We’d still argue that the world of fly fishing has an inordinate number of incredibly gifted artists sprinkled throughout the larger fly fishing family; I’m not entirely sure why or if that’s actually even true, but it sure feels that way.
Artist Tyler Hackett, a professional artist working out of Salt Lake City, has been one of our favorites to follow along for the past several years as he’s expanded into the fishy space more and more. We first chatted about an interview over a year ago, and it’s been entirely my fault we’ve not gotten one posted sooner. The good news is, Tyler’s offerings of interest to fly fishers have just gotten better and better.
See and order his work at Wandering Blue Lines, and you can follow him along on social media as well.
Before delving into your art, please tell us a bit about your history in fly fishing; what or who got you interested, when, and where?
My interest in fly fishing began when I was 11 or 12. I have memories of looking through back issues of Fly Fisherman magazine at the library, being amazed by what I was looking at in those pages, and how exotic a lot of it seemed at the time. My great grandfather also introduced me to fly tying around this age as well, he gave me a small, metal fly box with a handful of hand tied flies that he tied up to take on his annual trip to Alaska. I was surprised to learn that someone I knew was actually tying their own flies and traveling so far to use them. I still have a few of those old flies scattered throughout my fly boxes, and have been fortunate enough to make a few trips to Alaska to put them to use.
Living in Salt Lake City you’re within easy reach of some of the most iconic fly fishing water in the lower 48; what do you consider your home water and what do you like most about it?
I was born and raised in Salt Lake City, moved away the first chance I got, bounced around the west for a while, and once I moved back I realized one of the great things about this city is its relative proximity to a lot of great water. I try to make as many trips to those waters as I can every year, but there are a few streams within a few hours of home, that I consider my home waters. What I like most about them is that they are overlooked waters that hold fish, but are places you generally drive past on the way to more popular water. I like the increased chance at solitude on waters like this and there is a feeling of comfort that comes with fishing water that you are very familiar with.
Life seems to be awfully busy for lots of people these days; are you a full time artist or working a “day job” too like the rest of us?
Nope, I am not a full time artist, but I don’t have a typical 9 to 5 job either. I spend the majority of my time as a stay at home dad, which is actually pretty nice because more often than not I am able to make some work while watching them.
Without giving away too much, you’ve just come back from packing up the family and heading out across some of our favorite country (MT, WY, and ID); what were some of the trip highlights?
Yep, even though we know there is a big wide world out there, our family has a hard time deviating from what has become an annual road trip in and around those three states. Exploring back roads and high country creeks while watching my wife and sons fish more than me is certainly one highlight. Another highlight was hiking ridgelines in the Absaroka Mountains near Beartooth Pass. (I am not sure how I had not been to that area before, given that I worked in Yellowstone for a few seasons.) The views up there were really amazing and seeing how excited our two young boys were to be up there was pretty cool.
Your art is incredibly unique in the fly fishing world; how did you get started creating these beautiful woodcut prints?
I have been interested in printmaking for almost as long as I have been interested in fly fishing. When I was working on my degree in painting and drawing I would make prints when I needed to change things up in the studio, and I kind of fell in love with a lot of printmaking processes. I didn’t really ever focus on making “fish art” until recently; I would just do the occasional fish piece for a friend while working on big “non-fish” paintings. A few years ago I decided I should combine my passion for making art and fly fishing, and it seemed like making woodcut prints along with a few other types of prints would be fun and unique.
We’ll have the second part of Tyler’s interview up tomorrow along with more of his art.
