In My Tribe We Fish... The beginnings
A few years ago I caught one of the best fish in my life. It was a 36 and a quarter inch Northern Pike. A photo of it did not seem to enough and taxidermy did not feel right. As an artist, I then remembered the Japanese art form of Gyotaku. In this art form you create a print right off of the fish that you catch. This art form was started to prove the size of what Japanese fishermen would catch before the age of cameras. I guess, even then, fishermen were known to be liars on the size of their fish. With a little research my world of fishing and art came together. The next fish came that fall and some amazing Kokanee became my new art pieces. In the spring there was a fantastic Cutbow Trout, this fish had a beautiful copper colored stripe running down it’s side. A few days later, I got my issue of Fly Fisherman Magazine, and on the cover, was this amazing fish that looked like a bigger version of the Cutbow that I had just caught. The man holding the fish was Jay Manty, a 26 year Seal Team Vet, who is the co founder of Discover Courage. A non -profit that serves special operation forces, active duty and vets to help them heal from PTSD and combat related stress. This article totally resonated with me. I have seen first hand the struggles people have gone through due to PTSD. I know this, because I am a Mental Health Counselor and Art Therapist. I also integrate fishing therapy into my work when I can.
All of the information in the article was spot on. A portion of what Discover Courage does is to use fly- fishing as a part of their therapy program. They don’t just take people fishing, but have created a tailored therapeutic immersion program that has been put together by a team of physicians, trauma specialists, chaplains, and outdoor professionals. Their program helps to fill the voids in the system and create a therapy program for special operation troops, suffering from PTSD. This article left me feeling that I wanted to do something to help.
As time went on, this feeling of wanting to help kept surfacing. I wanted to do something bigger than just a donation.
Now a year later, in a room full of fish art that I had created, I saw an opportunity for an art show of this work. When I was talking to Pateros Creek Brewery, a local brewery in Fort Collins, Colorado. The question came up, would I like to do just an art show or an do an event. This sparked the powerful idea of getting the Northern Colorado fishing community involved in helping Discover Courage. We have an amazing fishing community in this area, and our community as a whole is pretty great too. That created the idea of, ‘In My Tribe We Fish’. Who is this tribe? It is Northern Colorado’s fishing and local community. The event has gotten great support locally and from some of the top names in fly fishing, such as The Drake, Sage and Douglas. We will hold an auction to raise funds of some great fly fishing equipment, two of my art pieces will also be auctioned off. Those proceeds will go to Discover Courage. Pateros Creek is donating $1 for every pint sold on the day of the event. We have t-shirts available that are directly related to the art show and the funds raised from these shirts will also go to Discover Courage. We will also have a donation center, where you can donate any amount and get information to donate to Discover Courage.
My hope is to build awareness about what Discover Courage does and also to build awareness about PTSD and combat related stress. The best part is what we do to help will have a ripple effect on these service men and women to heal from their sacrifices of duty. This will affect them, their families and friends and community.
In my tribe we fish, is on September 5, 2015, from 4pm – 8pm. The art show will be up all of September. All right Northern Colorado, you are my tribe, that has the power to support these brave men and women. Let’s show how we can come together to make a difference.
