ATHLETE , ENTREPRENEUR , ARTIST , AND RENAISSANCE MAN .
By M . J . Hudon
rtist , Dean Crouser has led an incredibly active life . Raised in the Pacific Norhtwest , his family spent lots of time outdoors , camping , fishing , and hiking . He became a champion at discus and shot put in college , holding records that decades later still stand unbroken . He started a vitamin and supplement company with his brother , then moved into ( pardon the pun ) real estate . Now , he still goes camping , fishing , and hiking , but he also works full time as an artist .
He is articulate — a natural storyteller — intelligent , charming , determined , and kind . He doesn ’ t take life or people for granted . In short , he is a grateful renaissance man .
As a kid , his family would go camping in the foothills of Mt . Hood or along the Columbia River Gorge during the summer . “ It was the greatest thing in the world , and I think it set the tone for a lot of things in my life . The importance of family and to appreciate getting to do those things . The outdoors , landscapes , fishing scenes . It gets in your blood . It was those experiences that introduced me to subjects I had an interest in painting .”
Later , during his years at the University of Oregon ( UO ), Dean ’ s athletic pursuits taught him many things , but it was his discipline and clear vision of what it takes to get through life in general that drove him and still does . In his words , “… to do well in sports , especially an individual sport like track and field , it takes a different breed of cat . You have to be self-driven , okay with not being in the limelight , and working on your own a lot . So , I think I was okay with that because I loved the sport . And I think that those same tendencies and disciplines apply beyond sports , into life , and art . Knowing you ’ re going to get beat up along the way and that things tend to be a process is important . Unlike someone who goes to the gym for a day and says I ’ m quitting because I ’ m not any skinnier , you learn that this stuff takes time . It ’ s just a different attitude and without question , my experience with sports and my understanding of them has helped me .”
They certainly did because while at the UO he attempted to take a few art classes .
“ I was taking business courses , and I woke up one day and thought , you know my dream would be to do my art one day . I was a 19 or 20-year-old kid so I went into registration day and tried to sign up for all art classes , but they said , “ You have none of the prerequisites . You can ’ t do this .” And I couldn ’ t get even one of the classes I wanted so I thought , aw that takes care of that .”
For some that would have been the end of their dream . Not so for Crouser who , instead
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