Artist Interview: Sports, A Celebration of Life

To better understand the creation and inspiration for the art series Sports, A Celebration of Life, we pulled together some questions for the artist, Randall J. Henrie. He was gracious enough to share his thoughts.

Interview:

Where did the idea to create the Sports, Celebration of Life Series come from?

As an architect and artist, I often ruminate on the human condition and wonder why we humans do the things we do. When I boil it down to the minimum essentials to sustain life; we really don’t need variety in food & drink, music, sensual experiences, sports, hobbies, activities; or any of a very wide range of human endeavors we engage in. Yet, we constantly come up with new ideas and new ways to experience life. So why do we do these things? One answer for me is that it is a way to create the joy of sensations, experience, and life. It is a way of Celebrating Life. In this art series, I chose sports in particular because I have been very active my entire life, and engaged
in almost constant movement of some variety. Sports resonated with me. For me, it has been cycling, hiking, weightlifting, cross-country skiing, swimming, and running. So, it’s no wonder athleticism made an early and profound entry into my art endeavors. Who knows, maybe a Music Series is next? Or Food & Wine?

Bicycling is your most popular image in this series, why do you think that is?

I can only speculate that is a movement that crosses more lifestyles than others. Bicycling is a wide-ranging activity that just about everybody can relate to, from a child’s first tricycle to the Tour de France. It has also been the primary activity in my own life, so maybe that energy carried thru to the Work? For many years, I commuted on my bike in our mountain community almost every day. It is an integral part of my life’s journey.

Is there a message that you' like people to take from the art portrayed in Sports, Celebration of Life?

Sometimes we belittle what other people are passionate about. Maybe it doesn’t make

sense to us why somebody would engage in this or that activity. Honestly, all of us are likely engaged in in a sport or passion that doesn’t make sense to somebody else, something that resonates with us, but seems weird, odd, or ridiculous to others. I guess my point is that all of these things we are drawn to, arts, sports or otherwise, it is all a way of experiencing life. I am hopefully expressing a Celebration of Life with the skill-set and interests unique to me. I would hope that others find freedom to happily do whatever it is they do. 

Will you continue to add to this series? If so, what subjects?

Yes, this Series is incomplete. When I started, the goal was to take the 30 most popular Sports worldwide and create an art piece for each. Along the way other art has been commissioned that is not necessarily part of the original goal, so it is coming slower than originally anticipated. Still to come to complete the Series are activities such as Baseball, Rodeo, the Olympics, Ping-Pong, Soccer, and more.

What do you call your style of art?

This may be a better question for historians. I call it New Age Media, primarily because much of what I do is digital, but not digital in the sense of image manipulation, such as is done with Photoshop or similar image editing software. My work is done by drawing with the same software architects and engineers use to design & draw structures. I was not really aware of a proper term, so I made it up. As to the Style, maybe that is still being defined? Pop Art? Illustration? Maybe?

As a young man, did you ever conceive that you would one day be called an artist?

Not consciously, no. But I think deep down there was an intuitive sense that I would be doing something in the architecture, creative, artistic world. Not something at that age I could point to, but just a subtle feeling that would someday manifest in my life.

What life experiences contributed to creating this series?

Everything. I am or have been a child, a son, a husband, a father, a brother, an uncle, a grandfather, a student, a philosopher, a soldier, an athlete, a business owner, an architect, an artist, a laborer, a librarian, a traveler and about a thousand other labels. Every experience has been part of who I am, and part of the wonder of life. Thus, a part of this series.

Any last thoughts to share?

I do what I do with the particular set of skills, knowledge, and interests I have. I am not a traditional artist with a classic approach. I work with what I have and what is in front of me. I would encourage anybody to do the same. Don’t wait for the “right” circumstances. Learn to be in the zone and do whatever it is that makes you happy.