Over the past couple years I've had the privilege of meeting a guy that is not only an extremely talented artist, but a great friend and fishing buddy. Jon Swartwout grew up in the southern Adirondacks of upstate NY and has excelled as an artist ever since his grandfather taught him how to paint when he was young. Jon was coached by my grandfather in High School and a few years back I was introduced to Jon through him. I had the opportunity to fish with Jon on his home river and I was very impressed with his knowledge of the water. Its safe to say that Jon is as talented a fly fisherman as an artist. The best thing (to me) about Jon's work, is that he relates much of it to the sport that he loves, Fly Fishing. It's amazing when somebody can bring two of their passions together to make something beautiful. And that's exactly what Jon does. A few months ago, a few of Jon's paintings were chosen by Orvis for a line of graphic T-shirts by various artists. He generously gave me a couple shirts for a Christmas present on Monday when we fished the Salmon River.
However, Jon's paintings are just a small portion of what he does. He also creates rustic Adirondack style works such as chairs, cabinets, desks, tables, dressers, carvings and interior details. Here are a few examples of Jon's artwork.
If you would like to check out more of Jon's work, check out his studio
Fisher of the Berry. Jon sells many of his pieces and is always working on new artwork.
I've really enjoyed these past few years of knowing Jon and being able to fish with him. He has been a great friend and I've learned a lot just from fishing with him. I hope that I will see him out west someday so that I can put him on some western trout.
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