1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:23,519 Speaker 1: Pet Life Radio, Let's Talk Pets. 2 00:00:23,559 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 2: Welcome to aquarium Mania. 3 00:00:25,640 --> 00:00:29,199 Speaker 3: I'm your host, Doctor Royano, speaking to you from the 4 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:34,719 University of Florida IPIS Tropical Aquacultural Laboratory. Thanks for joining us. 5 00:00:34,759 --> 00:00:38,200 My guest today, Nick Meyer is an award winning artist 6 00:00:38,479 --> 00:00:42,200 whose science background and passions for aquatic life and fly 7 00:00:42,359 --> 00:00:47,880 fishing both inform and inspire his beautiful, vibrant works. Join 8 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:53,200 us as Nick explains his metamorphosis from child naturalists to 9 00:00:53,359 --> 00:00:59,399 globe trotting marine biologists to finally celebrated nature illustrator specializing 10 00:00:59,479 --> 00:01:02,679 in fish and other marine life. We'll be right back 11 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:04,040 after these messages. 12 00:01:07,239 --> 00:01:10,920 Speaker 4: Take a bite out of your competition. Advertise your business 13 00:01:10,959 --> 00:01:14,239 with an ad in Petlife Radio podcasts and radio shows. 14 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:17,200 There is no other pet related media that is as 15 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:20,319 large and reaches more pet parents and pet lovers than 16 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:24,319 Pet Life Radio with over seven million monthly listeners. Pet 17 00:01:24,359 --> 00:01:28,439 Life Radio podcasts are available on all major podcast platforms, 18 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,640 and our live radio stream goes out to over two 19 00:01:31,799 --> 00:01:36,439 hundred and fifty million subscribers on iHeartRadio, Odyssey, tune In, 20 00:01:36,640 --> 00:01:39,760 and other streaming apps. For more information on how you 21 00:01:39,920 --> 00:01:43,439 can advertise on the number one pet podcast, and radio network. 22 00:01:43,599 --> 00:01:47,480 Visit Petlifradio dot com. Slash advertised Today. 23 00:01:49,159 --> 00:01:59,480 Speaker 5: Let's talk pets on petlifradio dot com. 24 00:02:00,599 --> 00:02:03,040 Speaker 2: Welcome back to your QUARRYMANI on pet Life Radio. 25 00:02:03,599 --> 00:02:06,719 Speaker 3: My guest today is award winning nature artist Nick Meyer. 26 00:02:07,159 --> 00:02:08,639 Speaker 2: Hey Nick, thanks for joining. 27 00:02:08,360 --> 00:02:09,599 Speaker 6: Us, Thanks for having me. 28 00:02:10,120 --> 00:02:11,479 Speaker 2: So I don't know if I. 29 00:02:11,439 --> 00:02:13,639 Speaker 3: Told you how I first found out about you. I 30 00:02:13,719 --> 00:02:16,439 was I'm kind of a fish art nerd. So if 31 00:02:16,479 --> 00:02:18,639 you ever go to my house, I've got nothing but 32 00:02:19,000 --> 00:02:22,479 wooden pieces or paintings or drawings. 33 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:23,639 Speaker 2: Of fish basically all over the place. 34 00:02:23,759 --> 00:02:27,439 Speaker 3: And oh nice, I even have like a a Florida 35 00:02:27,439 --> 00:02:30,639 fishes section. I've got like an Indo Pacific fishes section. 36 00:02:30,759 --> 00:02:31,560 So yeah, it's kind of. 37 00:02:31,840 --> 00:02:32,360 Speaker 2: Kind of nerdy. 38 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 3: I've had an opportunity to get some local artists work 39 00:02:35,439 --> 00:02:38,599 as well as when I've gone overseas. So anyway, I 40 00:02:38,599 --> 00:02:41,039 was going through trying to look through some things, saw 41 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:43,719 your art pop up, read a little bit more about you, 42 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:46,599 and thought, wow, this this person's really really interesting. So 43 00:02:46,639 --> 00:02:49,000 that's kind of how I got in touch with you 44 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:50,120 and landed you here. 45 00:02:50,439 --> 00:02:52,599 Speaker 2: So, as I usually start out with. 46 00:02:52,520 --> 00:02:54,159 Speaker 3: My interviews, I kind of want to get a little 47 00:02:54,199 --> 00:02:57,439 bit of early childhood background. So can you tell us 48 00:02:57,439 --> 00:03:00,280 what were some of the early influences that made you 49 00:03:00,400 --> 00:03:04,520 interested in aquatic life. And I think you mentioned online 50 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:06,159 turtles were kind of a big part of it. 51 00:03:06,719 --> 00:03:10,879 Speaker 6: Yeah, turtles were definitely a big part of it. But 52 00:03:11,000 --> 00:03:13,479 I would say even before I started catching turtles. So 53 00:03:13,719 --> 00:03:17,719 I was born in ann Arbor, Michigan, and lived there 54 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,759 for the first six years of my life, and then 55 00:03:22,159 --> 00:03:24,960 moved to Rhode Island, and you know, so pretty much 56 00:03:24,960 --> 00:03:28,000 grew up in Rhode Island. But when I was really small, 57 00:03:28,759 --> 00:03:33,439 my mom would take me to the University of Michigan 58 00:03:34,039 --> 00:03:37,319 Museum of Natural History and I would walk around in 59 00:03:37,360 --> 00:03:42,319 there with her, and I actually remember there's one particular 60 00:03:42,759 --> 00:03:46,800 I love these dioramas, and there was this one particular 61 00:03:46,879 --> 00:03:51,520 diorama that was the like an undersea view of the 62 00:03:51,639 --> 00:03:56,159 prehistoric sea, and it had like ammonites and these you 63 00:03:56,159 --> 00:03:59,319 remember those. I'm sure you probably know the names. I 64 00:03:59,639 --> 00:04:02,639 can't remember the species names of them, but those prehistoric 65 00:04:02,680 --> 00:04:04,319 squid that actually had a shell. 66 00:04:04,719 --> 00:04:06,840 Speaker 2: I remember what you're talking about. I forgot. Yeah, I'm 67 00:04:06,960 --> 00:04:09,319 spacing on what they're called. It'll come. 68 00:04:09,439 --> 00:04:13,280 Speaker 6: Yeah, diorama was it was like predominantly pink, and they 69 00:04:13,319 --> 00:04:15,800 were like these huge feather dusters, and I don't know, 70 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:21,240 it just seemed like such an incredibly fascinating world inside 71 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,480 there that just I'd always like to stare at that 72 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,360 one diorama. And then the other thing was there. I 73 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:29,560 don't know if you're familiar with like this, these old 74 00:04:29,600 --> 00:04:32,600 series of books called the Time Life book series. It 75 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,759 was kind of like an encyclopedia type of series of books, 76 00:04:35,759 --> 00:04:40,680 and there was one called The Sea that I would 77 00:04:41,120 --> 00:04:44,120 I just would spend hours and hours looking through that book. 78 00:04:44,199 --> 00:04:46,959 And like I when I got old enough to read, 79 00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:51,240 i'd like memorize the the captions, and my dad would 80 00:04:51,639 --> 00:04:55,120 read to me from that book, like I mean, of 81 00:04:55,120 --> 00:04:57,759 course they would read to me regular kids books too, 82 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,240 but like that was I was just fascinated by that book. 83 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,600 And then so those were two real early influences. And 84 00:05:03,639 --> 00:05:06,720 then when I got older, my nickname was the Turtle Man, 85 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:09,199 and I used to go to this pond near my 86 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,759 house and catch turtles all the time. And so yeah, 87 00:05:11,759 --> 00:05:13,720 I've just kind of always had I don't know why, 88 00:05:13,759 --> 00:05:17,879 but everything aquatic was just kind of like my thing cool. 89 00:05:18,399 --> 00:05:21,560 Speaker 3: So now I have to ask, just because we do 90 00:05:22,079 --> 00:05:24,160 deal a lot with aquariums in general. Did you ever 91 00:05:24,199 --> 00:05:26,439 have an aquarium at home or did you ever set 92 00:05:26,439 --> 00:05:26,800 one up? 93 00:05:27,000 --> 00:05:27,240 Speaker 2: Well? 94 00:05:27,319 --> 00:05:29,199 Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, you know, like when I was a kid, 95 00:05:29,319 --> 00:05:32,800 my room was basically like a natural history museum, kind 96 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:35,399 of going back to the whole natural history museum thing. Like, 97 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:40,079 my parents were actually concerned about my health because I had, 98 00:05:40,439 --> 00:05:43,399 like I also got into fly fishing and fly I 99 00:05:43,399 --> 00:05:45,480 would tie my own flies, and so I had all 100 00:05:45,519 --> 00:05:48,000 these fly time materials. And then i'd like I'd get 101 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:51,240 like animals and salt the hides, and so I had like, 102 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,920 you know, all his feather and furs in my room, 103 00:05:53,959 --> 00:05:58,079 and then I had had like these shelves with aquaria 104 00:05:58,680 --> 00:06:02,879 and yeah, so I mean I actually made a little 105 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,519 list here of some of the things I had in 106 00:06:05,560 --> 00:06:08,600 my tank. So I had goldfish of all varieties, from 107 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:13,360 comets to bubbleized to eventually I raised KOI. I had 108 00:06:13,399 --> 00:06:16,879 like ten to fifteen pound coy that I raised from 109 00:06:16,879 --> 00:06:18,959 when they were you know, like a couple of inches big, 110 00:06:19,319 --> 00:06:23,399 the usual Siamese fighting fish that all kids have, oscars. 