SUMMIT COUNTY – The skateboards Breckenridge resident Mark Rivard works on are not for riding. His ink on deck pieces are fine art.Rivard began drawing on his skateboards after he blew out his knee skiing at Vail about four years ago. “I took all of my skateboards and painted them white,” he said. After his first show in Minneapolis, skateboard companies were giving him blank decks to work on. His works feature the Minneapolis skyline, forest views, political cartoons and a recent work he is especially proud of is a snowboard featuring Breckenridge from the viewpoint of Boreas Pass. Rivard, who’s coming up on his eighth season in the county, considers his work a “do or die style,” since he doesn’t sketch anything first. “It goes from blank to Sharpie,” he said. On Tuesday, Rivard will host his second show, the first in Summit County, at Sherpa & Yeti’s. There will also be DJs and live music by the Universally Famous Rocket Surgeons that night.”I try to keep it exclusive, I don’t just sell anywhere,” he said. His show will feature about 20 custom decks.Through his artwork, Rivard believes he’s found an undercurrent of youthful artists in Summit County. “In Breck, you walk around and see a lot of galleries … It’s really great artwork, but definitely catered toward someone on the older side.”
He said with the generally high prices of the works, the younger demographic is not able to participate.”The more I told people about my work, the more people I never even knew were artists would tell me, ‘You should see mine,’ – closet artists,” he said. Rivard would like to show young artists they can be a part of the art scene, evident by the success of his first show in Minnesota where he did all the promotions himself.”Becoming the next big snowboarder is not the only game,” he said.What are your dreams/what would you like to do with your art?Someday I would consider my art a success if I was standing in the lift line and saw someone riding a board with one of my pieces, or seeing some kid at the skatepark skating a board that was one of my designs, that would be fulfilling. What does art give you/why do you do it?My art gives me a sense of accomplishment. When I finish a piece I tend to stare at it for hours, I get a feeling that is total relief. You have to put so much concentration into each piece so when you finish one it feels incredible, and to see a whole collection of work hanging on the wall can give you the feeling that anything is possible.
What do you try to convey through your art?Whenever I start a board I don’t set out to give any one particular message, they all naturally develop a message or a statement. Art is and always will be viewed differently by different people so I really try not to tell anyone what a piece is supposed to mean, it means whatever you feel when you are looking at it Everyone is going to take something different from the piece. It is very simple sometimes, if I draw a mountain scene then meaning or motivation behind that was probably that I saw some cool looking mountains and drew them … simple. What is or has been your biggest challenge, how did you deal with it?My biggest challenge has been selling my work. I really become very attached to each board. I’ve had some offers to buy boards or drawings that I just had to turn down because I was way too involved with the piece to let it go. Some of my work is absolutely invaluable to me, so to try and put a price on that is without question the hardest thing for me to do. There really is no way that I can think of to deal with that, you just have to get over it, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. If people know how much that board means to me and they still HAVE TO HAVE IT, then I know it’s going to a good place and will be respected. What are you most proud of regarding your art?Nothing can make you feel better than hearing someone say they really like your work, that always makes you proud. The shear number of skatedecks I’ve done is something I’m very proud of and the fact that this whole project has been done completely independent. There hasn’t been anyone paying for the boards, paying to do a show, it’s financially come out of my pocket, and knowing that what I’ve done to these blank skate decks has increased their value by however much is a very proud fact for me. How do you stay fresh/motivated?