Zach Otte: Using Colors to Create

The river is a gosh darn special place. A place that moves, transforms, and inspires people. Whether this be to take life a little slower or to remember how small we are in the grand scheme of things. Many people don’t ever get the opportunity to see themselves in the scenes many of us river people get to experience. They don’t get to see the rushing water or the pillow forming off of that boulder. However, we have the ability to let the river teach us something. And through that, we have the opportunity to create something in us that allows us to share that joy and beauty with others. 

Artist, Zach Otte, is one of those people. At River Station Gear, we’ve had the honor and privilege of working with Zach. Zach has worked with us on different throwbags and other types of gear. His artwork embodies one of our favorite things, “STANDING OUT and being YOU”. 

We talked to Zach about his journey, his time on the river, and his hopes for the future. We hope it inspires you as much as it did us. 

About Zach Otte

When Zach was growing up, rivers were a part of his daily life. He grew up surrounded by water and always appreciated it, but it wasn’t until 2018 that he began to think more about art.

Before that, he always felt art was something that was purely academic and never felt called to do any painting or writing of his own. Instead, Zach traveled and he became a river guide in 2008. 

He began rafting on the Arkansas River. From the moment guide training started, he was hooked. His adventures became more and more inspired by the river and he ended up splitting his time between Patagonia, Chile and Canon City, Colorado for about 10 years. 

In 2016, Zach decided to slow down with guiding and he ended up focusing more heavily on Amazon conservation. Zach had spent some time in the Amazon prior to this and always felt as though it was an incredible place. He even spent a few months carving out a canoe while he was out there. When he went back to the Amazon to do conservation, it wasn’t easy. Despite challenges he faced, he was reminded of the beauty of their culture. Zach describes a key moment out there, “One of the warrior tribes would paint me from time to time. This was fascinating! All of the colors and beadwork and vibrancy from their paintings was amazing. I felt borderline jealous because I never thought art was something that I would do.” 

At this time, Zach began to dive into plant medicine. He ended up housing closely with a shaman and began to learn a lot about the ways that plants interact with our lives and he became very passionate about it. 

When he got back to the states, Zach ended up being invited out to Northern India to help out with a guiding program. When he got there, he found himself right across from the Jim Corbett Tiger Reserve. He recalls “Tigers were all around me all the time, they would come up next to me and I would get to see them eat, hunt, and live. It was a crazy experience.” These months would later come back to be some of the pivotal memories in his artist career. 

With so much international travel, Zach was ready to head home to the Arkansas River. The place that taught him so much and where he began his river guiding career. Zach spent 16 years on the Arkansas River and describes it as, “the place that evolved and made him grow up.” The Arkansas River taught Zach how to deal with stressful situations and how to guide people down who have never been rafting on a river before. As he continued to guide on the Arkansas, he couldn’t shake the feeling of wanting to do more and bring those experiences he had in different communities to the present. 

Zach and Art

In 2017, while guiding on the Arkansas, Zach remembers getting these dreams that reminded him of his time in Northern India. He would wake up after seeing a famished tiger in his dream that was begging him to paint, night after night. At first, he brushed off the dreams, but they kept returning.

One night, he decided he would get up and draw. Once he did this, the dreams stopped. He still didn’t know why the tiger was telling him to paint and he wasn’t necessarily passionate about it yet. He had never drawn before and wasn’t really interested in it. But, nonetheless, he tried to teach himself to paint and draw. Life got busy and the drawing ended up fizzling out. 

In 2018, it was a low water year. Zach recalls taking folks down at low-low water and decided it was the last trip he was going to take for a long while. On that day, Zach remembers coming home and just collapsing. He was exhausted and sick. He ended up losing 40 lbs in about a month and a half and knew he needed to make a change. He didn’t guide for two years and solely focused on art. He dove deep and spent everyday in basically an art bootcamp. And this is where he began to find his voice through painting. 

Zach and Colors

When Zach began painting, he taught himself through the work of so many different artists. As he was doing this, he began to find his own personal style. Zach says, “I put cultures in my art. I don’t always use colors that you see in nature. I use colors that come from people around the world. I found my style through my own curiosity and the people around me, but this took time.” 

Along with that, when Zach is facing a new painting, he bases colors off of how that scene or river made him feel. “For the Ark, I amp up my colors a lot. I want to be bold. Nothing about the Arkansas River to me is subtle.” Zach says, “The colors I choose align with how I feel about that river or that scene. I’m stoked to be out there and I want to convey that.” 

His paintings share, especially to river guides, the joy and the serenity of the river. The boldness of taking that line or the beauty in the simplicity as we watch a rapid from the beach. His paintings catch a glimpse of something we can tend to take for granted but we are reminded of the excitement of the river through his art. 

For Artists on the River

If you’re thinking about sharing your art, go for it. 

Zach says, “People were always pushing me to put my art out there and I wasn’t necessarily ready. But if you have the urge to put yourself out there you should do it…especially if it’s mixed with fear.”  Zach discussed the ways that people have impacted him and the ways that artists have the ability to reach people. It can be easy to think that you’re not going to reach anybody, but you will. 

Following fear is something that can lead to so much good. “You’d be surprised how much you can touch people with art. So much of my life whether it was rafting or at a  job interview, has been about stepping out of my comfort zone.” Zach reminisces, “It reminds me a lot of dropping into Sunshine Falls at high and low flows. You’re terrified at first, and then you just start enjoying it.” 

As an artist, being able to express yourself through your art is so powerful. Yet, it’s one of the most challenging things to do. Zach emphasizes, “Letting yourself just express yourself can be so hard sometimes. I don’t know how much we are really taught that. So much of our lives we’ve been taught to be something that we aren’t. The river is what really taught me to be myself. I do it because I love it, nothing else matters.” 

If you're dreaming or thinking about putting your art out there, whatever it may be, go for it! The world is lucky to have your creations making it that much brighter. As river guides, I know we appreciate it. Something to remind us of who we are, even if we might not be on the river that day. 

Check him out! 

Zach is currently still traveling around the states, with some international travel in the mix. He spends the summers in Cañon City, Colorado and can be found bopping around at different art festivals or events. He is often found in river towns doing live paintings or black-light specific art.

Follow his Instagram @zach.otte to find out if he is hosting events, doing giveaways, or to see what he is working on. He has some really cool things in the works for us raft guides next summer so keep an eye out! We know we’re already looking forward to it. 

 

By: Sam McKiernan