Its the End Of The Year and there is nothing more fitting that I can think of posting than a spawning Salmon. At the end of their life they make a journey to the waters of their birth and then in their most brilliant show they end their life by contributing to the circle of life. But their death is not the end of the story and like the spawning salmon laying their eggs for a new generation of salmon to begin their journey, this blogger sees the end of this mission not at the end of the journey but the start of another. As I have mentioned before, next year I hope to build on my fishing and painting talents and knowledge with a whole new series of posts focusing the art of the fly.
I also believe that as the year closes it is fitting to look back at some of my favorite paintings of the past year. I will start with the fish and as not to cloud the paintings with talk of how they where made and what materials where used, I will just let them speak for themselves. ENJOY
Most of these are available as prints on my BUY A PRINT page at the top of this blog.
I also what to give tribute to the favorite flies of 2010. Tenkara played a big part in my growth as a fly fisherman as did the Summer On The Flies partnership with Bigerrfish. The flies below are some of my favorites from the last 12 months. They in no way sum up all the original works you can still view but they are a snapshot of some of my favorites.
I will leave you now with the last fly of 2010 which also was the first post one year ago. The first known fly described in history was the red hacked fly and this is my interpretation of what was described. Thanks again for a great year and I look forward to 2011 and all the new experiences that it might hold. HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
13 comments:
Joel,
Congratulations on a wonderful achievement.
Be proud.
Thanks,
Alan
Joel - Time for you to exhale and really enjoy what you've done. It's truly a great body of work from an extremely talented artist. Thanks for making each day in 2010 just a little bit brighter.
I have to admit that I am beyond impressed with your work and have enjoyed your blog immensely. I wish you the best in 2011 and ultimate success with these prints. Your posts were often the highlight of my blog dashboard. Thank you.
Bravo Joel, quite an accomplishment. I love them all. I'm building quite a gallery of fish art. Now I need to confiscate another wall.
pretty awesome thing you did there Joel, Im honored to have witnessed everything from, the first open minded comments to the year on the fly all the way to the snake bite..
Im gettin choked up, ah heck it not good by just see ya later!
Excellent work! Your passion shines through. Thanks for sharing your talents with us!
Congrats! I've enjoyed following your goal through the year.
What they said. I can't wait to see what you have in store for 2011!
Thanks for all the comments guys. hopefully 2011 will be another good, fishfilled year.
Congrats and well done! I've enjoyed the art work and the daily anticipation.
It is an impressive achievement.
Thanks!
Thanks! Ive really enjoyed and looked forward to your daily works of art. These are some great trout pieces and I especially like the Sockeye on top. I would love to see your rendition of a Lohanton Cut and Golden Trout! Hint Hint from the west..
Love the first one. You did the spawning coho justice!
Joel, indeed congratulations! That kind of discipline is just something I'll never achieve.... :) I loved seeing your passion shown at every painting, enjoyed learning about your site, and feel especially honored that you have enjoyed tenkara fishing and the tenkara flies so much!
All the best,
Daniel
Tenkara USA
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