Most of us would say that art and sports don’t have much to do with each other – but I don’t think that’s true. While our intellectual self lives in the mind, our intuition lives in the body. This embodied self is the seat of creativity – and therefore of art.
On the surface, we tend to think of athletes as physical and not particularly creative, but stretching our physical abilities and challenging our bodies is a well-traveled path to creativity, and many athletes are also artists.
Renan Ozturk is known mostly as a climbing photographer and cinematographer and professional climber, but he describes himself as a “landscape artist at heart”, and his paintings provide a unique window into the eye of a mountaineer.
![Mount Whitney Cicre by Renan Ozturk](https://i0.wp.com/static1.squarespace.com/static/55fa2918e4b08929c4af4bfa/55fc828ee4b0154e882953d1/56293fc4e4b0ce6cbda61c97/1459497034562/Screen+Shot+2015-10-22+at+1.46.43+PM.png?resize=750%2C357)
Baron Batch pursued a career in professional football before realizing that he was The Artist:
![Feel my Truth by Baron Batch](http://i2.wp.com/studio-am.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/28.jpg?fit=3311%2C3758)
Gregory Porter is a hugely successful jazz musician who pursued an early career in football before finding his calling in music.
![Gregory Porter: Take Me To The Alley](https://i0.wp.com/cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1180/4284/products/Take-me-To-The-Alley-Cover_08f0b9b0-66f8-46a3-a423-76d40e10e5fc_grande.jpg?resize=600%2C600&ssl=1)
Jered Gruber is a cyclist and photographer whose images capture perfectly the free spirit of the modern cyclist:
Riikka Hyvönen is a roller derby skater and artist. Her unique painted and upholstered sculptures put us directly in touch with the bruises that derby girls collect:
![I Got a Really Beautiful Bruise on My Bum, Do You Want To See a Pic It Has 12 Colours And Is the Size of My Head! by Riikka Hyvönen](https://riikkahyvonen.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/i-got-a.jpg?w=640&resize=640%2C466)
Gou Miyagi is an incredibly innovative skateboarder who is developing new and unique ways of using his body and his board to create movement and imagery: