is a Peruvian mosto verdepisco committed to sustainability. It ismade at the oldest working distillery in theAmericas, Hacienda la Caravedo. Combin-ing age-old Pisco making traditions witheco-friendly modern technology, Hacien-da la Caravedo features a roof garden thatnaturally converts carbon dioxide emittedby fermentation into oxygen, reducingenvironmental harm. The distillery alsouses gravity-fed channels that decreasereliance on electrical pumps, and a watertreatment system that recycles water from the distillation process into irrigation water for the vineyards. Visit: http://piscoporton.com/home

360 Vodka is premium eco-friendlyvodka that has won awards not only fortaste and quality, but also for environmen-tally responsible packaging. Each batch isquadruple-distilled and five-times filteredbefore entering the bottle. While creating

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American Harvest is organic vodkahandcrafted in small batches from organicwinter wheat grown on a family ownedand sustainably managed U.S. farm. Thevodka has no artificial additives or preser-vatives and is produced with a continuouscolumn distillation process. It is distilledand bottled in Rigby, Idaho, using waterfrom aquifers deep beneath the SnakeRiver drainage. American Harvest is thecreation of Sidney Frank Importing Com-pany, Inc., a third-generation familyowned U.S. business. One-third of themonthly electrical consumption at thedistillery comes from local wind generat-ed power. Additionally, unused materialsfrom the distillation process are recycled

*COLUMN SCENE

for balance in all facets of life.The work/life dichotomy is amajor struggle when you arean independent creative run-ning your own shop,” saidTampa, Fla., based freelancephotographer and adventuremotorcyclist Joseph Gamble.“Riding a motorcycle forcesyou to attend to the presentmoment. Trips can requiregreat care and planning, main-tenance of the bike, reserva-tions and permits for camp-sites, but when you are on thebike, pulling back the throttle,there is a real symmetrybetween man and machine.More importantly, you areforced to reckon with the pres-ent moment, whether you aremanaging rush hour traffic orbombing through a sandy trail.There is no past and no pres-ent in these moments. For me,adventure motorcycling thenbecomes a system reboot, adefragging of the mind.”

“There's a need for aestheticin the person that's not dissimi-lar to the need for aesthetic inart. Practically speaking, I can-not do my art without beingsomewhat athletic…I havebackpacked and hiked thou-sands of miles in my life tomake my living from photogra-phy,” Colorado landscape pho-tographer John Fielderexplained to me. “Mind andbody are symbiotic: a fit bodybegets a fitter mind, and a fitmind underlies the disciplineneeded to care about one'sbody. I could not have madeone tenth of the photographsI've made in 40 years withouthaving remained reasonably fitand aware of my physicalityand the part it plays in my life.”Some are seemingly able to finda balance better than others.

“I think that on some level, themotivation must be coming fromthe same fervent source, buthonestly, most of the time those

two aspects of myself seem prettydivided,” said Ware.

“I would say it’s in the desireto achieve perfection of form in

both,” said Aspen-based cyclist,massage therapist and designerShawn Hadley. “In athletics, asin art, that level of perfection isaffected by so many differentaspects, making it almostimpossible without a little luckand tremendous dedication.”

“I think that being physicallyactive in a sport is very energiz-ing for one’s creative endeav-ors,” said artist-athlete JessicaConlan-Glover, a long-timemountain girl, runner, chef, andpainter. “I feel I am happier andway more positive when I amhealthy in all aspects…my body,my mind, my spirit. It gives meenergy to be creative and actu-ally more productive when I sitdown to a canvas to paint.”

Glover continued: “I thinkanyone that makes a point to

replace something non-beneficial in their liveswith an activity thatgives them morestrength and energymakes them happierand more productive inevery part of their dailylives, including being aparent, spouse, employ-ee, or even a customer.If you can take literally20 minutes, working upto half hour, and thenan hour (which is notthat much out of yourwaking 16 to 18 hourday), one can make anotable difference intheir energy level andconsequently be moreproductive and happier.This has become a greatbalance in my life. I loveto sit down and paintwith that clear mindand motivation.”

“I experienced apretty radical paradigmshift a few years ago,realizing (among many

other things) that I needed tochange my approach and focusmy efforts,” Ware continued. “Itseemed clear that if I didn’tsimplify my pursuits, that Iwould never achieve any sort ofgreatness -- and that motiva-tion, perhaps, is for me thecommon thread betweenclimbing and art -- a desire toexcel, to push myself to my ownlimits and witness the results.To chase genius.”

Whether it the pursuit ofgenius, or a glimpse of Herzog’secstatic truth, clearly there issomething deep runningthrough us all. Hopefully, ineach person’s individual way,they are able to find the bal-ance, to create, to be outdoors,be happy, and to take the risksnecessary to get there.

➤ARTISTS FROM PAGE B1

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Joseph Gamble the athlete, inset, and one of his fine-art portraits. Like many independent artists, Gamblebalances his need for adventure with his need to create. See more at jcgamble.com.

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Jessica Conlan-Glover is pictured here in her seemingly non-conflicted roles as artist and athlete.

Eco-friendly imbibements for Earth Day weekend

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

Pisco Portón is a Peruvian mosto verdepisco committed to sustainability. It ismade at the oldest working distillery in the Americas, Hacienda la Caravedo. IMBIBEMENTS PAGE B3 ➤

SPECIAL TO THE DAILY

American Harvest is organic vodkahandcrafted in small batches from

organic winter wheat grown on a familyowned & sustainably managed U.S. farm.