Art was a way for me to have control, to create beauty from within.
MY RELATIONSHIP WITH THE OUTDOORS began in high school, when my friends and I would go hiking to spend time together away from our parents. The summer after I graduated high school, I went on my first backpacking trip for sixteen days in the North Cascades, and I was hooked. Then I started climbing in the gym when I started college. Climbing was my gateway sport. Biking and skiing followed seamlessly. I’ve been addicted to the adrenaline ever since.
I started doing my line art when I was eighteen. I didn’t think I was very beautiful or cool, and I was new to outdoor sports. I wanted to be like the gorgeous and talented athletes and artists that popped up on my social media feed. Art was a way for me to have control, to create beauty from within.
I spend a lot of time making it seem as if I’m organized and have my life together, but this isn’t my reality. I used to be self-conscious about my lack of focus or sometime laser-beam hyper-focus. I’ve grown to embrace these aspects of myself. When I create art, I concentrate entirely, as though I’m working on the most important project in the world. When I ride my bike or ski, I can be my weirdest and not-so-focused self. Ego and id do overlap.
Dropping a line on skis or a bike has intent in the same way that dropping a line on paper has. When I am skiing, climbing, or biking, I seek out ways to make things more stylish and flowing in a similar way to creating art.
BROOKLYN BELL
