homepage - programs - sierra sportsmen - people - michael knepp interview
1. When did you get started in art?
I began drawing when I was very small. I did a drawing of my dog when I was 2 years old. It was kind of cubist done in crayon of course. In high school I had a very good art teacher who got me started painting on canvas. I would paint on location sometimes and someone would pull over to tell me they wanted to buy it, which they did occassionally.
2. Who were some of your early artistic influences?
I remember field trips to the Oakland Museum of Art in high school. Walking in, the first thing that I remember was Albert Bierstadt's "Yosemite Valley". It was huge and finely executed with loads of drama that Hudson River painters were known for.
3. Have you always enjoyed the outdoors?
I grew up in places where I always had a great time being outside. I also participated in both the Cub Scouts and the Boy Scouts with my father. We did lots of backpacking and camping trips, and I believe it was the main reason for my being at ease in the wild anytime I can get to it. I would really like to see the Scout programs regain their popularity, but it probably won't happen without a video game merit badge feature.
4. When did you discover fly fishing?
A friend named Chris Parsons talked me into trying it. He lived in Los Angeles all his life until one day I got this phone call from him to tell me he and his wife sold everything down there and moved to Redding where he is a fly fishing guide. The first time I went up and fished with him I was just happy to be out on a river, and seeing everything that goes on. Salmon making their spawning run, otters, deer, vultures... everything. And even better was figuring out how it all fits together. The fly fishing is just the icing on the cake, and it is great icing.
5. How did you come to meld your love of fly fishing with your art?
I was thinking about what I would do with my fishing experiences and what if anything I would find that would be inspiring in that regard. When I went looking for other work that was similar to what I was thinking, I was amazed to find there was little to nothing out there. Of the book "Winslow Homer, Angler Artist" I expected to find paintings that only Winslow Homer could come up with but, instead, found watercolors done hastily as if he couldn't wait to get it done because he had to grab the rod and get out there. That is a major problem with this topic... It is hard to get the work done when all you are doing is thinking about laying a fly down into that mysterious swirl off to the side of the beaver dam pool.
6. What is your favorite medium to work with?
Oil paint on finished off Belgian linen. I build my own stretcher frames and finish them with a modern version of the old traditional surface. It all contributes to the final results.
7. What is your favorite subject matter?
Mainly streamscapes from my stomping grounds for the most part. I like landmarks of earlier times in our country such as stone bridges, railroad elements that reflect a contrast to the untouched wilderness aspect that are the norm. Still life compositions are something I like to put together using artifacts found from years of collecting. Stuff enjoyable to look at yet too old to use.
8. What is your most memorable fly fishing experience?
I was fishing in my usual spot and having a no result kind of day. I tried the standard menu to no avail. I then decided to try a green flymph that I had tied rather badly but was desperate. As I threw it out into the water, it was still a couple of feet off the water when a trout shot out from not 5 feet in front of me and grabbed the fly. I brought him in and removed the fly. After releasing him I tried again and another trout immediately did the exact same thing. I have never had another bite on that fly since.
9. What is your hope for the future of fly fishing in America?
Here at home I belong to a local fly fishing club that promotes the sport with club lessons on casting techniques, fly tying, presentations by guides of different areas of our state and elsewhere that are of interest for travel and angling opportunities. It does bring new people to the sport by showing them what it is about in all aspects. Our local creek was for years treated as a third class drainage ditch. Over the last four or five years it has been getting the attention it really deserves. We have annual cleanup parties, and as of late, are working on trying to get wild trout status for it in order to get year round regulations for catch and release only plus artificial single hook barbless lures and flies only. I suspect that it will only see reality when the state has more money available for
enforcement of the rules. I hope that the appreciation for the resources that we have, including the citizens who live in the water grows with our sport.
10. Are there any pieces in the works that you would like to talk about?
I am currently working on my paintings as a complete vision of canvas and frame. In the tradition of some of the turn of the century artists who were also woodworkers, I am building the frames around the Arts & Crafts idea of making the frame as much a part of the creativity as the painting itself. The choice of wood, joinery, carving, inlays etc. are areas that contribute to the final result. I am currently doing my projects this way and am
encouraged by the outcome.
11. Where can people see your work?
My work can be seen on my website at www.michaelknepp.com as well as galleries listed on the galleries page on the website.