Battenkill Shadow Box

 Some years ago, in a conversation with my old friend, the late John Betts, I was bemoaning the fact that there are "artsy" maps of lots of the western rivers that you can buy as a wall-hanger, but very few of eastern rivers of any notoriety, fly fishing-wise.   A few months later (we're talking somewhere in the vicinity of 1999) a package from Denver arrived at my door...a gift from John.  It contained all kinds of goodies for the base map of the Battenkill he had drawn:

In the intervening 20 or so years, I got myself into creating shadow boxes, primarily related to Atlantic salmon fishing and flies which I typically have donated to Miramichi Salmon Association and/or the Atlantic Salmon Museum for their fundraisers.  Occasional commissions have helped keep my little framing boat afloat, so to speak, allowing me to purchase needed materials like matboard and especially the rough lumber (primarily cherry and oak) that I use to create the frames.

Speaking of lumber and wandering far from the title topic (as usual), I have a great source of cherry, red oak and walnut (which I don't use much; never really cared for it) about ten miles from me down in  North Pownal, Vermont.   A pile like this, which I bought yesterday, cost me all of 65 bucks.  Those boards are 10 to 12 feet long, and 8 inches wide.  Four quarter thick, and already lightly planed.

Weapons of mass construction;

The jointer, planer and table saw help me turn those big boards into smaller boards:

Which become frames.

But I digress!!   When I was the executive director of a fly fishing museum, I was able to buy shadow boxes with maps and flies for fundraisers from a generous gentleman, Barry Mill, whose company was Sawdust and Stitches.  Sadly, Barry passed away several years ago.  But the map/fly idea for me came from him.

Cut to the present day:   I finally decided to take John's map out of mothballs, and use it as the centerpiece of a shadow box all about the Battenkill.   Now, what flies to use?  Didn't take long to settle on some streamers designed by Battenkill legend, Lew Oatman.  His flies are particularly noteworthy for their tapered floss bodies...as well as their fish fooling capacity.   I settled on his "Dr. Oatman", "Shushan Postmaster" and "Battenkill Shiner."   Stuff about Oatman and his flies is readily available in books and, of course, the well-googled internet.  Joe Bates' book, Streamer Fly Tying and Fishing (Stackpole; several printings) has lots o' info on Oatman and his flies.

I have a printer (Epson WF-7710) that will handle up to 13x19 inch sheets, and also handles heavy,  #140, cold pressed watercolor paper, which is what I used to print the map and fly names on.  I always like to see the names of flies, and even who tied them, in shadow boxes.   And the watercolor paper is good to go, from an archival standpoint.

So, long story short, here is the shadow box.  I am doing it in a limited edition of only 10 framings.  The first four of the ten have already been sold.  You can click on the pics to enlarge them.

The cost is $175 incl. shipping and insurance anywhere in the lower 48.  If you live within 45 minutes of me, I'll personally deliver, and reduce cost appropriately.  If you're outside the lower 48, there will be additional shipping charges.  Might add another 25 to 35 bucks.   The sales of these framings will allow me to purchase more materials to make more framings that will raise important funds for Atlantic salmon conservation and Atlantic Salmon Museum operations.

You can contact me at gt05254@sover.net if you're interested.

Cheers,

Gary T.

LOL, I MUST NOT HAVE CHARGED ENOUGH FOR THIS FRAMING; IT SOLD OUT IN A DAY.