The invitation to do this show arrived at about the same time I decided to venture into the difficult world of portraits. Not just any portraits but drawings and paintings of the legends of the industry. In this show, I’m following a path I chose years ago, to create art that spoke about the images, ideas and concepts of the fishing industry….to explore the colors, the many boats, the familiar scenes and of course the fish.



Andy Worhol through his colorful paintings, elevated everyday items of the popular culture into the art world, (where the term “Pop” came from). This is my chance to elevate the icons and everyday images of the fishing world to be seen in a different way. I wanted to explore bringing my interpretation of my friends to the walls of the IGFA.



What better way to force myself to actually execute the idea of painting contemporary portraits from conception to “hanging a show” than to commit to an exhibition.

Each piece in this show could be a starting point for another show, paintings that would be take offs, exploring the concepts that were established in that particular painting.



I’m sure you’ll see these thoughts again in paintings somewhere down the road, as every artist is always asking the same question…where do I go from here? Should I keep painting the same thing over and over again or should I take a chance and risk failure?

Take a chance…..failure is not an option!

I hope you enjoy the show.
All paintings are available for sale, give me a call if you’re interested in a purchase.
904-540-3183

Vaughn

The following is the lead article in the November 2, 2011 issue of “The Nassau Guardian” newspaper by Jeffrey Todd, NG Business Editor.

Multi-million-dollar Black Fly joins forces to U.S. company and will serve at the heart of rising Schooner Bay development

The lodge is expected to not only attract high-net-worth tourists, but investors in the Abaco development.

A multi-million-dollar fishing lodge now under construction in Abaco plans to attract “the best of the best” when it comes to tourism, while providing the heart of a development that could change the island’s economy.

Through a powerful joint venture, Black Fly Bonefish Lodge in the Schooner Bay development is trying to catch the big fish.

“Fly fishing clientele are top of the food chain when it comes to tourism in this country,” said Clint Kemp, one of the key investors behind the project.

“Not only are they high net worth, but they tend to come in private aircraft and are excellent repeat visitors. They aren’t just coming for one week. They bring their friends and family and their presence often leads to further investment.”

The lodge, slated for completion in 2013, will feature eight large rooms, a restaurant, bar and supplies store. A new fleet of boats will also be offered, giving guests access to salt-water fly fishing and deep water fishing.

Coming in at $1,000 per night for the full experience, the boutique lodge is meant to cater to exclusive guests which are often synonymous with the sport.

Kemp said the lodge will also be open to the general public, although certain areas are meant for guests only, such as the cigar smoking room on the top floor.

Kemp estimated the initial cost of the project to be between $4 million and $5 million.

But beyond the exclusivity of one lodge, Orjan Lindroth the president of the development company behind Schooner Bay, added that this venture serves as a centerpiece for what should one day become a flourishing harbor town.

“The lodge sits at the head,” he told Guardian Business.

“It’s very important architecturally and creates that feel. It will become a meeting place for friends and family.”

Lindroth explained the idea behind the property is to create a “robust business model” that can cater to not just the tourists but the community as well.

As work on the lodge kicks into gear, Schooner Bay continues to rise up around it.

Lindroth said five houses are now complete, and another 10 are expected to be done in the late winter or early spring. Five other separate dwellings are slated to begin construction around Christmas.

A six-unit condominium unit, consisting of traditional buildings with both residential and commercial units, is breaking ground in February 2012, he added.

Several of these units have been sold already, with prices ranging from $250,000 to $350,000.

Lindroth said the pricing is meant to reflect the wide cross-section residents Schooner Bay wishes to attract.

The harbor opened in June, with the lodge resting at its mouth.

The name for the lodge, Lindroth added, came from Vaughn Cochran, the artist and owner of Black Fly Outfitters, which sells world-famous merchandise bearing his logo.

Cochran is also a shareholder in the new lodge.

Kemp called Cochran’s involvement and the Black Fly name a “lifestyle statement” lending further credibility to the project.

He said no other lodge like this exists in The Bahamas. What makes the venture particularly unique, he felt, was the fact the lodge is located in a community.

“This is the only one that incorporates itself into the community,” he said.

“To have a fishing lodge in a community where they can interact with people is important. It means a higher, more textured experience. As it becomes a living town, our guests will want to be a part of that.”

For Coastal Angler Magazine September 2011 issue
http://coastalanglermag.com/magazines/2011/northeast-florida/

Click here to view the embedded video.