111 00:06:23,879 --> 00:06:26,480 I had the real piranhas before they started doing the 112 00:06:26,519 --> 00:06:33,560 pocus seahorses. Tropical salt water, temperate salt water actually used 113 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:37,360 to make my own wet dry filters, and just I 114 00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:42,120 kind of got into like cutting and plexiglass and stuff 115 00:06:42,160 --> 00:06:48,759 like that. With those biospheres, I had venomous rattlesnakes, hamsters, gerbils, 116 00:06:48,759 --> 00:06:52,800 reticulated python, turtles, frogs, and then three kind of other 117 00:06:52,879 --> 00:06:56,240 interesting things where I had a concrete goldfish pond in 118 00:06:56,240 --> 00:06:59,959 my backyard that became kind of like this like neighbor 119 00:07:00,079 --> 00:07:02,920 hood gathering spot where all the neighborhood kids would catch 120 00:07:02,920 --> 00:07:04,560 stuff and we put it in this pond and we 121 00:07:04,639 --> 00:07:07,439 always spend a lot of time out there. I had 122 00:07:07,439 --> 00:07:11,839 a five gallon saltwater tropical tank that I made like 123 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:14,680 self contained with a wet dry filter in the backs. 124 00:07:14,839 --> 00:07:17,439 You know, like you normally you would a saltwater tank, 125 00:07:17,480 --> 00:07:21,399 you need a larger tank to have stable salinity. But 126 00:07:21,480 --> 00:07:24,959 this was a tiny, little, uh kind of experimental project. 127 00:07:25,120 --> 00:07:27,399 But it was sealed so I didn't have you know, 128 00:07:27,439 --> 00:07:31,000 the evaporation that like caused a fluctuation of the salinity. 129 00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,199 And then I had a I had one hundred gallon 130 00:07:34,240 --> 00:07:36,360 tank that I made from a Swiss army knife too. 131 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 2: That's amazing. This was Rhode Island. 132 00:07:39,199 --> 00:07:41,519 Speaker 6: This at this point when I was really young, I 133 00:07:41,600 --> 00:07:44,319 was in Rhode Island. Like some of these things like 134 00:07:44,319 --> 00:07:46,680 the venomous rats nicks, I didn't have towels older my 135 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:47,959 parents would never will let me. 136 00:07:47,959 --> 00:07:52,360 Speaker 2: Have I and uh, and the and the hamsters were 137 00:07:52,399 --> 00:07:53,199 probably terrified. 138 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:56,319 Speaker 6: But that's you know, yeah, all these things weren't all 139 00:07:56,319 --> 00:07:58,199 at the same time. This is kind of like over 140 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:03,000 the years. I but yeah, so it's always had fish tanks. 141 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,879 And but anytime someone would have one like out in 142 00:08:05,959 --> 00:08:07,959 front of their house like that they're getting rid of 143 00:08:07,959 --> 00:08:10,759 our yards, I'll always pick them up. And yeah, it's 144 00:08:10,839 --> 00:08:12,759 kind of a hordor of fish tanks. 145 00:08:13,800 --> 00:08:17,920 Speaker 3: That sounds very very informative for your futures. So explain 146 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,000 how fishing also became kind of part of your foundation. 147 00:08:21,399 --> 00:08:23,959 Speaker 6: Well sort of that same pond where I used to 148 00:08:24,000 --> 00:08:27,160 catch the turtles, like this place was called Willet Pond. 149 00:08:27,199 --> 00:08:30,040 It was this little it was actually a pretty polluted 150 00:08:30,279 --> 00:08:33,039 little pond near my house, but we didn't really know 151 00:08:33,120 --> 00:08:37,600 anything different. It was all fed by mobile oil property 152 00:08:38,120 --> 00:08:41,080 and back then I think it's all been you know, 153 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:43,480 cleaned up now, but back then it was just like 154 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:47,879 really really badly polluted with oil. And my mom would 155 00:08:47,919 --> 00:08:51,080 take us to this pond when before we were able 156 00:08:51,159 --> 00:08:54,440 to go on our own. And that's why I kind 157 00:08:54,440 --> 00:08:56,759 of started fishing, just like with a worm and a 158 00:08:56,799 --> 00:09:00,200 bobber for catfish. Up here we call them bull head. 159 00:09:00,279 --> 00:09:03,720 Down there, we call him catfish. And my dad kind 160 00:09:03,720 --> 00:09:06,960 of introduced me to fly fishing also on Rhode Island. 161 00:09:07,039 --> 00:09:10,320 And then my uncle actually lived up in Vermont. I 162 00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:14,279 actually live in Vermont now, and he lived near somewhat 163 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:18,000 near the Manchester headquarters of Orvis, and he brought me 164 00:09:18,039 --> 00:09:21,799 there one day and I met the salesman there named 165 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:24,320 Gordie Hines, and he kind of took me under his 166 00:09:24,360 --> 00:09:26,840 wing and taught me all about fly fishing, gave me 167 00:09:26,879 --> 00:09:28,759 a whole bunch of gear, and just kind of like 168 00:09:28,960 --> 00:09:31,759 was sort of like my fly fishing mentor. So that's 169 00:09:31,799 --> 00:09:32,600 where it started. 170 00:09:33,039 --> 00:09:33,720 Speaker 2: That's pretty cool. 171 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 3: So we're gonna move forward a little bit now. And 172 00:09:37,879 --> 00:09:41,240 all of these early influences led you to go into 173 00:09:41,480 --> 00:09:42,480 marine biology. 174 00:09:42,519 --> 00:09:43,399 Speaker 2: And I'm going to kind of. 175 00:09:43,360 --> 00:09:45,519 Speaker 3: Skip over high school, but you went to Brown, which 176 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:48,759 is very impressive for both undergrad and grad school. 177 00:09:49,039 --> 00:09:50,879 Speaker 2: Can you kind of tell us a little bit about 178 00:09:50,919 --> 00:09:53,360 your path there and what you studied. 179 00:09:53,600 --> 00:09:56,759 Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, well, Brown University obviously is a really 180 00:09:56,879 --> 00:09:59,679 solid biology program, and I mean, I mean, I think 181 00:10:00,519 --> 00:10:02,960 some of the really top notch professors that I had 182 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,200 there really inspired me to keep going with it. I mean, 183 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:09,919 I had my general bioclass. I was taught by doctor 184 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:12,679 Ken Miller, who actually wrote the textbook. 185 00:10:13,360 --> 00:10:14,480 Speaker 2: So he's a. 186 00:10:14,440 --> 00:10:19,080 Speaker 6: Pretty well known cellular biologist and a textbook author and 187 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:24,159 just a really really phenomenal lecturer. And then my advisor 188 00:10:24,360 --> 00:10:29,200 was doctor Mark Burtnis. He taught my inverberant zoology class 189 00:10:29,240 --> 00:10:33,559 that I took, which was extremely difficult class, but I 190 00:10:33,759 --> 00:10:38,840 just absolutely loved it, just like memorizing the whole phylogenetic 191 00:10:38,879 --> 00:10:41,960 tree of all the invertebrates, like I still know all that, 192 00:10:42,240 --> 00:10:45,639 just like it's just in my head for somehow because 193 00:10:45,679 --> 00:10:48,039 of that course. And so I had some good, like 194 00:10:48,159 --> 00:10:51,080 kind of inspiring professors at Brown, but Brown didn't really 195 00:10:51,120 --> 00:10:55,000 have all that grade of a marine biology program. So 196 00:10:55,679 --> 00:10:59,480 I went to Duke to like fully immerse myself in 197 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:02,960 in the marine biology. They have a separate campus called 198 00:11:02,960 --> 00:11:07,120 the Duke Niversity Marine Lab, and had some awesome professors 199 00:11:07,159 --> 00:11:11,639 and an awesome experience there too. One was doctor Dan Richoff, 200 00:11:11,720 --> 00:11:15,879 who was a specialist in fouling organisms of all things. 201 00:11:15,919 --> 00:11:17,240 You know, like he did a lot of work for 202 00:11:17,279 --> 00:11:21,000 the Navy, you know, because the organ was like tunicits 203 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:23,639 and barnacles and stuff attached to the bombs of ships 204 00:11:23,639 --> 00:11:26,480 and that drag and costs like millions of dollars in 205 00:11:26,559 --> 00:11:29,519 fuels anyway, so they pour a lot of money into 206 00:11:29,799 --> 00:11:32,159 that kind of research. But he was just a really cool, 207 00:11:32,200 --> 00:11:38,159 like kind of out there professor that was inspiring. And yeah, 208 00:11:38,200 --> 00:11:41,000 so I guess so, you know, those professors had an 209 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:45,679 impact on me and then inspired me to actually do 210 00:11:46,480 --> 00:11:48,919 in real life what I went to college for. You know, 211 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,480 Like I think a lot of people study one thing 212 00:11:51,519 --> 00:11:53,879 and do something else, whereas I just went right into 213 00:11:53,960 --> 00:11:56,000 the marine biology as soon as I graduated. 214 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:57,799 Speaker 3: So can you tell us a little bit about some 215 00:11:57,879 --> 00:12:01,840 of that research. And I know you went to a 216 00:12:01,919 --> 00:12:04,919 number of different places and spent different periods of time 217 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:07,720 doing different types of research, and I think you also 218 00:12:07,799 --> 00:12:11,200 mentioned a couple of near death experiences, so much maybe 219 00:12:11,200 --> 00:12:12,360 give us a little taste. 