In the Fall of 2008, I was approached by a local Ithaca artist, Bob Witzel. Bob asked me if I would be interested in helping him to sell his artwork, since I never sold artwork before, I told him, I would take a look at his pictures and see what I could do, what follows are pictures that Bob completed and sent to me. All of these watercolors are original, one of a kind and completely unique. Each picture is unframed and is not matted. All pictures sold will be shipped in a rolled tube. These pictures are quite affordable and priced nearly at what a similar sort of print is priced at. These make ideal gifts for the fly fisher and would a welcome addition to an office, fly tying room, den or living room. For each painting, I am able to email you a larger size photo showing the detail of each illustration. Keep in mind these are original and unframed and the jpegs are quite large files. I can have these shipped to a home or office address in time for any sort of holiday, birthday or retirement party.
About Bob: Bob is a retired commerical artist. Bob is originally from Buffalo, NY and studied art in high school and the Berkshire Summer School of Art and the The WPA-Buffalo School of Art before graduating from The Pratt Institute of Art in New York City. During WWII Bob worked as an artist in the military setting up schools in camouflage, drew illustrations, sports cartoons for a local newspaper and painted mural at Chatam Air Force Base. Many of Bob's original murals are in the Naval Museum in Buffalo and an American Legion Hall in Huntsville, AL.
Following his military service, Bob had a successful career as a designer and illustrator working for ad agencies, publishing firms and finally served as Art Director for National Gypsum Company. Some of his clients included: IBM, Southwestern Publishing, Fisher Price Toys, 3M, and Keds sneakers. Bob's artwork appeared in print media, film and TV.
Bob grew up in around the Buffalo area. He began fishing mostly local streams like the East Koy and the Wiscoy. Eventually Bob started painting as he travelled and fished. He fly fished across the US, Canada and travelled many famous western rivers. In his adventures, Bob camped, road via horseback, flew-in via sea planes and had many summer trailer-camping trips. Over time Bob fell in love with the area today we call,"The Golden Triangle" which is the 3 state corner area surrounding Yellowstone National Park. The rivers that he painted and fished include: The Boulder, The Madison, Upper Snake, The Big Hole, The Bitteroot and Rock Creek. Much of what you see are pictures of the areas as they were in the time frame that Bob painted them........mostly late 60's and early 70's, long before development and commericalization of these areas. Enjoy........If you have any questions, let me know and I will do my best to answer them.
Title: Bitteroot Action, Original Watercolor,
Sizes 9" by 12", Price $300
The Bitteroot is a traditional western river full of color and light. The Bitteroot was a favorite of such famous fly tyers as George Grant and also served as background material for the "River Runs Through It". This painting is a typical documentary type impression he made as he travelled and fished across the USA.
Title: The Boulder River at Ellions,
Original Watercolor, size 9" by 12", Price: $250
Bob fished the Boulder several times and this stream lived up to its name. Bob caught big browns that loved the cover of those big boulders.
Title: Evening Fishing on the
Madison at West Fork, Original Watercolor, size 14" by 20", Price:
$700
This painting is one of Bob's favorites. The painting came about smoothly and depicts the mood of evening quietude, plus it was his favorite stretch of dry fly stretch water.
Title: Fish the Big Rock-Madison
River, Original Watercolor, Size 14" by 20", Price: $700
Because the evening light was so great, it was always a dilemma for Bob wether to fish or paint. Lucky for us he choose to paint and captured this image.
Title: The Kipioc River in Autumn,
Original Waterolor, size 9" by 12", Price: $300
When Bob fished this river, all the "steelheaders" were waiting for rain to come. When the rain finallly came it flooded the valley and Bob was forced to leave. Bob captured this image while waiting for the rain to appear.
Title: The Maurice River in British
Columbia, Original Watercolor, Size 14" by 21', Price: $1800
This was a magnificent river with wonderful views but unfortunately, Bob didn't catch any of BC's famed steelhead here.
Title: Old Iron Bridge Pool on the Big
Hole River at Melrose, Montana, Original Watercolor, size 14" by 20",
Price: $500
The old iron bridges were classic structures of the good old days. Fishing
was great before the ranchers mismanaged irrigation.
For more Info Contact:
Mike Hogue / Badger Creek Fly Tying / 622 West Dryden Road, Freeville, NY 13068
Phone: 607-347-4946