Fishing. Pizza. Bagels.
What more could you need?
A few months ago, Field Mag asked me to write and paint about my favorite food and fish and how they’re all connected by the same water for Field’s debut print issue. It was one of those how did you reach into my brain?? prompts from founder/editor Graham Hiemstra.
Like does he know I crave La Bagel Delight and Pino’s La Forchetta when I’m fishing?
And miss brookies when I’m down in NYC?
Of course I said yes!
Last night I got to see the printed magazine along with friends at the launch. The whole thing is gorgeous, full of stories of outdoor adventure coupled with stunning photographs. (It’s an honor to be the wacky painter of the group.) I can’t say enough how outrageous the production quality is on every pica of this magazine.
So, do you like good design and the outdoors?
For my part, I got to fold this into one of those oh right I’m an artist days.
I was able to yes, eat pizza and bagels and talk fishing over a 24 hour period. Plus have a long lunch with my editor from What Is Color? We dove into all those giant questions like why does anyone make art? that feel—I don’t know—somehow unproductive on a phone call, but why-we’re-in-this-industry when you chat in person. And then every other free moment I was pouring over copy edits for my illustrated guide to fly fishing out next year.
It’s all felt like the right way to be living life while so many of my other conversations with creative pals have been some mix of THE WORLD IS FALLING APART and AI IS GOING TO TAKE MY JOB TOMORROW.
Neither of which are untrue.
But we still need fuel—good people, pizza, bagels, fishing… art. I got some this week.
-Steven
PS - A book rec that’s keeping my head screwed on: Sue Prideaux’s Wild Thing, a brand new biography of Paul Gauguin. Hear me out—the guy has his flaws. I also love his paintings. From Van Gough, to Debussy, to colonialism, there’s SO much in between. For all of us trying to make art in highly flawed times, I highly encourage the read.
