Paul Gray
Paul
Gray is an angler first, artist second. He
studied commercial art at Detroit's Center for
Creative Studies and has worked professionally in
the photographic and graphic art fields. Point
Brulee, a small cedar-lined peninsula that dips
south into the cold, clear waters of Northern Lake
Huron, is the wilderness setting that inspires his
work. To learn more about Gray's art visit the
Point Brulee
Studio Web site.
Bob
White is a professional guide and artist
who has spent countless hours researching sportsmen
and women in action, from the wilderness of Alaska
and his rural Minnesota home to the wide-reaching
expanses of Argentina. You can see more of his art
on his Web site,
www.whitefishstudio.com.
Galen Mercer
The
son and grandson of painters, Galen Mercer
is today regarded as one of the most accomplished
sporting and landscape artists of his generation.
Owning a fluent style, he moves elegantly from
still-life to sporting subjects to portraiture.
Broadly collected, his work has appeared in numerous
exhibits, books and articles. To learn more about
Mercer's paintings visit:
www.gmercerstudio.com.
Fred W. Thomas
Fred
Thomas established a national reputation as
an illustrator with such clients as Eddie Bauer Co.,
National Geographic Society, Patagonia, Microsoft
and Alaska Airlines. Thomas's diverse portfolio
includes dioramas, text books, and many commercial
and fine art projects. His paintings hang in
numerous corporate and private collections. The
artist spends much of his free time fly fishing with
his son Greg Thomas, well known outdoor and fly
fishing writer. For more on Thomas's work visit
www.fwthomas.com.
Sandy Ottewell
Sandy
(Sam) Ottewell moved from the interior of
British Columbia to Alberta in 1999 and began fly
fishing with her husband, Kevin, along Alberta's
famous west slope streams and rivers. Sandy's art
realistically captures the movement and habitat of
fish in water colour or acrylic. Her art has been
commissioned for awards by Trout Unlimited Canada
and for Ducks Unlimited and Casting for Life, and
can be seen at the Terra Cotta Gallery (Black
Diamond, Alberta) and the Gerry Thomas Gallery in
Waterton (Alberta), as well as in fly shops and
private collections. For more info visit
www.sandyottewell.com.
Eldridge Hardie
For
forty years Eldridge Hardie has
painted the life he lives. He is well-known to
serious collectors of contemporary sporting art and
was the inaugural Trout Unlimited Artist of the Year
as well as an Atlantic Salmon Federation Artist of
the Year. He has exhibited at Artists of America,
Great American Artists, The National Museum of
Wildlife Art, and the American Museum of Flyfishing.
For more information about Hardie's work visit
www.eldridgehardie.com.
Vaughn Cochran
Vaughn
Cochran, former Florida Keys fly fishing
guide and original member of Jimmy Buffett's Coral
Reefer band, was influenced by those experiences and
his years of painting and fishing in Mexico, Costa
Rica, the Bahamas and Belize. His work reflects his
colorful observance of nature and has resulted in
hundreds of pencil drawings, paintings, sculptures
and ceramics. For more of Cochran's art, visit
www.vaughncochranart.com.
Self
taught in art from a young age, Jeff Kennedy
works with bold strokes in pen and ink, watercolor,
gouache and digital media. Many of his watercolors
are held by private collectors. Jeff's current
challenge is drawing a fishing fly a day for the
next 365 days. To follow Jeff's daily fly journey
visit
www.drawingflies365.blogspot.com.
Paul
Puckett specializes in custom fish
portraits, wildlife and sporting art. Based in
Atlanta and Cumberland Island, Georgia, Paul works
from watercolor and oil, his loose style leaving
room for the details that bring fish to life on
paper. For more samples, visit
www.paulpuckettart.com and
www.catchandreleasepaintings.com.
Tim
Borski paints unique wildlife art in
watercolor, oils and acrylics, and he can be found
daily in his studio in Islamorada in the Florida
Keys or fishing in the backcountry — allegedly
gathering inspiration and photographs for his art.
His paintings primarily focus on bird and fish
species, and Tim has a style all his own. For more
information about Borski's work, visit
www.borskiflies.com.
Rod
Crossman's paintings have been published on
the covers and pages of many sporting magazines,
books and journals. His work has been exhibited and
collected world wide. Rod and his wife Mary have
raised an English Pointer, English Setter, two cats,
three Labs, and two boys who inherited his love of
moving water, wilderness and trout. His work is
inspired by the idea, as he says, that "there is
something more important in universe than
ourselves." For more of Crossman's work, visit
www.rodcrossman.com.
