The legendary snowboarder-turned-artist Blaise Rosenthal stopped by for a couple of days while we had our last gallery show in Mayrhofen, Austria, and we took the opportunity to talk art with him over a few pints of Guinness (incidentally where pro snowboarder Tyler Chorlton came up and told Blaise he’d started out on Blaise’s pro model on Silence Snowboards), and then went for a day’s shredding with Blaise on the slushy, late-season hill. Blaise’s riding still speaks for itself, and he emailed not long after to say:

“I’m still thinking about how great that day of snowboarding was.  I’ve been worried about being a “snowboarder who paints” instead of a “painter who snowboards” because I want my artwork to be really good, but maybe I’m just going to have to be a person who does both, because that day was so much fun. I want some more of those. I hope things are going good with all of you guys, Blaise.”

As one of the most influential snowboarders of all time, and now a full time, and passionate (and informed) artist, we thought we’d put a little film together that hopefully captures Blaise’s reasons for following his own path. He’s easily one of the most knowledgeable and opinionated artists we’ve met, and we strongly recommend you bookmark his website, which is in the middle of re-fresh as we write this.