(updated July 1999)
My Open Studios sale was more successful than expected, leaving me with few paintings to sell. We had a late and short spring which limited my outdoor painting but now summer is here and the mountains are vibrating with new life and color. I am itching to get out and paint, and have a few short trips planned in the high sierra in preparation for a longer return trip to the Wind River Range of Wyoming.
I have been requested by descendents of Finis Mitchell to hike into the Big Sandy country where Finis and Emma ran their fishing camp to paint Mt. Mitchell. Mr. Mitchell explored these mountains and carried trout in buckets on horseback to stock hundreds of lakes, creating what is today the best area for trout fishing in the USA. There is no higher honor or pleasure as an angler and artist than to follow in his footsteps and paint views that he enjoyed.
For my ongoing illustrated travel writings click on: A Painter's Journal.
Original Watercolors
Leavett Lake, Sonora Pass, California
South Fork San Joaquin River, California
Hand-painted Etchings
Dick Laws on the Taylor Fork, Montana
Clear Creek, Wind River Range, Wyoming
Yellowstone: View from Mt. Washburn, Wyoming
Jackson Hole - View from Curtis Creek Camp, Wyoming
Thompson River, British Columbia, Canada (Three-plate color etching)
My art is affordable to anyone. Watercolors range in price from $125-175, etchings from $60-125. If you are interested in purchasing, please contact me at mv@vinsel.com.
Popular Works from the Past(These paintings have been sold)
About my Art - Watercolors and Fly Fishing
Fly fishing for trout and steelhead brings me to beautiful places, and watercolor painting is a perfect companion pursuit. The materials are lightweight and compact enough to fit in a vest pocket. Clear water need not be carried. The time for a simple sketch is about the time you would want to rest a pool after putting a good fish down, and a more involved painting can fill in time when waiting for the evening rise. It can be difficult to choose between painting and fishing when the sun sets and the fish are rising.
I have painted watercolors since 1975. My most inspiring influence was Tseng Ta-Yu of the East-West Art Studio in San Francisco, a renowned musician, poet, painter and calligrapher who impressed upon me the beauty and truth in oriental techiques and philosophy. My watercolors combine oriental influence with traditional transparent watercolor techniques in the raw natural landscape of western North America. Contrary to popular beliefs promoted by those who would continue to destroy our natural beauty, this nature still exists and is worth preserving.
I have recently studied etching at Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA and enjoy the process and planning involved in etching as a welcome balance to the spontaneity of watercolor, during the winter when painting outdoors can be problematic.
If you are interested in buying an etching or watercolor, to commission a painting for a specific location, to recommend a suggested location, or converse about the finer points of fly fishing, please contact me by electronic mail at mv@vinsel.com.
Commissions will be considered. References available on request.