Monday, May 06, 2013

Scientific Illustration

Dayna Gross, Silver Creek Watershed Manager for TNC, and the person responsible for bringing me to the Wood River Valley eight years ago next week wrote this post for Cool Green Science, The Nature Conservancy's blog.


Silver Creek Preserve manager Dayna Gross used her love of painting to help convey complex stream restoration plans.
Silver Creek Preserve manager Dayna Gross used her love of painting to help convey complex stream restoration plans.

Scientific illustration is more than just pretty pictures — a point made quite clearly in my own work at the Conservancy’s Silver Creek Preserve, as we tried to convey restoration plans to the general public.

For as long as I can remember I have enjoyed painting flowers, insects, and landscapes.  There is something so enjoyable about capturing colors and textures in paintings.

In the last ten years this hobby has expanded into my work: illustration has become key in how I view the world, understand conservation and communicate ideas.

Science has always relied on visual representation to convey key concepts. While representation has varied from Audubon’s bird paintings to high-tech GPS imagery, illustration has at is core always been about conveying information.

However, while we have inarguably made amazing advancements in information technology, high-tech does not always mean “easy to understand.”


You can check out the full piece here.

Friday, April 26, 2013

The Airflo Story



This has been in my inbox for a while, but I hadn't gotten around to watching it.  This is a great video about Airflo and how fly lines are made.  It's almost a good as Mr. Rodgers at the crayon factory, but that's the gold standard for educational videos.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I've Been Meaning to do this for a While

Having the time of my life at Mood NYC.
Over the last six months or so my blogging has been pretty lacking.  The main reason is that I haven't been inspired by my fishing excursions and I spend a LOT of time doing other things these days.  I have a business, The Brown Drake, and am helping grow Paddy's business, Crazy Guy Tomatoes.  I spend a lot of time baking, gardening, sewing, doing stuff outside, and generally making a fool of myself.

A couple of weeks ago, Christine, at Fly Fish Chick, said there's not a New Coke.  I'll agree with her in that I'm sticking to what I've always done, but there will be other stuff, too.  It's more like MexiCoke--better than regular Coke.  I think a new format will help me make a fresh start and there will be some tweaking over the next few months.

I plan to write about the things I love and the things I do every day: fly-fishing, cooking and baking, gardening, sewing and crafting, making, building, destroying, liberal artisting, and my new venture into shoemaking.  Yes, I did say shoemaking.  There is also sure to be a few posts of epic crashes as I get back into mountain biking this year.

I hope to keep you entertained, and to keep myself entertained as I explore to my heart's content.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

A Little Pond Fishing

A couple of weeks ago I was in Texas for Easter.  I had a couple of saltwater trips planned with my sister, brother-in-law, and their guide in Corpus, but the wind was roaring so we had to cancel.

It's hard to beat the fight of a fat catfish.

Growing up, my dad always took us fishing on Good Friday, which was always more than enough fishing for the year--ha ha.  My dad and I went fishing on the ranch on Good Friday and I caught a catfish (only my second ever) and he caught a nice bass.  There wasn't a lot going on, but it's so fun to catch something different.

A delicious bass.  Pop did eat both fish for dinner.  I like my fish in the form of raw tuna on rice--ha ha.

Monday, March 11, 2013

Fly Fishers Disagree on Silver Creek Restoration Proposal

These anglers agree with the restoration project--join them!


Fly Fishers Disagree on Silver Creek Restoration Proposal

Please support the project by writing a letter to:

Send them to the Blaine County land use office by mail, by email (pzcounter@co.blaine.id.us) or by fax (208-788-5576). Bergin expects the written comments already received to be posted on Blaine County’s website soon.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Casting for Recovery Seeking 2013 Applications

 (Ketchum, Idaho) January 25, 2013-Are you or someone you know currently undergoing breast cancer treatment or are a breast cancer survivor?  If so, Casting for Recovery invites you to apply for their 7th Annual Southern Idaho retreat May 31-June 2, 2013.

Casting for Recovery is a national support and educational program for breast cancer survivors.  Casting for Recovery provides free three-day fly-fishing retreats to women affected by breast cancer.  Not only do the participants learn to fly-fish and the physical and emotional wellness it can provide, the retreat provides a forum to broaden the understanding of breast cancer treatment and enable sharing among participants.  An all-female staff of medical and fly-fishing professionals guide you through the weekend held at the beautiful Living Waters Ranch in Challis, Idaho.

To apply for the 7th Annual Southern Idaho Casting for Recovery Retreat, visit www.castingforrecovery.org and click on ID-1, or call (888) 553-3500.  The application deadline is March 15, 2013.  Applicants are randomly chosen to attend and will be notified by the Casting for Recovery national office.  For more information about Casting for Recover or to make a donation to the Southern Idaho Casting for Recovery Program, please visit the ID-1 page at www.castingforrecovery.org.

Casting for Recovery is a non-profit organization providing educational, recreational, and emotional support programs to breast cancer survivors for 17 years.

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