220 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 2: Of all of that. Sure. 221 00:12:13,840 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 6: Yeah, Well, first place that I went and actually did 222 00:12:17,159 --> 00:12:19,960 marine biology in real life was in Alaska. I was 223 00:12:20,039 --> 00:12:23,960 working for Alaska fishing game way back then was just 224 00:12:24,039 --> 00:12:27,720 shortly after the Exxon Valdi's oil spill. I was on 225 00:12:27,799 --> 00:12:32,720 Kodiak Island and we were doing some research on the 226 00:12:32,759 --> 00:12:35,399 effects of the Exxon Valdi's oil spill on the salmon, 227 00:12:35,440 --> 00:12:39,000 which oddly enough, had a really great impact on them 228 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:43,240 because this oil spill caused a closure of commercial fishing 229 00:12:43,679 --> 00:12:47,799 because they didn't want anybody to eat a contaminated fish, 230 00:12:48,000 --> 00:12:50,519 so it stopped all commercial fishing. So tons of fish 231 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:53,279 got back into the rivers and the population exploded. So 232 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:56,879 is that actually really good for them because the oil 233 00:12:56,919 --> 00:12:59,039 floated on the surface, so it really didn't affect the 234 00:12:59,120 --> 00:13:02,480 fish a whole. It was more like marine mammals and 235 00:13:03,519 --> 00:13:07,159 seabirds and things like that that were more affected. But 236 00:13:07,279 --> 00:13:12,759 so that all these entry level marine biology jobs are seasonal, 237 00:13:12,799 --> 00:13:15,000 and you know, somebody just just got a fresh out 238 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:18,039 of college. You don't have any responsibilities, and you can 239 00:13:18,080 --> 00:13:20,399 do stuff like that, travel around work for a few months, 240 00:13:20,440 --> 00:13:23,000 then go somewhere else, and so that's what I did. 241 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,080 So that was a seasonal position. Then I jumped right 242 00:13:26,159 --> 00:13:30,279 into a commercial fishing boat. I had some commercial fishing 243 00:13:30,320 --> 00:13:34,159 experience down in Rhode Island, so yeah, I got. I 244 00:13:34,200 --> 00:13:36,279 got a job on a commercial fishing boat up in 245 00:13:36,320 --> 00:13:41,840 Alaska and ended up falling overboard. We had the whole 246 00:13:41,919 --> 00:13:44,960 boat full of fish and we blew a hydraulic hose 247 00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:50,600 and it sprayed hydraulic fluid everywhere. It's just this horrible catastrophe. 248 00:13:50,679 --> 00:13:54,879 We had this special soap that was specific for hydraulic 249 00:13:54,919 --> 00:13:58,080 fluid and mopped the deck with that really didn't have it, 250 00:13:58,120 --> 00:14:01,159 didn't change it. It was still like slippery as hell. And 251 00:14:01,919 --> 00:14:04,720 so like working on a commercial fishing boat, this was 252 00:14:05,039 --> 00:14:08,320 a forty eight foot per saner, so it was a 253 00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:11,440 pretty small boat for as far as commercial fishing boats go. 254 00:14:11,519 --> 00:14:14,080 And like it was only a crew of four, and 255 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:17,480 one guy was in this little skiff off that would 256 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,480 hang off the back, so it was really almost more 257 00:14:20,519 --> 00:14:23,759 like a crew of three on deck. And it was 258 00:14:23,799 --> 00:14:26,279 almost like kind of like being on a football team, 259 00:14:26,639 --> 00:14:29,399 you know. It was like there was these whole series 260 00:14:29,480 --> 00:14:31,919 of sort of plays where you're handing stuff off and 261 00:14:31,919 --> 00:14:33,799 clipping this on there, and then you pull this quick 262 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,559 release and this thing shoots out. And it's also pretty 263 00:14:36,639 --> 00:14:39,200 dangerous too that you have to know the order of 264 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,000 this whole thing. But anyway, so you know, we were 265 00:14:42,039 --> 00:14:44,600 involved in this thing where we're kind of you're almost 266 00:14:44,679 --> 00:14:47,000 like sprinting while you're doing this stuff. And one guy 267 00:14:47,039 --> 00:14:49,399 throws me a line and then I turned around. Next 268 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:51,879 thing I knew, I flew all the way across from 269 00:14:52,240 --> 00:14:57,000 starboard to port side backwards, flipped over backwards, and I'm 270 00:14:57,000 --> 00:14:59,360 in the water and all I see is bubbles because 271 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:04,039 I'd gone over the about mid ship length off the side, 272 00:15:04,080 --> 00:15:07,879 and that's where where the propellers were. 273 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 2: Oh jeez, And I assume it was cold. 274 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 6: Yeah, it's really cold. I didn't a lot of fishermen 275 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,759 would fish in these Mustang suits, a full body floatation 276 00:15:16,879 --> 00:15:19,840 device that was insulated. All I had I was a raincoat. 277 00:15:20,080 --> 00:15:23,399 But somehow my my raincoat was buttoned all the way 278 00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:25,720 to my chin and it filled up with air and 279 00:15:25,759 --> 00:15:29,000 floated me up like a life preserver. So that's really lucky. 280 00:15:29,200 --> 00:15:31,519 And so I came up to the surface, I'm like, 281 00:15:31,559 --> 00:15:33,720 oh wow, I'm really close to the boat, and then 282 00:15:33,919 --> 00:15:36,360 the boat just I'm looking right at the stern and 283 00:15:37,159 --> 00:15:40,080 it's just steaming away from me because the captain didn't 284 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,039 know that I had fallen in and uh so then 285 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:45,720 I swam over to the other boat the skiff I 286 00:15:45,759 --> 00:15:48,440 was talking about, And I finally get myself over there 287 00:15:48,879 --> 00:15:51,720 and grab onto the line, pull myself over to it, 288 00:15:51,759 --> 00:15:54,080 and the guy wouldn't help me in because what happens 289 00:15:54,080 --> 00:15:56,600 a lot of time is two people end up drowning 290 00:15:56,679 --> 00:15:59,279 when one person tries to save the other person who's 291 00:15:59,279 --> 00:16:02,679 panicking because they're about to get hypothermia. So he kind 292 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:04,679 of coached me and helped me a little bit. But yeah, 293 00:16:04,679 --> 00:16:07,120 it was, it was. That was really intense. 294 00:16:07,799 --> 00:16:09,320 Speaker 2: It sounds like it now. I have to ask what 295 00:16:09,399 --> 00:16:10,559 kind of fish were you guys catching? 296 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:15,279 Speaker 6: Salmon? Yeah? All, I mean we'd follow the migrations of like, 297 00:16:15,360 --> 00:16:18,720 you know, the sake salmon obviously were the most expensive 298 00:16:18,879 --> 00:16:21,919 and most profitable, and then we'd fish for the kings 299 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:25,879 and the the humpies were last, the pink salmon. 300 00:16:26,200 --> 00:16:26,799 Speaker 2: Okay, cool. 301 00:16:27,039 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 6: Well that was Alaska. And then I also worked in 302 00:16:30,120 --> 00:16:32,879 Costa Rica doing some research on sea turtles, which is 303 00:16:32,919 --> 00:16:35,840 really interesting. There was this one beach where all these 304 00:16:36,240 --> 00:16:39,360 adult sea turtles would come back to lay their eggs 305 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:41,919 and tor to gero on the Caribbean side, just like 306 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,080 right on the Nicaraguan border. So that was very cool. 307 00:16:45,399 --> 00:16:47,639 Got to do some fishing while I was down there, 308 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:50,399 which which was a real bonus. So we were the 309 00:16:50,480 --> 00:16:53,200 first people to tag the leather back sea turtles down there. 310 00:16:53,919 --> 00:16:57,639 Mostly what the research station was known for. This was 311 00:16:57,919 --> 00:17:01,120 at the time the organization was called the Caribbean Conservation Corporation. 312 00:17:01,200 --> 00:17:03,440 I think they've changed names since then, but what they 313 00:17:03,440 --> 00:17:07,680 were known for was tagging green sea turtles, so we tagged. 314 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:11,240 We were the first ones to tag leatherbacks, which are 315 00:17:11,799 --> 00:17:15,240 now I think they're still continuing to tag those, but 316 00:17:15,319 --> 00:17:19,720 that was really interesting. I worked for Oregon State University 317 00:17:20,039 --> 00:17:23,519 and then Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife doing work 318 00:17:23,559 --> 00:17:27,039 on salmon and steelhead out there. I did some radio 319 00:17:27,119 --> 00:17:31,119 tracking work with the out migrating salmon smolt and some 320 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,279 habitat restoration work with for steelhead for a wild strain 321 00:17:35,359 --> 00:17:40,559 of steelhead, which was really interesting experience. And down on 322 00:17:40,599 --> 00:17:43,200 the Florida Keys I did I worked at a place 323 00:17:43,240 --> 00:17:46,079 called Sea Camp, which is like a It's also called 324 00:17:46,160 --> 00:17:49,279 Newfound Harbor Marine Institute. It's like a camp for kids 325 00:17:49,279 --> 00:17:51,599 where we were teaching them about coral reefs and taking 326 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,480 them out to the coral reefs and teaching them about 327 00:17:54,519 --> 00:17:58,079 coral and doing snarkling dives. Also did a little bit 328 00:17:58,079 --> 00:18:00,640 of aquaculture in Rhode Island when I was in ad school, 329 00:18:01,240 --> 00:18:04,960 raising oysters at a place called Moonstone Oysters. That was 330 00:18:05,000 --> 00:18:07,759 that was pretty interesting. So yeah, I got you know, 331 00:18:07,799 --> 00:18:11,000 in those earlier years, got to got to travel around 332 00:18:11,039 --> 00:18:14,960 and have some pool experiences doing marine biology related stuff. 