Drawn from Here

Eric Pollard is a professional skier, artist, and designer from Welches, Oregon. For 20 of his 36 years he’s been professionally sponsored as a skier, but what defines the whole of his career over that time goes well beyond that one simple fact. Drawn From Here is a short film Eric made that opens with an exploration of his processes as a skier, as a ski/product designer, and as an artist. It follows the influences he draws from—like basing the shape of a ski tip off of a surfboard or finding patterns observed in nature to integrate into the graphics he hand draws for a ski—and illuminates a thread that runs through and binds all his different disciplines and hobbies. The film goes on to chronicle a pivotal injury Eric endured during the winter of 2013. In short, he severely broke his left leg while skiing in Russia, spent 54 days in a trauma ward, had 11 surgeries, nearly lost the leg to a bone infection, and ended up with permanent partial paralysis in his left foot. His was an injury that would sideline and retire most athletes. It’s weighted heavily with elements of skiing that will resonate with any skier who loves snow and loves the sport.