BROOKLYN BELL ON HER LIFE IN THE OUTDOORS AND LATEST GERBER GEAR COLLABBROOKLYN BELL ON HER LIFE IN THE OUTDOORS AND LATEST GERBER GEAR COLLAB

Brooklyn Bell didn't start biking or skiing until she was in her early twenties. While working at a little bagel shop in Bellingham, Washington, a regular would come in and order the same thing every day. A dark coffee and a baily—a yeast roll that is similar to a bagel that's only baked and not boiled. Back then Bell would go running, on a trail, but casually for exercise. One day, she ran into the regular on a trail, and he was mountain biking. Bell kept running into him and running into him on the tail. , I kept on running into him. Eventually, the regular asked why Bell didn't bike on the trial.

"Well, I can't afford it," she said.

The man let her borrow his bike and Bell became hooked instantly. "From there on, I took all the money in my savings account, which was $500, and I bought myself my first hardtail," she says. "All of my plans for the next years coming, were just figuring out ways to save up for a nicer bike."

These days, Bell has turned herself into an accomplished and fervent outdoor athlete—skiing, mountain biking, snowmobiling, ice skating—as well as a visual artist and star of multiple adventure films. This is why Gerber Gear and Bell teamed up to create a version of their Assert knife featuring Oregon's rolling hills.

Wildsam caught up with Bell to talk about her film projects, favorite places to bike, challenges she faces in the outdoor space and the collaboration with Gerber.

WILDSAM: What was the inspiration behind the art you created with Gerber?

Brooklyn Bell: So the piece of art is inspired by Mount Hood (ed note: an active stratovolcano 50 miles east of Portland, Oregon). I've spent a little bit of time in Bend with friends snowmobiling and done a couple of really fun events there through community ski days. There's something about Bend, living in Bellingham that always kind of makes me feel a little bit at home. And as I was sitting down to create the art, I was looking through all of my collection of landscapes that I have as reference photos, and I decided Mount Hood would look really good on a knife.

What about Mount Hood looks good on a knife, in your mind?

I thought that it just looked very simple and very clean. Getting into like, "Oh, what am I going to include on this knife? Am I going to create some kind of complex landscape? Am I going to have the line art be like a texture?" And when I started working on it,  it made more sense to create a very simple look and have the image be very focused.

Do you use Gerber when you're out on excursions?

I have never owned a knife for any kind of excursions or anything, but I'm super excited to own one. I'm really excited about charcuterie. I think that will be my biggest use. And lately I've been getting super into gardening. Every time I got into the garden there are so many things that I can use a knife for.  Also, I’m excited about just having a knife in my safety kit—you never know when you're going to have to cut a piece of clothing off of somebody or create a bandage out of some clothing.  I feel like it'd be really good for emergencies.

Yeah. Curious, what your favorite charcuterie items are? Are you a pickles person or more of a cheesehead?

It's so funny. In the afternoons I'll do lunch, but in the afternoons as a snack, my favorite thing is apples and cheese. I don't know. That was my mom’s favorite snack. And I feel like, for some reason, the acidity of the apples and the creaminess and the fat of the cheese, it always pairs well together.

What are you gardening? What's in your garden right now?

I just started kale. I'm getting ready to do dahlias. I'm doing chives and shallots. I've got raspberries going too. I have salvia.

Whoa, whoa, whoa

Not to smoke.

Okay.

I recently bought a house and the previous owner remodeled the home, but they didn't take care of the landscaping at all, so I cleared everything out and there's just a bunch of empty spots in the yard, so I've been trying to figure out what to plant there. And I heard salvia was a very hearty, beautiful plant. I didn't even think about the drug.

What are some of your everyday carry items?

Of course, phone, wallet. I always have some candy with me for some reason in either a backpack pocket or in my car. I'm always nibbling on something during the day or when I’m outside. I like to have a set of headphones because sometimes I'll be outside going for a walk or going for a ride, and it's just nice to listen to something while I'm out riding. I feel like those are kind of my essentials, for sure.

Grab the small but mighty American-made pocket knife here.

Okay. Are there any landscapes or places that you hold dear?

Oh, there's so many. I kind of keep a memory bank of places that I've been. Galberth Mountain, which is my local bike hill, is one.  I also just love being on the water near the San Juan Islands. I just got back from a really big trip to Alaska, and every time I go there, I feel this sense of home and peace, and I love being so close to the water there and being in the mountains. I love it. There's something about... I can't put my finger on it. There's something about being there that I really love that kind of feels like home. I think it's so raw and so big, and the people there are just super rough around the edges, too. You're kind of in cowboy land, but further north.It's kind of crazy because I've been to northern Norway. And northern Norway is super beautiful. It's really similar in the fact that there's fjords and just these crazy glaciers and really intense landscapes. But I don't know, Alaska just has this unique sense of ruggedness that I really love.

What is it that calls you to adventure in the outdoors?