333 00:18:15,319 --> 00:18:18,839 Speaker 2: So now there was something about a floatplane issue too. 334 00:18:18,799 --> 00:18:22,000 Speaker 6: Right, Yeah, that's so. I I like to fish, and 335 00:18:22,039 --> 00:18:25,880 I also am a hunter. You know, I believe in 336 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,039 getting your own food, you know, as a fly fisherman, 337 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,240 I I released most of the fish I catch, but 338 00:18:32,279 --> 00:18:34,200 I do like to eat fish and I do like 339 00:18:34,240 --> 00:18:37,400 to eat meat, so I do, you know, appreciate harvesting 340 00:18:37,440 --> 00:18:39,599 them myself. But I was on a caribou hunt on 341 00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:45,359 the Labrador Quebec border and there's really remote area where 342 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:48,279 we had to take two different planes to remote camps 343 00:18:48,319 --> 00:18:54,000 to get there, and we these planes look like they 344 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,319 were I mean, I think they were from the fifties. 345 00:18:56,759 --> 00:18:59,480 These floatplanes, I mean there there's not a whole lot 346 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,960 that can go wrong with them. You know, they're pretty simple. 347 00:19:03,400 --> 00:19:07,640 But you know, going on these planes that are mostly 348 00:19:07,680 --> 00:19:11,359 mechanical with no electronics, it's it is kind of an 349 00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:14,759 interesting experience. You know, the pilots like cranking all these 350 00:19:14,799 --> 00:19:17,960 gears and spinning these things and there's there aren't really 351 00:19:18,319 --> 00:19:21,759 buttons or LEDs or anything like that. Only he had 352 00:19:21,839 --> 00:19:24,559 with cell phone stuck on a suction cup on the 353 00:19:24,759 --> 00:19:27,880 windshield that he was using for his navigation. 354 00:19:28,319 --> 00:19:29,640 Speaker 2: That does sound a little bit scary. 355 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:35,400 Speaker 6: Yeah, yeah, And uh so, anyways, they basically navigate by sight. 356 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:39,680 You know, these guys know the mountains, and when there's 357 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:42,920 cloud cover, you don't want to go into the clouds 358 00:19:42,960 --> 00:19:47,640 because you can't see anything. And usually what you do 359 00:19:47,759 --> 00:19:50,480 is you land in a random lake and just wait 360 00:19:50,559 --> 00:19:52,799 it out, wait for the cloud to storm to pass. 361 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:56,680 So we came into some bad weather and we were 362 00:19:56,960 --> 00:20:01,640 just following the perimeter of this cloud and we're burning 363 00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,599 a lot of fuel. Actually was I was the next 364 00:20:05,319 --> 00:20:08,759 chair back from the pilot, and I saw the fuel 365 00:20:08,799 --> 00:20:12,559 gauge red light came on and I nudged like the 366 00:20:12,599 --> 00:20:14,559 guy next to me, I'm like, look at that. But 367 00:20:14,680 --> 00:20:16,960 I didn't know there were two tanks, so he ended 368 00:20:17,039 --> 00:20:19,039 up switching to the other tank. But that was a 369 00:20:19,079 --> 00:20:22,640 little nerve wracking. But yeah, so we were getting low 370 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:24,799 on fuel, so he decided to just go for it 371 00:20:24,839 --> 00:20:29,039 and go right through the cloud. And sure enough, next thing, 372 00:20:29,079 --> 00:20:32,319 you know, like we're staring at a rock face and 373 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:34,759 he did like just one of these like ninety degree 374 00:20:34,839 --> 00:20:39,200 turns and just barely, you know, just turned the plane sideways. 375 00:20:39,279 --> 00:20:42,440 Everything fell, you know, to one side of the plane 376 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:45,920 and we just kind of did this like really sharp turn. 377 00:20:46,039 --> 00:20:48,240 And I don't think that's a stretch to say that 378 00:20:48,359 --> 00:20:52,000 was a near death experience, you know, like almost hitting 379 00:20:52,039 --> 00:20:52,960 that mountain side. 380 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:54,759 Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely, definitely. 381 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:57,680 Speaker 3: Let's take a short break and we'll continue our discussion 382 00:20:57,759 --> 00:21:00,359 with my guest, Nick Meyer Award when he Fish and 383 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:01,319 Marine Life illustrator. 384 00:21:01,559 --> 00:21:02,960 Speaker 2: After these messages from our. 385 00:21:02,839 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 7: Sponsors, how many of you have pets? My hands raised now, 386 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:11,480 think about how lucky you are to have such a 387 00:21:11,519 --> 00:21:14,000 sweet little pet in your life, and that pet is 388 00:21:14,079 --> 00:21:17,400 lucky to have you too. But unfortunately, there are countless 389 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:19,559 pets out there that don't have a home to call 390 00:21:19,599 --> 00:21:22,880 their own. However, Bob's from Sketchers is trying to change that. 391 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,039 So we developed Bobs for dogs and cats to help 392 00:21:26,079 --> 00:21:29,400 pets in need. With every purchase of adorable Bob's footwear 393 00:21:29,519 --> 00:21:33,559 or fun stylish apparel, or even the cutest Bob's Pet accessories. 394 00:21:33,720 --> 00:21:36,480 Sketchers makes a donation to pet Co Love to help 395 00:21:36,559 --> 00:21:39,559 save shelter pets, and with your help, we've already saved 396 00:21:39,559 --> 00:21:42,440 the lives of over one million pets and raised over 397 00:21:42,599 --> 00:21:46,240 seven million dollars. So while you're getting style and comfort 398 00:21:46,359 --> 00:21:49,880 with features like Sketcher's famous memory foam cushioning, you're also 399 00:21:49,960 --> 00:21:52,839 helping to save an adorable pet in need and helping 400 00:21:52,880 --> 00:21:56,079 another lucky owner be connected with a future best friend 401 00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:59,440 and companion, because happiness is having a loving pet by 402 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,880 your side. Find Bob's at a Sketchers store, sketters dot com, 403 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:06,160 select pet Co locations, or wherever stylish footwear is sold. 404 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,079 Speaker 4: Let's talk past, Let's talk pet Life Radio, Headline. 405 00:22:10,799 --> 00:22:21,599 Speaker 8: Radio, pet Live radio dot com. 406 00:22:22,240 --> 00:22:26,119 Speaker 3: We're back and continuing our conversations with my guests with 407 00:22:26,319 --> 00:22:29,680 artist Nick Meyer. So we've got a pretty good kind 408 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:33,039 of overview of some of your early influences and then uh, 409 00:22:33,279 --> 00:22:36,519 some of your work in science. Obviously all of this 410 00:22:36,720 --> 00:22:39,920 has led to your current work as an artist. 411 00:22:40,160 --> 00:22:42,680 Speaker 2: Can you give us some kind of insights in how. 412 00:22:42,799 --> 00:22:46,160 Speaker 3: The science and and everything that you did as a 413 00:22:46,279 --> 00:22:49,440 child and and uh kind of led you and got 414 00:22:49,519 --> 00:22:53,279 you into art as your current and probably final profession. 415 00:22:53,759 --> 00:22:56,400 Speaker 6: Wow. Great question. Yeah. I mean, on the one hand, 416 00:22:56,440 --> 00:22:59,079 you may think, well, Jesus, this guy likes spend all 417 00:22:59,119 --> 00:23:03,119 his time and money getting degrees in biology and you know, 418 00:23:03,160 --> 00:23:05,920 and then worked in that field and now he's an artist, 419 00:23:05,960 --> 00:23:10,200 Like that seems like a one hundred and eighty degree 420 00:23:10,880 --> 00:23:14,960 you know, different direction. But the reality is yeah, I mean, 421 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,519 I feel like it all is one trajectory that all 422 00:23:18,599 --> 00:23:22,759 of the science really informs what I do. Now. The 423 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:27,799 sort of scientific way of observing something is how I'm 424 00:23:27,880 --> 00:23:31,759 able to translate that onto a piece of paper. So 425 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:36,079 I think that just staring at something. This may sound 426 00:23:36,079 --> 00:23:39,799 a little weird, but just staring at something you eventually 427 00:23:39,839 --> 00:23:43,279 figure it out like from like and then like say, so, 428 00:23:43,680 --> 00:23:46,759 an example of what I mean by that is, I 429 00:23:46,799 --> 00:23:51,480 think particularly where things can get overwhelming as an artist 430 00:23:51,519 --> 00:23:53,720 trying to make so well, let me back up. So 431 00:23:53,839 --> 00:23:56,960 my art is pretty detailed and you know, kind of 432 00:23:56,960 --> 00:24:01,480 like scientific illustration slash naturalist type of genre of art. 433 00:24:01,759 --> 00:24:04,480 So it's very accurate, and so I'm my goal is 434 00:24:04,519 --> 00:24:07,480 to you know, figure out how things look and then 435 00:24:07,799 --> 00:24:10,720 make accurate paintings. Of them, and sometimes when you're looking 436 00:24:10,759 --> 00:24:13,680 at like the scale pattern, like like for example, of 437 00:24:13,720 --> 00:24:16,720 a tuna, it just looks like ridiculous. I mean, they 438 00:24:16,799 --> 00:24:20,279 got you got small scales here, scales so big that 439 00:24:20,319 --> 00:24:24,359 they're kind of blended together. There, there's like these arcing 440 00:24:24,599 --> 00:24:28,119 shapes of where the scales are on the fish. They 441 00:24:28,160 --> 00:24:31,920 got these deep grooves and pockets where the fins fit into. 442 00:24:32,160 --> 00:24:34,519 And you know, so like the scale patterns can be 443 00:24:34,599 --> 00:24:38,480 overwhelming and like different. The coloration patterns of fish can 444 00:24:38,559 --> 00:24:41,680 be just sometimes just like what the heck is going on? 445 00:24:41,799 --> 00:24:43,559 Like I remember one fish that I did for the 446 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,839 Cataline Islands Dive Buddies book is called a giant kelpfish, 447 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:50,480 which they're only about, you know, eight inches long, so 448 00:24:50,519 --> 00:24:52,599 it's kind of a goofy name. But they have this 449 00:24:52,880 --> 00:24:58,440 ridiculous reticulated pattern. I mean, it's not even really a pattern, 450 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:01,799 but it's this coloration. And I spent so much time 451 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,400 just looking at the real fish, and you know, I 452 00:25:05,440 --> 00:25:10,039 think that the process of drawing alongside with that is 453 00:25:10,079 --> 00:25:12,279 sort of a it's a kind of a guide for 454 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:17,960 the meditation of just staring at something and that eventually 455 00:25:18,640 --> 00:25:21,119 there's just always something that clicks, and you know, with 456 00:25:21,160 --> 00:25:25,319 that fish, it took hours. And then I was like, oh, okay, 457 00:25:25,400 --> 00:25:28,559 so there's actually I can kind of see there's like 458 00:25:28,680 --> 00:25:31,079 these bands and then there's a bunch of holes in 459 00:25:31,119 --> 00:25:33,559 these bands, and all right, so now it makes sense 460 00:25:33,599 --> 00:25:35,960 to me. I mean, I could just go ahead and 461 00:25:36,079 --> 00:25:39,839 just instantly start painting it right away, but for some reason, 462 00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,640 I don't know, I gotta kind of figure these things out, 463 00:25:42,680 --> 00:25:44,720 like and it was actually kind of similar to one 464 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:46,519 of the most recent paintings I did was of a 465 00:25:46,559 --> 00:25:49,319 Heela monster, and it was a similar kind of thing, 466 00:25:49,720 --> 00:25:52,400 like this just looks like there's no rhyme or reason 467 00:25:53,039 --> 00:25:57,079 to the pattern and uh. And then after staring at 468 00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:58,960 it for a while, it was like, okay, so there 469 00:25:58,960 --> 00:26:01,400 are these bands on the tail that are pretty defined, 470 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:03,720 and then as you go from the tail ahead, the 471 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,079 bands get much less defined and more interrupted with these 472 00:26:08,359 --> 00:26:11,519 polka dots. And so yeah, it's kind of like a 473 00:26:11,599 --> 00:26:13,960 long answer, but I just feel like the most valuable 474 00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:18,440 skill as a scientist is making astude observations, and I 475 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:21,880 think that that is for the type of painting that 476 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:24,160 I do, is also one of the best skills. 477 00:26:24,559 --> 00:26:26,640 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, that makes sense, and yeah, I was thinking 478 00:26:26,680 --> 00:26:28,440 you were kind of heading toward the kind of just 479 00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:31,400 that you'd had to do so many observations, obviously handled 480 00:26:31,400 --> 00:26:33,240 a lot of fish, and kind of got really, you know, 481 00:26:33,519 --> 00:26:35,880 really kind of adept at it because I think obviously 482 00:26:35,920 --> 00:26:39,000 there are people that try to paint natural, like say, 483 00:26:39,279 --> 00:26:41,839 kind of scientific illustration that they don't really quite do it. 484 00:26:41,920 --> 00:26:44,880 But yeah, your stuff is really is really there. So 485 00:26:45,039 --> 00:26:49,720 I appreciate it. And yeah, definitely, So I believe in 486 00:26:49,759 --> 00:26:52,200 some of your materials you mentioned that there was a 487 00:26:52,279 --> 00:26:54,839 school bus and the keys that kind of helped make 488 00:26:54,920 --> 00:26:59,119 you into a full time artist. Can you give us 489 00:26:59,119 --> 00:27:01,279 a story for that. 490 00:27:01,440 --> 00:27:04,400 Speaker 6: Yeah, So down in the Florida Keys, there's not a 491 00:27:04,400 --> 00:27:07,640 whole lot of land, you know, it's the land is 492 00:27:08,319 --> 00:27:13,039 very congested and valuable. And so this place, this is 493 00:27:13,039 --> 00:27:15,720 going back to the place I mentioned before, Seacamp Newfound 494 00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:19,160 Harbor Marine Institute. I was an intern there doing this 495 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:23,240 outdoor education, marine education, and so I was kind of 496 00:27:23,279 --> 00:27:25,839 at the bottom of the totem pole and they had 497 00:27:25,880 --> 00:27:29,559 a an old school bus that was like the office 498 00:27:29,759 --> 00:27:33,440 for the interns, and I set up a little like, 499 00:27:33,480 --> 00:27:35,759 I don't know, it was kind of like they had 500 00:27:35,799 --> 00:27:38,440 converted into these little cubicles, and I set up kind 501 00:27:38,440 --> 00:27:41,119 of like a little mini tiny studio there. I worked 502 00:27:41,119 --> 00:27:44,480 on paintings in my spare time. And uh yeah, I 503 00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,400 mean I was broke and went down a Key West 504 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,440 with this painting. I got it framed there found a 505 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:52,880 frame shop. This was on Big Pine Key was where 506 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,119 the lab was, and uh went just went down to 507 00:27:56,440 --> 00:27:59,359 Key West and started walking around with this painting and 508 00:27:59,400 --> 00:28:01,599 went into galleries and said, hey, do you want to 509 00:28:01,839 --> 00:28:03,680 you want to show this? And I walked into this 510 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:08,640 gallery called the game Fish Gallery. Right, it's pretty perfect fit, 511 00:28:08,720 --> 00:28:11,000 and they said, yeah, yeah, hang this up. It was 512 00:28:11,039 --> 00:28:14,839 a painting of a tarpin over these turtle grass flats. 513 00:28:15,079 --> 00:28:15,359 Speaker 2: Cool. 514 00:28:15,759 --> 00:28:18,839 Speaker 6: Yeah. It was maybe like a month later they sold it, 515 00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:22,640 and I want to say it was like seven hundred 516 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:25,200 and fifty dollars or nine hundred and fifty dollars. Was 517 00:28:25,279 --> 00:28:26,519 less than a thousand dollars. 518 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 2: How much were you asking or were you thinking you 519 00:28:28,759 --> 00:28:29,119 would get? 520 00:28:29,359 --> 00:28:31,359 Speaker 6: They asked me how much I wanted to price it at? 521 00:28:31,359 --> 00:28:34,359 And I don't know, whatever you guys want. I've never 522 00:28:34,400 --> 00:28:37,880 sold a painting before, so there gave me a check 523 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:40,039 and I was just like, oh, my god, I can't 524 00:28:40,079 --> 00:28:43,680 believe like someone wanted to buy that, And you know, 525 00:28:43,759 --> 00:28:46,319 this was what I like to do, was to paint. 526 00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:49,440 That was sort of a pivotal moment, I guess. You know, 527 00:28:49,839 --> 00:28:51,079 it was pretty cool. 528 00:28:51,599 --> 00:28:54,799 Speaker 3: So you have been painting all along, So what would 529 00:28:54,839 --> 00:28:59,240 you say, maybe are your major motivations and goals at 530 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,400 this point? I had this long term interest in it, 531 00:29:01,759 --> 00:29:04,079 you know, science informed it as well as your other things, 532 00:29:04,119 --> 00:29:06,279 and kind of now you do it. So what would 533 00:29:06,319 --> 00:29:08,839 you say are kind of maybe like motivations and goals 534 00:29:08,880 --> 00:29:09,400 with your art? 535 00:29:09,880 --> 00:29:12,720 Speaker 6: Well at this point, you know, originally it was just 536 00:29:12,759 --> 00:29:14,440 sort of like, oh, I like to fish, I like 537 00:29:14,519 --> 00:29:16,599 to catch stuff, and so it was just sort of 538 00:29:16,680 --> 00:29:18,960 like an extension of that, like an expression of my 539 00:29:19,279 --> 00:29:22,240 passion and stuff. And now it's kind of turned more 540 00:29:22,240 --> 00:29:25,240 into like, my mission is to connect people with nature 541 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:29,160 through art, and I basically paint to share my awe 542 00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:34,279 of the natural world to inspire people to see that beauty. 543 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,519 Speaker 2: So yeah, yeah, I think you do. 544 00:29:36,680 --> 00:29:40,079 Speaker 6: Definitely, thank you. And I think particularly in this day 545 00:29:40,079 --> 00:29:42,640 and age where people are so plugged in all the 546 00:29:42,759 --> 00:29:46,960 time and kids are just never like almost the phones 547 00:29:47,000 --> 00:29:50,839 have become integrated into their bodies they never like apart 548 00:29:50,880 --> 00:29:55,720 from them, like getting people to appreciate nature. Yeah, it's 549 00:29:55,799 --> 00:29:58,680 just I feel like it's a valuable thing to try 550 00:29:58,680 --> 00:30:03,119 and promote as biologists. Obviously we are part of nature, 551 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:04,680 as I'm sure you degree. 