Brent Warren has lived in the Nederland area for the last 46 years. This is where he has shared his variety of artistic talents and love for the natural beauty of the mountains. Whether as the magician comedian Doc Murdock, or singer and songwriter, or as a visual artist exploring many mediums: paintings, graphics, and sculpture. You’ll find his art in various locations including on the walls of the community center and on iconic posters of the early Frozen Dead Guy Day festivals.

From my perspective, Brent is a big part of what Nederland is today. In this interview we’ll explore some of his background and current art endeavors given the weight of the climate crisis.

ET: Tell me about yourself.

BW: I grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, in 1946. I got a magic kit when I was eight years old under the Christmas tree and started practicing magic tricks. Back then you learned from books, not videos. I was also enamored by classic horror movies like Frankenstein, King Kong and the world of theater. Music filled my ears, with classic and folk music being the first albums that I owned. Early rock and roll did not move me then, but that really changed later on. In the years of junior high and high school I took part in school plays, musicals and started doing simple magic shows around the neighborhood.

ET: How did you end up in Colorado?

BW: I went to the University of Denver in 1964, originally to study radio and television, thinking I could study film making. Turns out they didn’t teach film, so I ended up with a degree in advertising design. At that time I teamed up with a singing friend and we became “Mike and Maverick.” Maverick was the nickname because of the James Garner TV show and the fact that I did card tricks. Mike and I were folk singers around Denver. When we broke up, I joined the folk rock music band called Eighth Penny Matter. We played around the Denver club scene for a number of years trying to do only original music. We were one of the house bands at the now famous “Family Dog” nightclub, opening for Janis Joplin, The Doors, Buffalo SpringField and Jimi Hendrix. Check out the story of the “DOG” documentary now on Amazon: http://thetaleofthedog.com

ET: What brought you to Nederland, Colorado?

BW: As a young kid the family took summer trips to the Rockies. I fell in love. In college I took up skiing and hiking. After exploring other parts of the country, fate brought me back to live a year in Boulder. I was able to buy my dome house on Magnolia Road in September 1976, which made me an official Nederland resident.

If you haven’t seen Brent’s music video about Magnolia Road, check it out: https://youtu.be/ILEUDkh0JI8.

ET: What were you doing at that time?

BW: I was finishing the dome which was basically an empty shell when I got it. At the same time I was either playing music or doing magic shows. And producing artwork that ended up showing in galleries in Santa Fe, Taos and other places.

ET: When did magic come back into your life?

BW: During the 1960s my main thing was music. After the band broke up, I, by accident, re-discovered my box of magic tricks. There were a lot of musicians at that time but not a whole lot of magicians. After paying my dues, playing in a wide variety of small venues, I developed the character of Doc Murdock. I learned how to put on a show of comedy and storytelling, not just magic tricks. Magic has proved to be a very rewarding and wonderful life. Along the way I took magic to the Edinburgh Fringe festival in Scotland and went on a bicycle tour in China and Mongolia, showing tricks in back villages. I never really wanted to do the big time shows like Las Vegas. I preferred bringing awe and wonder to ordinary folks in smaller venues. The best pay in the world is the smiles and laughter from folks.

I was scheduled to do shows when Mr Covid shut us down. After two years, and reaching the age I’m at, I decided it was time to retire. Sort of. If I can do some bits of magic here and there, that’s great, but I’m not going to do the bigger shows like I’ve done for the past 40 plus years. Now I’m walking a fish named Lloyd, and I’ve become Mr. Walker Fishman. This fish really cracks people up.

ET: You’ve been a big influence in the Nederland and Boulder community. Tell us a bit about some of your projects?

BW: I joined the High Country Fire Department and was Captain of Station Four, ten out of my fifteen serving years. I participated as a board member of the Mountain Forum for Peace for ten years. On the original board of the Backdoor Theater when it opened. Cooked dinners down at the Boulder Homeless Shelter for nine years until Covid hit.

In 1987, I got married. I had two kids. And in 2002 my wife and I helped create Frozen Dead Guy Days. I am proud to be the artist hired to design the festival visuals for the first eight years.

