{"id":5093,"date":"2024-12-09T20:00:57","date_gmt":"2024-12-10T01:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.steamboatsir.com\/blog\/?p=5093"},"modified":"2024-12-09T20:00:57","modified_gmt":"2024-12-10T01:00:57","slug":"a-matter-of-perspective-local-artist-robert-dieckhoff-finds-a-new-angle-on-this-years-winter-carnival-poster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/2024\/12\/09\/a-matter-of-perspective-local-artist-robert-dieckhoff-finds-a-new-angle-on-this-years-winter-carnival-poster\/","title":{"rendered":"A Matter of Perspective: Local Artist Robert Dieckhoff Finds a New Angle On This Year\u2019s Winter Carnival Poster"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/b><\/p>\n

THE FIRST-EVER WINTER CARNIVAL: FINDING ROOTS AT WOODCHUCK HILL<\/b>\u00a0 <\/b>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

When Robert \u201cRC\u201d Dieckhoff learned he was selected as the artist to create this year\u2019s Winter Carnival poster, the \ufb01rst thing he did was take a deep dive into its history. Inspired by the \ufb01rst-ever Winter Carnival in 1914, which was held at Woodchuck Hill (the current site of Colorado Mountain College), he researched everything from locating the precise spot where the \ufb01rst ski jump was erected and the purpose of the inaugural event to its geology and spent countless hours going through photo archives at the Tread of Pioneers Museum. \u201cI was surprised to learn that a lot of people didn\u2019t know the \ufb01rst Winter Carnival was before Howelsen Hill even existed.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not surprising Dieckhoff turned to history and geology to begin the process of creating the design for the poster. The intricate analysis and theories Dieckhoff employs in his extensive creative process involve a multidisciplinary approach to creativity that integrates science, math, and history. \u201cI won\u2019t go beyond an initial sketch until it ful\ufb01lls a mathematical formula; math is the foundation of our physical reality\u201d says the 76-year-old, who has lived in Steamboat since 1998. \u201cThe spatial relationship is how one space, created by shapes, relates to another by size, shape, color, density and position. To be an artist, you have to understand physics. It\u2019s integral to everything.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\nA LIFE SHAPED BY ART\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"A young surfer who grew up in San Diego, Dieckhoff started painting when he was four years old. But it wasn\u2019t until 1967 when his mother, also a professional artist, entered one of his paintings in the Cabrillo Arts Festival that he realized his potential. \u201cI was in Vietnam and didn\u2019t even know she\u2019d entered my painting in the contest,\u201d he says. \u201cIt won second place, and I didn\u2019t even know how I did it or exactly what I had done, I just knew I wanted to do it again, to \ufb01gure out how to replicate it.\u201d His lifelong career began painting signs for a local surfboard company in exchange for surfboards, and quickly evolved into illustration, doing commercial work for magazines and manuals, and eventually \ufb01ne art.<\/p>\n

He quickly outgrew the tedium of working with oil paints (\u201ctook too long to dry,\u201d he says) and moved onto acrylics and an early interest in digital graphic art that, in the 1970s turned out to be ahead of its time. \u201cMy professor told me the computer I\u2019d need would cost 250 thousand dollars,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cI said, \u2018forget that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

After his tour in Vietnam as a Navy radio technician, Dieckhoff traveled to Japan in the late \u201860s where he became fascinated by the Ukiyo-e Japanese masters. \u201cIt was an accepted way of doing things, as in Impressionism, Surrealism or Abstractionism,\u201d he says, and it\u2019s continued to have a huge in\ufb02uence on his work to this day. Characterized by a vibrant color palate, bold outlines to de\ufb01ne shapes, and the unique spatial effects and perspective, Dieckhoff\u2019s designs are characterized by surrealism\u2014or what he calls \u201cperipheral compression\u201d\u2014that evoke an almost psychedelic quality reminiscent of the era when he came of age.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard people describe it as a \ufb01sheye, but the eye can actually see a view scape of more than 260 degrees with a peripheral perspective,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m taking that and squeezing it into a narrower rectangle to emphasize a subject or a certain component of the design.\u201d Dieckhoff says he views his subjects through proportional relationships woven in dynamic equilibrium with a play of color and contrast to de\ufb01ne dimensions. Now that technology has caught up and become considerably more affordable, Dieckhoff has \ufb01nally been able to create his designs on an iPad Pro, though he still uses a sketchbook outside and takes dozens, and sometimes hundreds of photographs to bring back to his studio. \u201cThey haven\u2019t designed a screen I can see in sunlight yet,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

FINDING INSPIRATION IN THE YAMPA VALLEY\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\" \u00a0\"\" \u00a0\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"Dieckhoff says he\u2019s found a lifetime of abundant inspiration in the iconic landscapes of the Yampa Valley. \u201cNorthwest Colorado is particularly sacred and unique because it sits in an impact zone where the plains meet the mountains,\u201d he says. \u201cThis creates energy, stimulates imagination and encourages artists to touch space.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

From his roots as a ski bum working odd jobs, Dieckhoff became a proli\ufb01c artist over the last 52 years and has shown his work at galleries ranging from the White House to Hawaii. He\u2019s also had an integral role in the local art community as the Founding President of the Steamboat Art Museum, Steamboat Public Art Board, and curator for the Steamboat International Art Board.<\/p>\n

He spent countless hours on sifting through all the photo archives on the Tread of Pioneers website to learn as much as he could about that inaugural Winter Carnival event before he even thought about sketching. He discovered that when Marjorie Perry took the train to nearby Hot Sulphur Springs, Colorado to attend a Winter Carnival event, she watched Carl Howelsen ski jump. She managed to convince him to then come to Steamboat, where he built a jump on Woodchuck Hill, and the \ufb01rst Steamboat Carnival was born. It also introduced Steamboat to competitive skiing and ski jumping, which until then, had only been used for transportation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Consistent with techniques employed by Ukiyo-e masters, Dieckhoff repeats Howelsen\u2019s \ufb01gure three times in the Winter Carnival painting that also features the bold colors and challenges in perspective that have come to de\ufb01ne his work. \u201cI hope that the poster will commemorate this piece of Steamboat history and this site on Woodchuck Hill as the original Winter Carnival venue,\u201d he says. \u201cIt was truly an honor to be a part of it.\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\/\/photographicsart.com<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE FIRST-EVER WINTER CARNIVAL: FINDING ROOTS AT WOODCHUCK HILL\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 When Robert \u201cRC\u201d Dieckhoff learned he was selected as the artist to create this year\u2019s Winter Carnival poster, the \ufb01rst thing he did was take a deep dive into its history. Inspired by the \ufb01rst-ever Winter Carnival in 1914, which was held at Woodchuck Hill […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64295786,"featured_media":5098,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfNAsR-1k9","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/IMG_8591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64295786"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5093"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5093\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sothebysrealty.com\/steamboatsir\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}