552 00:30:05,119 --> 00:30:06,839 Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I do agree, And yeah, I think I 553 00:30:06,839 --> 00:30:08,559 think that's kind of a common concern. You know, a 554 00:30:08,599 --> 00:30:12,759 lot of urbanization and people just don't connect anymore, just 555 00:30:12,759 --> 00:30:15,799 just the way society has been. So yeah, no, I 556 00:30:15,839 --> 00:30:19,680 completely agree. Now, you obviously have started and have been 557 00:30:19,680 --> 00:30:24,400 expanding outside of marine and freshwater fishes, but those are 558 00:30:24,480 --> 00:30:28,000 kind of been your standards. Can you tell us some 559 00:30:28,039 --> 00:30:31,240 of your or mentioned some of your favorite fish paintings 560 00:30:31,359 --> 00:30:33,640 and maybe a couple of stories behind them. 561 00:30:34,039 --> 00:30:37,119 Speaker 6: Yeah. Sure, I mean I guess probably like a cool 562 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:40,720 thing is that it seems like pretty often the fish 563 00:30:40,759 --> 00:30:46,880 that I'm working on most recently is my favorite. So 564 00:30:47,519 --> 00:30:49,720 I think it's a good thing that it's not just like, oh, 565 00:30:49,880 --> 00:30:52,920 geez man, I really nailed that one back in nineteen 566 00:30:53,079 --> 00:30:54,440 ninety five or whatever. 567 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:54,680 Speaker 1: You know. 568 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,680 Speaker 6: I'm actually what I'm really inspired about right now is 569 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:01,960 I'm about to release a new series of paintings that 570 00:31:02,000 --> 00:31:05,240 I'm calling the Blackwater Series, where I've you know, I've 571 00:31:05,279 --> 00:31:10,799 been painting on white paper since since I was one. 572 00:31:11,519 --> 00:31:13,440 So this is a whole series of paintings that are 573 00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,319 painted on black watercolor paper. And it was inspired by 574 00:31:17,480 --> 00:31:21,359 I'm not sure sure if you're familiar with the blackwater diving, 575 00:31:21,759 --> 00:31:25,240 but it's a kind of it's actually more of a 576 00:31:25,319 --> 00:31:28,240 people just do it snorkeling. You're not going very deep. 577 00:31:28,279 --> 00:31:30,920 It's more of snorkeling than it is actually diving. Or 578 00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:33,400 it can be done snorkling instead of diving because you're 579 00:31:33,400 --> 00:31:35,880 in such shallow water. But basically it's and this is 580 00:31:35,960 --> 00:31:39,880 mostly done in the tropics and places as easy to 581 00:31:39,920 --> 00:31:43,400 get to as Cancun. Where are you familiar with like 582 00:31:43,519 --> 00:31:47,039 vertical migration of like organisms that come. 583 00:31:46,920 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 2: From right right? So you're talking about like night diving, right. 584 00:31:49,519 --> 00:31:53,079 Speaker 6: Yeah, So if you go off the continental shelf on 585 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:57,079 nights that are completely pitch black, like on a new moon, 586 00:31:57,680 --> 00:32:00,839 these deep ocean creatures that you would need to risk 587 00:32:00,880 --> 00:32:03,319 your life to go down and see, and have like 588 00:32:03,400 --> 00:32:05,720 lots of money to go down in the sub to 589 00:32:05,799 --> 00:32:09,359 go down to the ocean floor just naturally vertically migrate 590 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:12,160 up to the surface and then they hang these green 591 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:14,079 lights off the back of the boat and you jump 592 00:32:14,119 --> 00:32:17,839 in and you can photograph these these creatures that come 593 00:32:17,920 --> 00:32:22,039 down from the depths. And I've discovered these people that 594 00:32:22,079 --> 00:32:24,599 are doing this photography. I think one of them is 595 00:32:24,640 --> 00:32:30,759 Blackwater Cosmel on Instagram, and like, these images just really 596 00:32:30,799 --> 00:32:33,000 inspired me to make a whole series of paintings of 597 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,880 these crazy larval like larval sailfish that are like three 598 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:43,039 inches long and long, tentacled octopi that are just nearly transparent, 599 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:47,119 and all these yeah, like knopiliar, you know, larval forms 600 00:32:47,119 --> 00:32:50,359 of all different kinds of things that for safety reasons, 601 00:32:50,519 --> 00:32:53,359 live way deep down but can come up to take 602 00:32:53,359 --> 00:32:55,880 advantage of, you know, plankton at the surface when the 603 00:32:55,960 --> 00:32:59,480 time is right. So that's one one thing that I'm 604 00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:02,000 excited about out right now. Or these new paintings of these, 605 00:33:02,119 --> 00:33:06,359 I'd say particularly the octopi on black background. I'd say 606 00:33:06,400 --> 00:33:10,200 another one that stands out as the juvenile Emperor angelfish 607 00:33:10,279 --> 00:33:13,160 that I painted that's been like within the last year, 608 00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:16,119 which was a pretty big painting. I want to say 609 00:33:16,160 --> 00:33:19,519 that was maybe the fish itself is like three feet 610 00:33:19,559 --> 00:33:23,240 on wide, and that was just a really difficult challenge 611 00:33:23,279 --> 00:33:28,279 because you're familiar with the juvenile coloration of the angel fish, 612 00:33:28,319 --> 00:33:33,599 like to have this very lived, incredible coloration with these 613 00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:38,240 sort of concentric electric blue circles on you know, indigo 614 00:33:38,319 --> 00:33:42,240 like nearly black background, and being able to do that 615 00:33:42,319 --> 00:33:46,519 with water colors was just really a challenge because the 616 00:33:46,559 --> 00:33:50,039 water color, you know, obviously dissolved. If you put black 617 00:33:50,119 --> 00:33:54,440 next to electric blue, the black can bleed into the blue. 618 00:33:54,519 --> 00:33:58,240 So that's difficult, you know, to do that if you're 619 00:33:58,279 --> 00:33:59,839 doing it with oil paint, you just paint the whole 620 00:33:59,839 --> 00:34:03,359 thing black and then paint some blue stripes over it. Anyway, 621 00:34:03,359 --> 00:34:06,160 I was pretty happy with how that eventually came out 622 00:34:06,200 --> 00:34:09,039 because they're just so stunning. And I'd say if a 623 00:34:09,079 --> 00:34:12,559 third one would be the giant Travalley that I painted, 624 00:34:12,960 --> 00:34:15,440 which is also giant. I think that one is more 625 00:34:15,519 --> 00:34:17,960 like four feet wide, and I just I mean, I 626 00:34:18,000 --> 00:34:20,239 paint every single scale on all the fish, but like, 627 00:34:20,320 --> 00:34:23,159 I just went all out on that one. And I've 628 00:34:23,199 --> 00:34:27,679 never seen one, never caught one, but they're they're just 629 00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:30,039 always kind of been a dream, dream fish for me. 630 00:34:30,920 --> 00:34:33,599 Speaker 3: So yeah, how do you decide on like what fish 631 00:34:33,599 --> 00:34:36,039 you're gonna paint? Is it just sort of something that 632 00:34:36,119 --> 00:34:38,679 catches your eye or do you like have any type 633 00:34:38,679 --> 00:34:40,800 of protocol when you're thinking about it. 634 00:34:41,119 --> 00:34:45,000 Speaker 6: Well, you know, unfortunately, you know, because this is what 635 00:34:45,079 --> 00:34:48,079 I do full time. I've been full time as an 636 00:34:48,159 --> 00:34:52,079 artist I think eleven years now, excuse me. So, you know, 637 00:34:52,119 --> 00:34:53,880 because I have a mortgage, I have two kids, one 638 00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:55,639 of them in college. This is what I do for 639 00:34:55,679 --> 00:34:57,920 a living, so you know, I really do have to 640 00:34:58,039 --> 00:35:01,119 hustle all the time. I do a lot stuff like 641 00:35:01,159 --> 00:35:06,159 since Covid, like all of it's e commerce now. So really, unfortunately, 642 00:35:06,199 --> 00:35:08,119 what I paint is what people pay me to paint. 643 00:35:08,159 --> 00:35:10,880 I don't really choose most of the time, which is great. 644 00:35:10,960 --> 00:35:12,559 You know, it's great that people want to pay me 645 00:35:12,599 --> 00:35:15,920 to paint a portrait of you know, peacock basket on 646 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:18,480 Amazon or whatever. That's what I got coming up next. 647 00:35:18,599 --> 00:35:25,239 Speaker 2: Oh okay, so they're actually sending you Oh okay, yeah, yeah, yeah. 648 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:28,960 Speaker 6: A lot of it is commission work, where people it's amazing. Well, 649 00:35:29,000 --> 00:35:30,880 I'm sure your audience is the same way. You know, 650 00:35:30,960 --> 00:35:34,320 we're all like people that are addicted to fish, and yes, 651 00:35:35,519 --> 00:35:37,760 a lot of people out there that love fish and 652 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:42,320 have particular fish that just is like means so much 653 00:35:42,360 --> 00:35:46,519 to them that they want a portrait of. So so yeah, 654 00:35:46,559 --> 00:35:48,880 it's mostly what people pay me to do. But like 655 00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:51,519 this is kind of funny, Like I've been working on 656 00:35:51,559 --> 00:35:54,960 my commissions during the daytime and then you know, at 657 00:35:55,119 --> 00:35:57,079 the end of the day is when I start working 658 00:35:57,079 --> 00:35:59,280 on that Blackwater series. 659 00:35:59,760 --> 00:36:02,480 Speaker 3: So have you ever gotten any pictures that you're kind 660 00:36:02,480 --> 00:36:04,280 of like, yeah, no, I can't, I can't do it. 661 00:36:04,280 --> 00:36:07,199 Speaker 2: It's it's either a terrible picture or you. 662 00:36:07,159 --> 00:36:10,679 Speaker 6: Know, I have gotten some really bad photos. But you know, 663 00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:13,920 like say, it's like a pixel it really badly pixelated 664 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,119 rainbow trout, and I can see the colors in it 665 00:36:17,440 --> 00:36:20,599 pretty well. I know the anatomy of a rainbow trout. 666 00:36:20,719 --> 00:36:24,800 Speaker 3: You know, like I've you'll photoshop edit it in your 667 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:26,159 brain basically. 