About the Artist
Born and raised outside of the small town of Mariposa, California, I was fortunate enough to grow up in a family that loved the outdoors. With that came numerous hiking trips, camping trips, and adventures to the river or a distant lake, and it took me a few years to realize that the one thing all of these destinations had in common was that they all included somewhere good to fish.
My dad taught my brother and me to fly fish as soon as we could hold a rod and struggle through a cast into a Hula Hoop on the lawn, and tying our own Woolly Buggers came shortly after. No matter where we were or who was doing the most catching, I always marveled at the beautiful trout or brilliant shiny green bass, or even at the intricacies of the accidental sucker that ended up on our lines. This admiration for one of nature’s beautiful creatures followed me through high school and college and became my inspiration for sculpture when I finally had the chance to take an art class.
I have always enjoyed being creative and making things — hence the Woolly Bugger lessons — and I happened upon the medium of wire when our art instructor tossed a box of scrap at us and said, “Make something.” Thus was born Fisherman’s Dream, the wire-mesh brown trout charging up from a bed of weeds to snatch the alluring fly above, the piece that also opened the door to my artistic pursuits. As I moved from that first sculpture to my second and my third, my technique developed, bending and weaving different-colored wires until I could form them to mimic the subject that I intended to represent.
Being a captain in civil engineering for the U.S. Air Force, it’s been challenging to find time between deployments and extra duties to dive into my artwork as much as I would like, but I’ve still been able to capture those outdoor moments that stick out in my mind the most. The spawning salmon running up river in Continuing the Run or the fish’s myriad dinner options in Choices demonstrate what I feel fishing is truly about. We’re all out there trying to catch the big one, but until then really are just enjoying every bit of what nature has to show.
People can view my work at http://www.wirelifedesigns.com, and I can be contacted at hillary@wirelifedesigns.com.
Hillary Richard