There’s music for nearly everything endeavor you can think of, but not a whole lot of fishing music out there, at least not GOOD fishing music. There’s lots of songs about water and oceans and some about different lakes and streams, places where you would find fish if you looked, but not exactly about fishing. Having been a musician for a few years, playing with all sorts of bands along the way, I can only remember 1 song…..Taj Mahal did it…Fishin blues. It’s a good song but not the “fishing anthem” we can all rally around as being the best. After a little looking around I found the Lovin Spoonfull did it too…. Jimmy Buffett hasn’t done it! I did find that most of the music was geared to bass fishing, what a surprise! Most of it fell in the “Country” classification, another big surprise. The lack of good songs isn’t because fishing is not inspirational, take a look at all of the great fishing art there is out there. How about “The Old Man and the Sea”, what a classic piece of fishing literature that is! How inspirational is that? No, I think we need a concentrated effort like the national effort that was required to send a man to the moon, to come up with good fishing songs. Actually that might not be enough!

Here’s some of the lyrics I found as an example of what’s out there: “Up this morning, before the sun, fixed me some coffee and a honey bun. Jumped in my pickup, gave her the gas, I’m goin’ out to catch a 5-pound bass”. By Robert Earl Keen. Here’s one by Brad Paisley: “Well, I love her, but I love to fish. I spend all day out on this lake and hell is all I catch. Today she met at the door, said I would have to choose. If I hit that fishin’ hole today, she’d be packing all her things and she’d be gone by noon. “Well, I’m gonna miss her, when I get home”. PLEASE, let’s all get to work on this.

After looking around I found this classic Bahamian gem which may be my
favorite of all the songs about fishing….written years ago about famous Grand Bahama bonefish guide Israel “Bonefish Folley” Rolle, sung by Phil Stubbs and a children’s choir from the Bahamas.
Click on the video above, open up a Kalik, put on your dancing shoes and enjoy!

I’ve been thinking about getting into fly fishing. Aaahhhh, those are special words to hear to a fly shop owner. On the one hand, you know you’re in for a “groundhog day” type of conversation which can last anywhere from one to three hours, depending on if a fly casting lesson is part of the overall explanation of the art. On the other hand, you become the messenger for one of the most beautiful and rewarding sports you could ever take up…..you have the honor of changing someone’s life.

In the larger scope of someone’s life, taking up fly fishing probably won’t be the most important thing they’ve ever done, but I have witnessed behavioral changes and changes in attitude worth noting. “I sold all my huntin gear” said one young convert not long after he had crossed over some have divorced over the sport. I think what the essence of fly fishing amounts to is a progressive disease. It starts out with “It’s just fun to cast”. It really IS fun to cast and you can do it over and over and it’s still fun to cast no matter how long you do it. Even to this day, 30 years later, it’s still fun to cast!

Next….. you actually catch your first fish on a fly rod. Then you begin to understand what the fuss is all about!

The next momentous occasion is leaving all, I mean ALL of your spin gear at home, departing from the boat ramp with only a boat full of determination and your fly rod, never to look back. Braid and Gulp become words of your past.

Life goes on after this as you catch more and more fish. You check off the species of fish one by one that you’ve caught on your new rod. You develop new friends, join the local fly club for God’s sake and maybe even convert some of your old bait fishing buddies into devotees of the “long rod”. Worst of all you really don’t care anymore how many fish you catch. You just can’t wait to get out on the water again and take up the challenge of “the hunt, the cast and fooling the fish into eating your fly”. It just never gets old.

But the very best part of becoming a fly fisherman is thinking about all of the new rods, reels and tackle you’re going to need and how you’re going to hide them from your wife.

For years now the consensus among professional guides in the Bahamas for the best bonefsh fly has been the “Gotcha”. A famous fly with a great story to go with it. I’ve always heard it this way…. When Ted McVay and his son Jim were staying at the Andros Island Bonefish Club, Jim snipped some strands of carpet from the interior of their taxi as they were heading to the lodge and used them to tie a new fly. Every time a bonefish ate the fly, guide Rupert Leadon would say, “Gotcha.”

My fly box is loaded with these incredibly dependable flies and there are many, many colors now available since Ted tied the original, but the tan/pearl color works best for me. I always bring size 2 through 8 with bead chain eyes and another full set with lead eyes, and remember, the “sink rate” goal is for the bonefish fly to hit the bottom in two to three seconds no matter what the water depth is. No eyes required for tailers in really shallow water.

At the Black Fly Bonefish Club in Abaco, we’re thinking of naming our official welcoming drink the “Gotcha”, we just haven’t figured out what the ingredients should be. Two things we do know….(1) after two drinks it should live up to it’s name and (2) there should be rum involved.

