Esopus Creek Silver Bullet:  My husband, Ed, prides himself on the underwater photographs he frequently takes of trout that he’s caught. Frequently, I’ve utilized these photos for paintings, as they make interesting subject matter. I know enough about trout to distinguish a brook from a brown from a rainbow. And I know that Ed often affectionately refers to wild Esopus Creek rainbows as “silver bullets,” but I didn’t fully understand his lack of underwater photographs of these fish. The vast majority of his underwater photos are of brook and brown trout, and I’ve now learned that wild rainbows won’t remain still long enough for him to capture a digital image. Well, he finally convinced me to do a watercolor of a large Esopus rainbow lying in the gravel next to a prized bamboo rod, just before the fish’s release. To complete this task, I purchased silver watercolor paint—a new color for me to try. Shadows add to the composition of the painting. I submitted the Esopus Creek Silver Bullet to a local juried art show titled “Fresh Air,” and it was accepted.  It also appeared on the July 2022 Gazette, newsletter of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild.

Esopus Creek Silver Bullet (NFC):