668 00:36:25,880 --> 00:36:28,320 Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I could draw a trout with my 669 00:36:28,360 --> 00:36:29,639 eyes closed. 670 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:31,000 Speaker 2: Right right, gotcha. 671 00:36:31,320 --> 00:36:34,159 Speaker 3: On top of all of this, you've also illustrated four books. 672 00:36:34,159 --> 00:36:36,639 Can you kind of mention each of those? And and uh, 673 00:36:36,800 --> 00:36:39,000 I guess what you did and what they're about. 674 00:36:39,480 --> 00:36:43,400 Speaker 6: Yeah, So the Catalina Island Dive Buddies book was actually 675 00:36:43,440 --> 00:36:46,760 a pretty serendipitous story behind that one. So I just 676 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:49,400 quit my job and like maybe like I think it 677 00:36:49,480 --> 00:36:52,559 was like literally like two days later I got this call. 678 00:36:53,039 --> 00:36:55,280 I had an agent I was working with at the time, 679 00:36:55,360 --> 00:36:59,000 Fred Polimis, was a great guy and he connected me 680 00:36:59,360 --> 00:37:02,320 with the people that were writing this book, and that 681 00:37:02,480 --> 00:37:05,639 was a really phenomenal project that kind of sort of 682 00:37:05,719 --> 00:37:10,000 kickstarted my work, like it right as I start, right 683 00:37:10,039 --> 00:37:13,000 when I decided to go full time. So this was 684 00:37:13,000 --> 00:37:16,920 written by Mike Rivkin. The full name of the book 685 00:37:17,000 --> 00:37:21,599 is Catalina Island Dive Buddies. And you know, all these 686 00:37:21,599 --> 00:37:25,280 books are on Amazon and Barnes and Nobles or whatever. 687 00:37:25,400 --> 00:37:31,480 But Mike Rifkin was a pretty well known person in 688 00:37:31,519 --> 00:37:37,800 the fishing community, and uh he's been involved in the IGF, 689 00:37:37,920 --> 00:37:41,239 a International Game Fish Association, and so he was sort 690 00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:44,159 of the he came from it from the fishing side. 691 00:37:44,199 --> 00:37:47,079 He also has a place on Catalina Island, which is 692 00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:50,360 in California, rate off a long beach. And then but 693 00:37:50,480 --> 00:37:54,559 who I worked with most closely was the scientific consultant 694 00:37:54,639 --> 00:37:57,320 on the project named John Counsel, who is a diver 695 00:37:57,679 --> 00:38:02,440 on the island. He created the Catalina Island Dive Museum, 696 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:05,880 and uh, he and I just got to be great 697 00:38:05,920 --> 00:38:09,480 friends and we're still friends to this day. And uh, 698 00:38:09,519 --> 00:38:12,840 so I I had to go out to Catalina Island 699 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:15,719 and spend some time diving, and so we would go 700 00:38:15,719 --> 00:38:17,920 on all these dives together and check out these fish 701 00:38:18,039 --> 00:38:22,079 and and then he was just really brutally honest. And 702 00:38:22,239 --> 00:38:24,360 when I'd make a draft of a painting and i'd 703 00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:26,440 send it to me, he'd be like, nope, they fit. 704 00:38:26,559 --> 00:38:29,920 These these fish do not bark like that when they swim. 705 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,559 I took a great as narrow or Nope, that's sorry 706 00:38:32,599 --> 00:38:36,920 that uh that orange is not orange enough. It's got 707 00:38:36,960 --> 00:38:40,320 to be like ten times more orange, you know. So yeah, 708 00:38:40,360 --> 00:38:42,800 but that was that was a really fantastic experience that 709 00:38:42,880 --> 00:38:44,960 kind of started things off when I went full time 710 00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,360 Wild Oceans. That was I don't know if you remember, 711 00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:50,800 like there was this brief period of time when adult 712 00:38:50,880 --> 00:38:53,679 coloring books were like this craze where people are just 713 00:38:53,719 --> 00:38:54,679 doing all this. 714 00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:57,559 Speaker 3: They come back and forth, so yeah, yeah, there's still 715 00:38:57,599 --> 00:38:58,199 sort of a thing. 716 00:38:58,559 --> 00:39:01,760 Speaker 6: Yeah, that was part of that praise where that was 717 00:39:01,840 --> 00:39:05,480 kind of a cool project because that was Fox Chapel Publishing. 718 00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:09,280 The person I was working with there really gave me 719 00:39:09,320 --> 00:39:11,400 a lot of freedom to kind of craft it how 720 00:39:11,480 --> 00:39:14,360 I wanted to, and I feel like that book is 721 00:39:14,639 --> 00:39:17,000 much more than just a coloring book. There's a lot 722 00:39:17,039 --> 00:39:20,519 of like instructional stuff in there from some of the 723 00:39:20,559 --> 00:39:23,360 workshops that I've taught and things like that. And then 724 00:39:23,400 --> 00:39:26,639 in Angler's Journal that was also with Fox Chapel Publishing, 725 00:39:26,679 --> 00:39:30,519 that's kind of like a guided phishing journal where you know, 726 00:39:30,599 --> 00:39:33,400 has some of my illustrations in there, and it's it's 727 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,239 sort of like a way of you logging your catch 728 00:39:36,280 --> 00:39:38,800 and keeping data on all that stuff. And then the 729 00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:42,719 last book that's still forthcoming, I have really that aggressively 730 00:39:42,719 --> 00:39:45,800 looked for a publisher. I may ended up just self 731 00:39:45,840 --> 00:39:47,960 publishing it so I can do it exactly the way 732 00:39:48,000 --> 00:39:51,320 I want to. But that's Fish ABC's. It's an ABC 733 00:39:51,920 --> 00:39:55,719 book with every fish of the alphabet, with you know, 734 00:39:55,760 --> 00:39:58,840 the first letter of the fish name for every letter 735 00:39:58,880 --> 00:40:00,800 you know A is Atlantic, s AM and bees Brook 736 00:40:00,840 --> 00:40:03,440 trout and so on. That'll be a cool one when 737 00:40:03,480 --> 00:40:04,440 that one comes out. 738 00:40:05,000 --> 00:40:05,199 Speaker 2: Yeah. 739 00:40:05,239 --> 00:40:07,800 Speaker 6: I kind of picked away over time on that list 740 00:40:07,880 --> 00:40:11,039 and eventually got you know, I think like X X 741 00:40:11,159 --> 00:40:14,000 was one of the last ones, or you know, some 742 00:40:14,039 --> 00:40:15,840 of the odd ball once. 743 00:40:15,880 --> 00:40:20,559 Speaker 2: X was X ray fish sure, which is your X ray. 744 00:40:20,599 --> 00:40:21,480 Speaker 6: What do you call it? 745 00:40:21,599 --> 00:40:23,760 Speaker 2: I think it's a Priscilla tetra. It's an X ray. 746 00:40:23,960 --> 00:40:25,440 Yeah yeah, yep. 747 00:40:25,719 --> 00:40:28,400 Speaker 6: And aquarium fish. But those are so cool because you 748 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:29,440 can see right through them. 749 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:31,119 Speaker 2: Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. 750 00:40:31,159 --> 00:40:33,239 Speaker 3: So you've already picked all the fish and painted them all. 751 00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:35,360 You're just kinda waiting, okay, Yeah. 752 00:40:35,320 --> 00:40:37,719 Speaker 6: Just more a matter of putting aside the time to 753 00:40:38,679 --> 00:40:41,039 write and kind of get focused on that one. I'm 754 00:40:41,039 --> 00:40:43,679 always being juggling lots of things at the same time. 755 00:40:43,800 --> 00:40:45,800 Speaker 3: Because I have a I have a I'm losing track 756 00:40:45,880 --> 00:40:48,159 with five or six grand nieces and nephews now, and 757 00:40:48,199 --> 00:40:50,960 I always try to get them like fishy things so cool. 758 00:40:51,880 --> 00:40:53,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's how I was asking about it. But yeah, yeah, 759 00:40:54,039 --> 00:40:55,320 you'll have to tell me when it's all right. 760 00:40:55,360 --> 00:40:57,840 Speaker 6: Yeah, I'll keep you posted. Yeah, so those are the 761 00:40:57,880 --> 00:40:58,880 books now. 762 00:40:59,000 --> 00:41:02,480 Speaker 3: You've also, obviously I mentioned in my teaser you are 763 00:41:02,480 --> 00:41:04,280 award winning and have been featured in a lot of 764 00:41:04,320 --> 00:41:08,000 journals and publications. How would you say that's that recognition 765 00:41:08,119 --> 00:41:10,920 has impacted you and your focus? And do you have 766 00:41:10,920 --> 00:41:14,280 any maybe highlights you know, which of those maybe meant. 767 00:41:14,039 --> 00:41:18,039 Speaker 2: More to you or you remember for various reasons. 768 00:41:18,519 --> 00:41:22,599 Speaker 6: Maybe some people would have like a negative impact from 769 00:41:22,639 --> 00:41:25,320 those and like that they might feel like there's being 770 00:41:25,400 --> 00:41:27,519 in the spotlight or you know, I feel like they're 771 00:41:27,599 --> 00:41:30,960 under more pressure to perform if you know, they got 772 00:41:31,000 --> 00:41:34,360 this whatever some name recognition. But for me, I feel 773 00:41:34,360 --> 00:41:36,519 like it's never really been like that. It's just one 774 00:41:36,719 --> 00:41:39,960 been more like puts more fuel in my tank, you know. 775 00:41:40,199 --> 00:41:44,639 So yeah, it's like the experiences of getting recognized are 776 00:41:44,679 --> 00:41:46,840 just more like, oh cool, you know, like people actually 777 00:41:47,360 --> 00:41:51,079 appreciate what I'm doing, and it's been a very positive 778 00:41:51,159 --> 00:41:54,199 experience for me. I'd say the top three are when 779 00:41:54,239 --> 00:41:56,840 the Bill Fish Foundation gave me Artists of the Year. 780 00:41:57,480 --> 00:42:00,880 That was pretty prestigious, and you know, I did the 781 00:42:00,920 --> 00:42:04,760 cover design for their fiftieth anniversary of their magazine and 782 00:42:04,800 --> 00:42:08,000 they did this nice spread on my work. Another one 783 00:42:08,159 --> 00:42:12,639 was the having a feature article in English Journal magazine. 