Over the summer, Washington State Athletics will release a series of feature stories profiling Cougar student-athletes. These feature stories are written by current or recently graduated students from Washington State University's Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. The latest story highlights WSU track and field decathlete Lee Walburn.
As a decathlete, junior transfer Lee Walburn is talented in a variety of track and field events. However, his diversity of skill doesn't end on the track. Walburn grew up in an artistic household, with his father, David, a professional musician. Following in his father's footsteps, Lee picked up a love for art and music, and now pursues drawing and painting as hobbies in his limited free time as a student-athlete.
As a decathlete, junior transfer Lee Walburn is talented in a variety of track and field events. However, his diversity of skill doesn't end on the track. Walburn grew up in an artistic household, with his father, David, a professional musician. Following in his father's footsteps, Lee picked up a love for art and music, and now pursues drawing and painting as hobbies in his limited free time as a student-athlete.
Limited free time for a decathlete is not the same as limited free time for the average college student. Walburn's schedule at Washington State University is packed, and it's hard to comprehend how he pursues art when his schedule is so full. Walburn's daily routine includes a constantly-changing practice schedule that involves practicing multiple events per day and completing multiple conditioning workouts. This naturally does not leave a lot of room for relaxation, so Walburn tries his best to combat this with art.
Walburn's passion for art started at a young age, when he learned by simply drawing what he saw, finding beauty in real life and putting it on the page. While he took art classes in high school, Walburn is largely self-taught and insists that, like life, art is just about being able to fail.
Walburn's favorite medium is watercolor, but he draws the most often in pencil and pen because they are cheaper and are less time-consuming. Walburn is always looking to capture the beauty in life, often describing everyday objects as "pretty" or "beautiful."
Walburn grew up in Whitefish, Montana, with an appreciation for nature and the outdoors. One of his favorite activities is fly fishing, which is a form of art for Walburn. He creates his own flies, which are the lures for fly fishing. He ties his flies to resemble insects or other prey for fish. These flies are works of art, but so are the fish Walburn catches and releases.
"Each fish you catch is super different, and they're like different art pieces. They're beautiful," Walburn said.
Gallery: (6-22-2023) Lee Walburn: Artwork
Walburn grew up in Whitefish, Montana, with an appreciation for nature and the outdoors. One of his favorite activities is fly fishing, which is a form of art for Walburn. He creates his own flies, which are the lures for fly fishing. He ties his flies to resemble insects or other prey for fish. These flies are works of art, but so are the fish Walburn catches and releases.
"Each fish you catch is super different, and they're like different art pieces. They're beautiful," Walburn said.
Walburn sees the beauty in everyday life, and with athletics being a big part of his life, he naturally sees a lot of art within sports. "I think there's more art in sports than people realize. When coaches talk about cadence and rhythm, that's music," Walburn said.
Athletes are not one-dimensional, and neither are artists. While his teammates are shocked that Walburn is such a talented artist, it comes as naturally to him as running, jumping, and throwing.
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