Ft. Flipper

Okay - so the title of this blog probably makes no sense, but it is the theme of my latest painting. Before Christmas, my dearest and oldest friend Jen asked me if I would do a painting for her to give to her brother as a present. I was touched and nervous - Jen is pretty particular and I knew that she had something cooked up in her head and it was going to be no small task to get that out and on to paper. We sat down and we discussed the painting for over an hour, details, location, font, etc. She wanted a vintage resort poster look, her brother loves to fly fish, so that would be our focus for the painting. Her brother's in-laws have a cottage in Maine and that is where he proposed to his fiancee. The final touch was to give this gem a name - apparently Jay's pet name from his wife is "Flipper, " I'm not sure why, it isn't my job to ask - in their home they have a basement or what is fondly referred to as the "man-cave." Jen thought it would be fun to label the painting "Ft. Flipper" since it would go in the basement in his space.

I was excited to do this painting because it made me work with a bit more realism, I used Mt. Battie as my reference (which worked out well because that is where Jay proposed - I love when things work out that way!) and then started looking up fly lines, baskets, the type of trout that would be in a stream in Camden, Maine, etc. I am really pleased with how this turned out and best of all Jen was too. I present to you - Ft. Flipper:

I decided to line the painting with an irregular border and the bottom edge would be a copy of a fly rod and reel. A funny side note, the painting has since been altered. When Jay received this he liked it, but after awhile he had to ask Jen what the significance of 2007 was. She said it was the year you got married and bought your house. He laughed and said, "No, it was 2008." Oops! Well at least I'm just the painter and didn't stand up in the wedding like Jen did! Ha! All is well though and we are now Est. in 2008!

This actual fly basket was in an auction on the Orvis website for $1,500!!!

I learned that Brown Trout frequent the fresh water streams of the Northeast.

Thanks again Jen for trusting me with this project - I had A LOT of fun doing it and creating it with you. I hope Flipper enjoys it for years to come in his man-cave. Thanks again - stay safe and watch out for all that damn snow we're suppose to get tonight. My kids are praying for a two hour delay...