Entering the Spiritual
Art and cycling have always gone together. Imagine those 19th-Century painters such as Freidrich, losing themselves in the forests, or looking over the mountains to paint ‘Wanderer over a Sea of Fog.’ Hey, I’m convinced that good old Casper David would have used a mountain bike to get to these places, had they been around at the time!
Seriously though, artists love to immerse themselves in the natural world, and so do we cyclists. Climbing into the Pyrenees on a tough road cycling route, then feeling the wind hit our faces, as we descend at speed, it’s a bond between us and nature – like creating a new painting, we create cycling memories to last a lifetime.
In the 1950s and through the vibrancy of the 1960s art movement, races such as La Vuelta, the Giro and the Tour de France were all emblazoned onto stylish posters that now sit on collector’s walls or in galleries. Artists such as Lucy Pittaway in the famed Yorkshire Dales, include cyclists in many of her canvases, and the UCI even have their own commissioned artist on hand!
Striving for Perfection
Ultimately, artists are perfectionists, as they dedicate their lives to creating perfection. It may not be that perfection that you see; the artist views the world through their inner soul and depicts what their heart sees.
Likewise, as road cyclists and mountain biking trails riders, we’re explorers. We set out on our own journeys of adventure and exploration, each time that we begin a new cycling route. We paint the colours in our mind beforehand, when choosing which cycling route to ride, and then we store these images – like paintings – in our memories, bringing them back time and time again. We too, strive for perfection on the bike; not only in how we perform as cyclists, but in where we travel to cycle. Those dreams of road cycling up the Stelvio in Italy, or tackling the 26-hairpin bends of Alpe d’Huez, the pedal strokes like paint brush strokes, challenging us as we struggle to turn the cranks
In truth, we’re not simply cycling; we’re creating our own paintings of pain and exploration, and we know that they’ll live forever – just like that piece of art we have hanging our wall at home. Stickman Cycling – Bringing Art & Cycling Together
I’m a lover of art and cycling – art created me! Yes, as Stickman, I can decide exactly who I am and who I want to be. It’s kind of cool really. I get to commission lots of up-and-coming artists, creating art onto cycle clothing, wearable cycling canvases of artistic creation that my friends and I can then wear as we ride into the magical hills close to home, here in beautiful Barcelona. It adds spice and vibrancy to our cycling life. Best of all, you guys can also wear my high-performance cycling jerseys and ultra-fantastic cycling bib shorts, with our unique and limited-edition art designs.
Yes, when we look at art and cycling, there are many similarities in the spiritual nature of them. At Stickman, it’s important to allow everyone to be who they really are – to be unique, like me! We plan to paint the global cycling community in colour, from our home, here in Barcelona, and to create a new cycling community; where art and cycling are perfectly balanced, and where any future Picasso can jump aboard their own Pinerello road bike and create memories to last a lifetime.
Come on in and join the new cycling revolution – with me, Stickman.