It’s a fitting surname for an artist who paints skiing. But don’t let the name fool you. Local artist Brian Bonebrake is breaking the bank, not his legs, with his artwork, painting scenes of skiing, fishing, and more in Steamboat.
Last winter’s display was entitled “Where Champagne Powder Meets the West” at the Jace Romick and R-Diamond Gallery, including an oil-on-canvas of Romick racing at his final World Cup race in Aspen. As well as those, you’ll find his fish-themed works there this summer. Bonebrake, whose corporate collectors include the Wrigley Family, Sara Lee Corporation, West National Bank, and the Art Institute of Chicago, was raised in Colorado and spent years on Europe’s Professional Freestyle Ski Tour before studying fine art in Italy and the U.S., including earning a Master of Fine Arts at the Art Institute of Chicago.
“I’m just trying to convey the true vibe of skiing, the part that has never changed regardless of equipment or age,” he says. “The feeling of that turn where it feels like you’re flying and what makes skiing so addicting.” As for the name, he says it’s a convenient coincidence. “Over in Europe I think they sometimes let me keep competing just so they could keep saying it over and over,” he says. “And it looks good on paper.”