784 00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:15,960 They were introduced to me by my agent at the time, 785 00:42:16,039 --> 00:42:19,199 Fred Polimis. But just like that, that is a magazine 786 00:42:19,320 --> 00:42:21,960 that was at the time that Bill Sisson was the editor, 787 00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:26,159 and he really made that magazine his life's work. So 788 00:42:26,519 --> 00:42:28,960 like I feel like that magazine is one of the 789 00:42:29,000 --> 00:42:33,880 top notch magazines out there in terms of just being 790 00:42:33,960 --> 00:42:38,800 all about the nostalgia and the why of behind why 791 00:42:38,840 --> 00:42:42,480 we fished, not just sort of like how to type 792 00:42:42,519 --> 00:42:46,840 of magazine. Each issue really is its own work of art. 793 00:42:47,199 --> 00:42:47,960 Speaker 2: So yeah. 794 00:42:48,000 --> 00:42:52,000 Speaker 6: And also it was on the cover of that magazine too, 795 00:42:52,079 --> 00:42:56,639 which was which was pretty rewarding the World Illustration Awards 796 00:42:56,679 --> 00:43:00,360 in the Soul Korea that traveled then travel around THEE. 797 00:43:00,840 --> 00:43:03,360 That was a nice one too, because that was kind 798 00:43:03,400 --> 00:43:05,800 of like in a different genre, you know, Like, I 799 00:43:05,800 --> 00:43:09,840 guess I consider myself more of a fine artist. You know, 800 00:43:09,840 --> 00:43:13,320 I probably am sort of in that gray area between 801 00:43:13,880 --> 00:43:16,960 fine art and illustration because my work is so accurate, 802 00:43:17,039 --> 00:43:20,880 you know, it's kind of illustration E. But to get 803 00:43:20,920 --> 00:43:25,559 recognized by the World World Illustration Awards, that was kind 804 00:43:25,559 --> 00:43:28,320 of cool, like in a little bit of a different genre. 805 00:43:28,639 --> 00:43:32,320 Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. So you mentioned the I guess the Blackwater series. 806 00:43:32,360 --> 00:43:35,039 Speaker 3: Do do you have anything else in the future that 807 00:43:35,079 --> 00:43:38,480 you're thinking about or gearing up towards and and speaking 808 00:43:38,519 --> 00:43:40,800 of the future, are any of your sons following in 809 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:43,880 the science or already footsteps. 810 00:43:43,480 --> 00:43:46,039 Speaker 6: Let's see, I mean, I say the Blackwater series, that's 811 00:43:46,039 --> 00:43:49,360 probably like the next like up and coming thing that 812 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:52,920 I'm really excited about launching. You know, actually I get 813 00:43:53,000 --> 00:43:55,480 kind of excited about like all all the products too. 814 00:43:55,519 --> 00:43:57,760 Like I mean, obviously I sell the original paintings and 815 00:43:57,800 --> 00:44:01,440 the prints and stuff, but like what I all functional art, 816 00:44:01,559 --> 00:44:04,880 you know, like the phone cases and kitchen towels and 817 00:44:04,920 --> 00:44:07,440 t shirts, Like I feel like that bringing art into 818 00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:10,639 people's everyday lives, Like that's a way that you know, 819 00:44:10,719 --> 00:44:12,760 it's not something that's gonna break the bank, you know, 820 00:44:12,840 --> 00:44:15,480 Like obviously an original painting because I put so much 821 00:44:15,559 --> 00:44:19,599 time into it, that's not everybody can own one of those. 822 00:44:20,000 --> 00:44:21,840 I know I wouldn't be able to just go out 823 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,000 and buy one. But like all those like sort of 824 00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:27,960 functional art products are gonna come out of that are 825 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:30,440 gonna be really cool. Like I'm excited about like seeing 826 00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:34,199 what a black shirt with one of these blackwater paintings 827 00:44:34,199 --> 00:44:36,639 on it will look like and stuff like that. And 828 00:44:36,679 --> 00:44:38,719 then like I said, I got next up, Well, I'm 829 00:44:38,800 --> 00:44:42,880 just finishing a green sea turtle that's pretty big. I 830 00:44:42,880 --> 00:44:46,599 think that's like over three feet why the image itself. 831 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:50,199 And then I have a Amazon peacock bass in the 832 00:44:50,280 --> 00:44:54,800 Pacu phase that is probably gonna be my next painting. 833 00:44:55,639 --> 00:44:58,840 And then I have I have another little chocolate fish. 834 00:44:58,880 --> 00:45:01,679 I can't even remember name of that fish, but that's 835 00:45:01,840 --> 00:45:06,159 kind of a small, like odd uh, not a very 836 00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:10,840 okay hooded butterfly fish, which is of of you know, 837 00:45:10,920 --> 00:45:15,599 it's not a particularly well known aquarium fish as far 838 00:45:15,639 --> 00:45:22,519 as I know, or people seek out to see when 839 00:45:22,559 --> 00:45:29,719 they're diving either. But is it exceptionally stunning coloration? And 840 00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:32,719 then another one is I always have trouble saying it, 841 00:45:32,719 --> 00:45:41,400 but you know the state fish of Hawaii. Yeah, yeah, one, 842 00:45:41,480 --> 00:45:44,000 that one was another one that's that will be coming 843 00:45:44,039 --> 00:45:46,840 out real quick here. And then so as far as 844 00:45:46,880 --> 00:45:49,440 the future, like with my kids, you know, it's funny. 845 00:45:49,480 --> 00:45:53,320 My older son Roman, he's he's studying marketing, so we've 846 00:45:53,360 --> 00:45:55,800 kind of been talking about this recently. It's funny you 847 00:45:55,840 --> 00:45:58,519 ask about it. But he could probably take on, uh 848 00:45:58,800 --> 00:46:02,280 take over with the e commerce stuff and advertising. And 849 00:46:02,639 --> 00:46:05,800 then my younger son Luke, he's he's pretty artistic, so 850 00:46:06,320 --> 00:46:08,239 you know, maybe there'll be some stuff that he can 851 00:46:08,280 --> 00:46:12,519 do that you know, either extend the portfolio or there's 852 00:46:12,519 --> 00:46:15,280 an endless range of possibilities that can be done with 853 00:46:15,320 --> 00:46:17,519 these images once I scan them in, you know, making 854 00:46:17,559 --> 00:46:20,679 cool patterns like we've made some crazy patterns on fabric 855 00:46:20,719 --> 00:46:24,960 and pellows, and so yeah, I think that they'll I 856 00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:26,519 can pass the torch on to them. 857 00:46:27,400 --> 00:46:27,719 Speaker 2: Cool. 858 00:46:28,039 --> 00:46:30,960 Speaker 3: That sounds great. Well, unfortunately we are out of time. 859 00:46:31,320 --> 00:46:34,039 I wanted to thank you Nick and our producer Mark 860 00:46:34,039 --> 00:46:36,639 Winner for making the show possible. Nick, did you have 861 00:46:36,639 --> 00:46:39,400 any final words of wisdom or lessons learned? And I 862 00:46:39,400 --> 00:46:42,079 think you mentioned that for listeners interested that you were 863 00:46:42,079 --> 00:46:44,599 going to give a break for anybody interested in purchasing 864 00:46:44,599 --> 00:46:45,159 some of your art. 865 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,360 Speaker 6: Oh yeah, well, I just want to say thanks again 866 00:46:47,400 --> 00:46:49,559 to you both for having me on. It's been an 867 00:46:49,599 --> 00:46:53,360 interesting conversation, so thanks again. I would just say words 868 00:46:53,360 --> 00:46:55,320 of wisdom, I would just say follow your passion, you know, 869 00:46:55,400 --> 00:46:58,960 like these near death experiences kind of made me think 870 00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:01,079 about that kind of stuff, and you know, how you 871 00:47:01,119 --> 00:47:04,880 got one life to live. And then how how you 872 00:47:04,920 --> 00:47:08,559 can find me is Nick Mayor art dot com and 873 00:47:09,000 --> 00:47:12,119 Instagram is at Nick Mayor Art, and I have, like 874 00:47:12,159 --> 00:47:17,599 you said, I'm I'm offering your audience their own unique 875 00:47:17,639 --> 00:47:21,760 fifteen percent off code called Aqua fifteen. So if you 876 00:47:21,800 --> 00:47:24,920 can use that at Nick Mayor Art, it's a q 877 00:47:25,360 --> 00:47:30,679 u A one five. So yeah, just a little thanks 878 00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:32,760 out to you guys who made it all the way 879 00:47:32,800 --> 00:47:34,119 to the end of this podcast. 880 00:47:34,480 --> 00:47:36,559 Speaker 3: Well, thanks a lot, and we will definitely have your 881 00:47:37,119 --> 00:47:40,079 your art web page link as well as your social 882 00:47:40,119 --> 00:47:43,159 media links on your guest biopage online so they'll be 883 00:47:43,199 --> 00:47:45,599 able to access it that way, So thanks again. 884 00:47:45,760 --> 00:47:45,960 Speaker 2: Nick. 885 00:47:46,119 --> 00:47:49,360 Speaker 3: I'm I'm looking forward to seeing some of your future work, 886 00:47:49,360 --> 00:47:51,480 and I obviously I'm going to be checking out your 887 00:47:51,519 --> 00:47:53,760 website and getting some things, but but yeah, definitely, uh, 888 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:55,840 the ABC one, I'm I'm gonna be looking for. 889 00:47:56,440 --> 00:48:01,559 Speaker 6: Okay, that's some good inspiration to circle back to that one. 890 00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:04,880 Speaker 3: Definitely, So everyone, please be sure to check out Nick's 891 00:48:04,960 --> 00:48:07,280 Acquiring Manu web page, which will include the links as 892 00:48:07,280 --> 00:48:10,320 I mentioned. If you have any questions, comments, or ideas 893 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:13,400 for a show, email me at doctor Roy at petlife 894 00:48:13,480 --> 00:48:17,199 radio dot com. That's d R R O y at 895 00:48:17,199 --> 00:48:20,719 petlife Radio dot com. Until next time, please visit your 896 00:48:20,719 --> 00:48:24,360 local acquaium stores, explore nature a bit, and be sure 897 00:48:24,400 --> 00:48:25,719 to check out Nick Myer art 898 00:48:26,440 --> 00:48:31,039 Speaker 5: Let's Talk Pats every week on demand only on Petlife 899 00:48:31,159 --> 00:48:48,000 Radio dot com.