The other candidate for world’s best bonefish fly, in my opinion, would be Veverka’s Mantis Shrimp….Bob Veverka that is. Bob’s quest for the missing “go to fly” yielded this tan beauty that we sell in the Black Fly Outfitter by the dozens. I use 4′s mostly but we sell size 2 and 6 just as well. On some Bahamian islands that I have been to, namely Mayaguana, the mantis shrimp is the only thing they’ll eat consistently. The lodges on Andros are big believers in this fly also.

This gives me an idea….send me your favorite choices and we’ll build the ultimate bonefish fly box. Send your suggestions to: blackflyoutfitter@gmail.com

I had just landed in Ft. Lauderdale after a fishing trip to Bimini, found my truck, got on the road to St. Augustine when I got the first phone call. My Black Fly Buff was on TV. WHAT !!! Then two more calls, the phone starts humming with posts on Facebook. It was true, Martin Kaymer was wearing my Black Fly Buff design on national TV. Everybody was asking him about his neck wear and the commentators for PGA called it the newest fashion statement in PGA golf in years. In his post match interview Martin mentioned that he purchased the Black Fly Buff in a local sporting goods store and Buffs are being worn in Europe by soccer players. I would like to thank Martin for his good taste in neckwear and to extend to him an invitation to come fishing at Black Fly Bonefish Club in Abaco. If you’re interested in a Black Fly Buff, go to our Black Fly Outfitter Store link.
http://www.blackflyoutfitters.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=188

Everybody knows that you can’t leave home without a set of pink flies if you’re going after sails and you better take a few blue and white mackerel looking guys too. You also must have a dorado pattern of green and yellow. On the smaller flies we recommend a single rig using a 6/0 hook. The dual flies with the popper head and a tandem hook should be rigged with the “Phillips Rig”. The “Phillips Rig” is a new concept developed to enhance the chances for the survival of the billfish in the event that the fish is broken off before the removal of the fly. The hooks are tied in the fly so that if the fish gets hooked in the upper and lower jaw at the same time, the hook separates to allow the fish to open it’s mouth enough to still feed.

In addition to the “tube” type billfish flies we chose the single hook bluewater flies by Rainy’s to round out our selection of offshore flies
These flies come in all of the most successful color combination’s with names like Rainy’s Bluewater Terminator, Ocean Candy, Poppin Featherhead and Rainy’s Robrahn Bluewater Series. These single hook flies are very popular and best of all, they CATCH FISH.

I haven’t done much offshore flyfishing recently, but with Black Fly Outfitter/Bonefish Bimini joining forces with The Guy Harvey Outpost Resort, I hope to got out on the Big Blue again and give it a shot.

Visit our online store for some great deals on selected Offshore flies. We are overstocked on some great fly patterns that could be used for catching dolphin, bonita, blackfin tuna, barracudas or ocean going jacks and we have reduced the price by 20%.
Get them while they last!

Click on the image to shop our great deals on selected flies!

It’s not everyday that one of your friends, who happens to be one of the best sports writers around, gets the opportunity to write a magazine article for Fly Rod and Reel about your career. Many thanks to Mike Conner for doing such a great job. This story came about from a fishing trip to Black Fly Bonefish Club last year where my wife Jean and I hosted Stu Apte and his wife Jeanine to a bonefishing excursion to Abaco. I called Mike to see if he was interested in documenting this event as I thought someone should be recording this meeting. I also wanted to start the painting of Stu, an idea that I had been working on for several months. My goal is to paint portraits all of the famous fishing celebrities and this was the perfect time to get this project going. As mike described in the article, I had the features drawn out so that it was easy to paint and I assigned everyone gathered around the table a color and a brush.

Everyone picked a part of the drawing and started painting. We didn’t finish the painting in Abaco so I finished it off back in my studio in St. Augustine. Everyone signed it and the signatures are part of the painting and the posters that will be produced this month.
So thanks again Mike, you did a great job and the fishing was incredible…
To read Mike’s entire article, click on this link http://www.theflyadvisor.com/FRRADventinArt.pdf

Oil on Canvas                                                                                               $4500.00

“Incoming” is the result of a moment in time on the flats waiting for the tide to come in signaling the beginning of the bonefish tidal banquet. Bonefishing in the Bahamas is one of the great pursuits of a fishermans fishing life and trying to capture the anticipation of the event is always a challenge for the artist. A painting like “incoming” relies on the observer having experienced the “game day” butterflies, the waiting and knowing what is in store, not always sure of the outcome but hoping for the best, then counting on the feeling of success.

In progress....filling in the details.

“Incoming” is an oil on canvas painting, 20×30 inches. There are Limited Edition prints available numbered from 1 to 300 priced at $225.00 each. Numbers 1-10 are priced accordingly.