Southern Trout Magazine Interview + More Great News

  I wanted to share this exciting news that happened to me during my brief hiatus from the blogging world.  A lot of you that follow my facebook page or read Southern Trout have no doubt already seen this but for the rest of you that missed it I'll recap.
  A few months ago I was contacted by Don Kirk, the chief editor and architect of Southern Trout Magazine, about doing a profile on me and my art in his magazine.  Luckily I was sitting down when I received this humbling news.  For a guy like me that started to paint fish for the simple reason that I wanted a few nice trout paintings to hang around the house, the realization that other people I didn't even know wanted to see my work is still a bit surreal.  Its one thing to have your friends and family say that my paintings are good but its a whole other animal when strangers want to interview me about my art.
   After doing the interview I was soon after contacted again, this time by Leah, and asked if they could use a photo of mine for the cover.  Of course I promptly agreed.  The photo they chose was one I shot earlier in the year of my beautiful Abel Fly Reel on a slab of granite on my beloved Chattooga River.

    My Abel fly reel is by far one of the best reels I have ever owned or fished with.  Its one of those pieces of equipment you just cant help to take a photo of.  I relate it to a car guy and his prized Cuda or vintage Model T roadster, give it a good backdrop and its a picture worthy piece of art.  Put the Abel Reel on a hand crafted bamboo fly rod from Fall River Fly Rods and its the complete package.  Fantastic!

  But wait, there is more.  They also asked me if they could use one of my Tenkara articles of a technique known as the Normal Drift with subsequent articles to follow relating to Tenkara.  In short, you are now looking at a regular contributor to Southern Trout Magazine.
  Wow is all I can say.  I would have never thought I could parlay my love of outdoor art and fly fishing into a pursuit that other people would want to hear about.  The fact that most of my paintings now only stay in my studio for short amounts of time before being shipped off to new owners is still amazing to me.

   
   If you haven't taken a look at Southern Trout Magazine yet, I strongly recommend that you click over a enjoy this free read.  Its the perfect thing to read on the back deck with a tall glass of sweet tea and a bit of Old Crow Medicine Show playing in the background.
Enjoy!