The
entrance to Sheri's house creation.
Sherry
Zeppelin is a striking blond and single. Bob Bennett, Sherry
and I all went to CU during the same period. Sheri married a
successful attorney and eventually moved next to the
Breckenridge ski area. While going through a divorce, she
decided to build her own home next door to me. The house was
the topic of neighborhood discussions, since her approach
and design were not conventional. She pushed for a petition
for a change in setback covenants, designed the house
herself, and closely supervised every stage of construction.
It's the only contemporary stucco exterior I know of at
10,000 feet. The doors were all custom made, the stair
baluster was hand-crafted, and the fireplace is actually a
free-standing steel sculpture. Every room in the house had
been well thought out before construction. She didn't build
a house, she created a piece of art. The house is as
functional as beautiful. The determination for a single
woman in the mountains to carry through with such a
demanding project speaks a great deal about her character
and stamina. Her daughter became a close friend to Melissa
(my daughter). Sheri was a photographer and understood what
I was trying to accomplish with my documentary. Our visit
proved to be quite interesting, and even when a water line
broke, it didn't dampen the interview. At first, Sheri
thought deeply before responding slowly to each of my
questions. As the interview progressed, she began
internalizing more easily.
"What
brought me here was a yearning when I was a child to live in
the mountains, particularly the Rocky Mountains, since those
were the mountains I was raised near. So, to go to the
mountains, live here, experience my life here and share
myself with my children, is what brought me here. I feel I
can best experience myself and give myself, somehow on this
plane, in whatever ways we feel important and those are all
individual to our different personalities. I feel I can give
the most in this atmosphere when I'm at a high-altitude
atmosphere.
"Oh,
I think probably the most of what I've given is just a love
for the environment. And that would be probably a very
personal kind of spiritual giving. I've never been too
involved, as far as the community. I came here and
established an art program for the elementary schools, which
didn't exist before I got here. And that was my kind of
community giving. But of greater importance to me is a
really personable and spiritual love for the land.
"It's
fall and everything is turning. This is my favorite time of
the year. I used to think it was because of my birthday, so
I've spent the last couple of weeks really delving into
that. Is it because my birthday is always at the height of
color or is it because something absolutely spectacular is
happening and everything is changing? I think its fall.
Spring here is not as spectacular as spring in other places
because it's so dull here.
"I
am very, very introverted and often depressed in the fall.
I'm terribly intense in the fall over the anticipation of
winter. I find the fall to be a time for very heavy
self-indulgence into who I am and what I'm doing here. I'm
daily searching for those answers. It's a relief when the
snow comes and covers everything over; everything becomes
more calm and peaceful.
"I
think life up here has given to me great clarity in my life.
Living here in Summit County daily is an experience of
coming in contact with the outside, the physical world out
there. That's the benefit of being here for me. That's what
makes me work. That's what makes me give. That's what makes
me euphoric.
To
come in touch with the physical environment is why I'm here.
Of course I've built my home so that I could be extremely
comfortable in indoor space. To include the environment and
have contact with the environment is the drawing force.
"Obviously,
I don't live in a tepee, but I spend a quite a bit of time
outside. I think I would enjoy it even if I had to live
outside. Every day, I'm out looking. Looking and touching
whatever it is with my art. The base of my work now being
photographic has possibly given me an excuse to come into
more contact with it. Instead of saying, `I was sitting out
in the woods today,' I can say, `I was out in the woods
today photographing, doing my art.' So, it's all one for me.
It gives me almost a little excuse because that's my
contact. That's the stimulation for me for life.
"Definitely,
my contact to the environment is through my art. For me, it
totally enhances my experience with the outdoors. It's like
finding a partner and dancing to music. My partner is my art
and the outdoors is my life.
"Each
day, I like to get up in the morning and watch the sun rise
from inside my home. Its glass front is totally open to the
outside or go out and experience sunlight. So I like to be
out and watch the light. And then breakfast and the kids are
off to school, now that everybody is a little older. They're
off and then I'm pretty much off and pursuing at this point,
very much involved with pursuing imagery, since it's fall
and the snow hasn't completely covered all the beautiful
land coverings. So I spend most of my day, if it's nice at
all in terms of weather, seeking contact from that way. And
working towards making images or maybe not, so experiencing
wherever I am in one way or another. And then, come back by
the time the kids come home from school and run to dance
class or make dinner and, spend that time with them till
they go to bed. Often, in the evening, if I can I take them
out, too, so we can get the sunset. We always want to see
the sunset from one place or another, from our home or so.
So, I don't like to get into the darkroom unless the weather
is bad or it's night time. During the mountain winter, there
is a lot of good darkroom time! And I want to be ready for
it with lots of images.
"I
suppose if I could enhance my life here at this point it
would be a financial basis because that seems to be a
stickler at this point. I don't want to go work and sell
clothing at all. I would really like to devote myself solely
to my experience here and to my art. To do that, I would
need a little more financing, a little more backing.
"I
think perhaps I would like to share my experience intimately
with a partner, but that seems like it'll just happen if
it's going to happen."
#
# #
Sheri
is now teaching photography classes at Colorado Mountain
College. She has remarried to David Hiser, a National
Geographic photographer and still lives in her home. Sheri
now goes by her birth name of Anna Day, and her new married
last name of Heiser. Sheri (Anna Day) and her husband plan
to relocate to old Snowmass in the Roaring Fork Valley after
her youngest leaves home for college.