In 1999, I started a venture into filmmaking and produced the documentary Marvin’s Flying Boat about restaurant owner Marvin Lewis and his obsession with building a huge model of the Howard Hughes giant aircraft, the “Spruce Goose.” This took place on a table at Marvins Gardens, now Kathmandu. The Mountain-Ear did a write up about the documentary, you can see more about this local story here: https://youtu.be/Eh7q_ VP2LAE.

ET: I’m hearing a lot of interest in the arts. Where did that come from?

BW: I wish I knew. My sister is a good artist, she went to the Kansas City Art Institute. She’s 86 now and lives in Dallas. She has the talent to draw very realistic, nice portraits. I can only do cartoons. My dad was a businessman and my mom was a housewife. Neither of them did any art, but they encouraged it in us. I also spent a lot of my time as a child in the forest, being able to walk out the backdoor and spend many a day playing in the woods. If you want to know where I got my love for art I would say that much of it was from the outdoors.

ET: Do you have a moment that stands out as far as when you first consider yourself an artist?

BW: I used to spend a lot of time as a kid in downtown Omaha at the beautiful marble Josyln Art Museum taking in the aura of art. Maybe when I did that first finger painting. Inside a voice said, ’Now you are an artist!”

ET: When did you first identify as an environmentalist?

BW: It was the luck in my life that our house in Omaha was on the edge of a forest. The love was to walk through the forest and see the beauty of flowers, trees, frogs, snakes, birds - all in my backyard. If you go there today, all gone, replaced by Pizza Huts. What is the definition of an environmentalist? Is it seeing the world in jeopardy and being ready to step in or is it just loving all the creatures and the environment? A bit of both for sure.

ET: Tell me more about your relationship with environmentalism?

BW: I like to think that environmentalism is very simple, it’s pure love for the beauty of nature and all things on this planet. Which leads us to today with many aspects of the planet in jeopardy and the attempts to keep things from perishing. It’s loving nature in its purest form.

ET: What was the catalyst for your “ORB” project?

BW: The disasters being caused by the overabundance of plastics in the world. They don’t break down quickly and they are ending up everywhere in the environment, killing the creatures that I love, from ocean life to bird life to our life. I saw a series by a photographer who photographed dead birds on Midway Island, in which their stomachs were exposed showing the plastics that had killed each bird. Today the news tells of the plastics that have littered the shores of every nation, and how they break down into small particles that are getting into animals and our own bodies. Plastics are an overwhelming curse. When I was a kid we saw plastics as a wonderful advancement in science and consumerism. We didn’t see what the future would bring with the overwhelming amount of plastic that is created and then thrown away. Using the disguise of art, I am keeping every scrap of plastic that I am forced to buy, and converting it into an artwork as a statement.

ET: What are these orbs?

BW: After five years, there are now twenty, and more in the works. My orbs are plastic garbage bags stuffed completely full with every scrap of un-recyclable consumer products that I collect from daily life. I collect these plastics until I am able to ironically wrap them in plastic tape to create a completed round orb shape. Then I have experimented over the years with different external coatings. This continues to this day as I’m still trying to find a product and style that will hold up to both interior and exterior environments while maintaining them as quality art pieces.

ET: Have you been able to reduce your own plastic waste with the visual orb reminders?

BW: Not as much as I would like. It’s shocking just the amount of plastic that I accumulate, when I am trying not to. There are other artists out there who are also studying the incredible amount of plastic and waste. My orbs are a personal project that I take on out of curiosity, to see if I can make others aware. I do need to market and output these orbs somewhere or my house will soon be floor to ceiling with them. I’ve thought about approaching the Guinness book of world records for most recycled plastic orb objects preventing a human from reaching the kitchen.

ET: How can the Nederland community help?

BW: Nederland residents can help by teaching me and sharing knowledge of other ways to avoid plastic consumerism. Also finding spaces for possible art installations for some of these orbs sculptures. Maybe in the future, the “Dead Plastic Orb Days…”

If you have questions for Brent, you can reach him via his website at http:// www.imagelust.com/.