I don't know. I think it's just this sense of curiosity that kind of drives it and ignites it. I just love being outside. I just feel like it energizes me in a lot of ways. I think I'm always looking for places to gather inspiration, and being in the mountains is the perfect place to find new colors. Different flowers have the most gorgeous colors and the most gorgeous color pairings, too. You see these beautiful wildflowers and they're in all these different shades of purples. Or you'll see a yellow flower next to a purple flower. And I think nature gives a lot of good inspiration for artwork and follows a lot of really amazing artwork principles, which is kind of crazy. I don't know. I feel like there's this kind of sense of home being in the outdoors that I feel this feeling of like, oh, I'm meant to be here.

Do you think you draw most of your inspiration from the outdoors as an artist?

Yeah. I draw a lot of inspiration from the outdoors. I also draw a lot of inspiration from other people's art just because I'm always trying to figure out ways to push myself and think about things in different ways. I'm always looking at other people's art and I'm always looking at different landscapes. I feel like I draw a lot of inspiration just from hanging out with my friends or listening to good music. All these experiences build into me wanting to translate that to something that I can create into something real and tangible.

Do you ever feel like you are reaching a ceiling as an artist and you're trying to bust that ceiling open, in an attempt to reach a next step or anything like that?

I definitely feel that. I'm in that spot right now.

Oh, really?

There are times I'm trying to figure out how to articulate a new idea. I think for me, it kind of goes back to the next step is always getting good feedback from peers, getting to work on projects with brands who push me to be better or to translate my ideas into new products. I feel like that always pushes me. I think also, sitting down and making art and finding that flow, really getting into the flow and letting go. One thing that I try to do sometimes when I'm stuck is I'll work on multiple pieces of art at the same time, and then I'll go back to each piece for reference and to see if I feel like it's moving in the direction that I want.

How did you come up with the character Ruby J?

It was in collaboration with my sister, actually. I drew the character in my head—I wanted to create this skier and I wanted her to be a big mountain skier.  I went to my sister Jaden and I showed her the piece of art, and she was like, "Oh, she's Ruby J" Like we kind of agreed on the name. And I don't know, for me, Ruby J is a combination of different people that I really look up to. To me, she has been such an amazing compass for my wants,  desires and dreams. To me, being able to see her as somebody who's a big non skier really pushes me because I'm like, "Oh, well, if Ruby's already done it, then it doesn't feel like it's this heavyweight if I do it, too." It relieves a lot of that pressure.

What challenges do you face as a Black woman in this outdoor athletic space?

Oh my gosh. I see an enormous amount of gatekeeping. There's so much gatekeeping. Our first year in Alaska, we were about to drop in on a line that our crew had agreed with the guide. I had scouted it. I had figured out what I wanted to ski. I agreed with the guide that I was going to ski it, and maybe he just wasn't listening to me or realizing what was happening.

But we get up to the top to drop in, and he goes to one of our other members of the crew and is like, "Oh, this is your line. You're dropping in." And our crew member's like, "No, we already agreed on Brooklyn dropping in. She's going to ski this line." And in the moment, the guide was trying to talk me out of dropping in. And my crew was like, "No, Brooklyn's got this. She knows how to ski. She belongs here." And I don't know. I experience that all the time. It really helps having people in my corner. I feel like I have to have people advocating for me all the time, and I'm learning how to advocate for myself as well. The gatekeeping is enormous, and I think a lot of white people don't even realize how white they're being all the time.

How have you learned to advocate for yourself? And not necessarily that, but what changes have you seen in yourself that show you are advocating for yourself?

I think for me, it is chasing my dreams and my goals. I get a lot of feedback about who I am and what I should be doing, and if I'm doing the right thing or the wrong thing. And I think me learning how to advocate for myself looks like me standing up for who I am and what I desire. If people aren't listening, then I'm not afraid to shout louder.

What has been your favorite project that you've worked on?

Oh man. I've worked on so many incredible projects. I am just coming back from a cave with my crew from the Approach. The Approach film series has been my favorite just because it's given me a chance to grow as a team member in the snow space. It's really given me a chance to grow as a skier and do things that I've never had the opportunity to do before. And then, I've created a lot of the artwork for the approach, and it's given me an opportunity to create a world that other people can see themselves in through art and creativity. And it's been really amazing creating art that kind of drives community.

If you could ski or bike anywhere in the world, where would that be?

I think it'd be really fun to go biking in South America. I don't know where, but I have some friends who are really into free riding there, and it seems like it's really fun.

Okay. And what about your dream project as an illustrator?

What is my dream project as an illustrator? Ooh. I have a bunch of dream projects. One thing that I've always thought would be really cool is I've always wanted to have my own mountain bike shoe that has my art on it, but is a little bit less of a mountain bike shoe and it looks more like a Vans or a sneaker. And I think that would be... I don't think I've ever seen anybody really do that who's an artist and an athlete, and I've always thought that would be cool.

Okay, cool. The Jordan of mountain bike shoes.

Exactly.