Revive - A Quarterly Fly Fishing Journal | Page 116

The creativity and work of others always motivates me to stay prolific and simultaneously applies friendly competition that in my opinion, drives all parties forward. This being said, fellow industry artists aren't the only creatives who inspire my work. The color field paintings of Mark Rothko, the surreal floating objects of René Magritte and geometric sculptures of Donald Judd have also heavily influenced my artistic style and frequently reveal themselves in what I create.

Time and time again I am surprised by the seemingly small size and interconnectedness of the fly fishing industry. Yet in contrast, I find myself equally as often blown away by the vast number of passionate contributors it contains. I have been overwhelmed by the support and appreciation people have shown for my artwork and I’m excited to continue to produce more. For now I am perfectly content with the work I have chosen to introduce myself with to the greater fly fishing community. It is accessible for most anyone to appreciate and at the same time completely satisfies my creative drive, but I also have lots of new ideas and concepts Im eager to explore and share. The fly fishing community doesn't need to be spoon-fed conceptual artwork, but I am wanting to go about the progression of my work in a way thats not 0 to 100 and that doesn't scare people off. Going back to what I said in the beginning, I couldn't be working in front of a better audience of innately creative people. We all share in an appreciation for the same, beautiful and complex activity of fly fishing, however, we also all know that fly fishing goes a lot deeper than just an activity. That reality is exactly what I strive to express in my artwork going forward, and I'm confident it will be something others will be excited to see.