Mark
W. Smith is an artist and a fly fishing
guide on the Henry's Fork in Idaho and the Madison
River in Montana. Mark uses gyotaku, or fish
rubbings, and other imagery from nature in his paper
pieces. These fish prints are first made on rice
paper from actual fish, then cast into hand-made
paper, producing sculptural relief and unique
surface textures. To see more of Mark's work visit
www.marksmithfishart.com.
New
Hampshire artist Ellen McCaleb was
influenced by 19th-century decoy carver John B.
Russell — draw knives, spoke shaves and rasps help
her coax fish shapes from wood — but her techniques
are her own, employing layer upon layer of oil paint
and shellac to create texture and lifelike color. To
see more of Ellen's work visit
www.fishcarvings.com.
Mike
Savlen's unique style uses brushstrokes as
bold as the fish themselves and colors that
represent the fluid, explosive energy they possess.
He uses as many as 50 layers of acrylic paint and
washes on a single piece to create a hologram or 3d
effect that makes viewers feel they can reach right
into the painting and grab a fish. To view or
purchase Mike's work visit
www.savlenstudios.com.
The
fly fishing experience — from the rugged, windswept
drama of Atlantic coastal striper fishing to
pastoral Pennsylvania limestone spring creek scenes
— is the focus of Luther Kelly Hall's
oils, acrylics and watercolors. Hall uses color,
light and design to recreate the essence of his
angling experiences. You can see more of his art on
his Web site,
www.lutherhall.com.
The
son of a sailor, Benjamin McCormick
spent his life around salt water and became addicted
to fish at a very young age. Twenty-plus years of
diving and photography eventually led this fisherman
to become a full time artist, whose goal is to
capture and share the feeling we all get at the
"moment of the strike." You can see more of his
photography and art on his Web site,
www.benjaminmccormick.com.
Diane
Michelin is a professional watercolour
artist who was born in Montreal and resides in
Nanoose Bay on Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
Diane's fly fishing fine art is displayed in private
collections throughout Canada. the United States and
Europe. You can see many more examples of Diane
Michelin's art on the
Diane
Michelin Web site
John
Koch combines his love of fly fishing with
traditional Eastern and Western wood-block printing
techniques to produce unique print series . His work
is hung in galleries and private collections around
the world. You can see many more examples of John
Koch's art on the
Trout
Lily Studios Web site.
Since
1989 Matt Zudweg has pursued the
"lost art" of Traditional Sign Painting. His passion
for fly fishing is evident in the designs he offers,
many of which can be personalized. Matt's work has
been recognized by collectors worldwide. You can see
more of his work at
www.carvedfish.com.
Derek
DeYoung is an oil painter who has spent
most of his life studying and painting fish. Much of
Derek's work is focused on close up views of the
beautiful patterns and colors that are found on a
trout's face. These paintings range in size from
8x16" all the way up to a 30' mural on the side of a
building. To see Derek's work visit his website at:
www.canvasfish.com.
Josi
Etter is a painter and fly fisherman
originally from Germany who owns
www.SketchandRelease.com and creates custom painted
fish trophies. Josi blends technical and artistic
skill to create beautiful images that have been
displayed in galleries around the world and are
featured in Trout Magazine. For more examples of her
work visit
www.sketchandrelease.com.
McNair
Evans combines a fresh photographic eye
with his love of fly-fishing, creating unique
imagery on rivers around the world. His work is
featured in numerous publications, and his prints
hang in galleries and private collections
nationwide. You can see many more examples of McNair
Evans's art on his Web site,
www.mcnairevans.com.
Peter
Corbin is primarily known for sporting
landscapes, merging the natural wonders and elegant
drama of the sporting life with the realm of fine
art. Corbin's work is featured in many public and
private collections around the world. You can see
more of his art on his Web site,
www.petercorbin.com.
Native
East Tennessean Brent Golden's interest in
photography began while studying for his fine-arts
degree at the University of Tennessee. An avid fly-
fisherman, his passion for the outdoors is the focal
point of his photographic interest. His specialty is
shooting large panoramic landscapes of North
America's flyfishing waters. A recent interest in
the invisible light of infrared (IR) photography has
inspired him to capture famous waters in this unique
way.
Scott Hale
Scott
Hale Looking back on an itinerant youth growing up
all over the country, it seems that the one big
constant about Scott was his love of art. As far
back as he can recall, visual expression through
drawing and painting had been his foremost
fascination. But he says the idea of becoming a
professional artist "had to incubate in him for a
while."
ArtCreel





