Chicago Expo

Back from Chicago after a succesfull three-day show at the Great Waters Fly Fishing Expo. Was totally exhausted by Sunday, but had a terrific time.

The booth space looked great - went with two side-by-side spaces:



The extra space gave me room to set up displays of some of the blocks and tools I'm using:



Friday was a bit slow (as expected) but there was constant traffic Saturday and Sunday. I talked myself hoarse both days. It is so much easier explaining this stuff with real examples on hand, rather than trying to pulll it out of the air while the audience looks on with a blank stare....

I'm 5 hours from Chicago, and yet had a ton of good friends stop by. Good buddies from Milwaukee droped in, one of which even bought something, instead of going for the free stufff....



it was a weekend of great food: our fine friend "The Chicago Batman" from the city came out and grabbed us and took us downtown for some great Italian. If you're ever in Oak Park, check out Cucina Paradiso.

On the way home, my ride and I stopped and had dinner in Madison with another mutual friend at the Inca Heritage. Terrific food.

Please join us for an open studio, Sunday Dec 6th

Please join us for an open studio, Sunday Dec 6th

-just north of El Paso, Wisconsin-

South of Baldwin on Hwy 63
East (left) on Hwy 29E (1 1/2 mi)
South (right EXACTLY 2.5 mi)
N7107 County Rd N
715-778-4473

John Turula ceramic and steel stools
www.nopointinK.com

Mark Nuebel
www.nopointinK.com

John and Sophie Koch
www.troutlillystudios.com
http://troutlilystudios.blogspot.com
http://srosek.wordpress.com


Margy Jean Balwierz
www.handmadetiles.blogspot.com

Margy's studio is open any day, please call ahead 715-778-4473

There's a little river town nearby that's sort of got it figured out, I think. Once a year, this little town gets together to have a picnic, in honor of, and to celebrate, a tiny little brook trout creek.from the Mill Stream Associations http://millstreamassociation.com/?p=35 website:"Its primary goal is to be the guardian of the “Mill Stream,” protecting it and its brook trout against any potential hazard caused by water quality degradation, public use issues and/or development. They had the foresight to recognize what a unique resource the Mill Stream is and sought to spread the word through community outreach and education"I can't think of anything better to celebrate, can you?

And so, despite not being from there, Sophie and I were fortunate enough to be invited (again - I think this is the 3rd year I've done this...) to be part of the celebration by displaying our artwork.

Pour a SIP...On the way home, we agreed that ice cream was in order. I had worked at a little greasy spoon some 20 years ago in nearby Afton, and I remembered that there was an ice cream shoppe right next door. We headed on down.But alas, Lerk's is no more:

How many hours I had sweated over that tiny cast iron grill is anyone's guess. I had spent a steamy summer in college one year, churning out stacks of greasy, gooey cheeseburgers and grilled cheese sandwiches 5 nights a week every week, for what seemed a never ending line of over weight, wind-blown, sun-burned tourists coming off the river.

But now she's all locked up. I guess with all the memories of the place what they are, I should be happy, but I somewhere inside I guess I was hoping to see the place still in business.

2009 Creative Drive Wrap-Up

Trout Lily Studios was once again a stop on The Creative Drive, 2009 being our 5th year . Along with my woodcuts, my daughter had great fun exhibiting her colored pencil drawings of butterflies and moths.

Local photographer Don Blegen joined us this year. Don's outdoor photos (which have appeared in outdoor magazines like Field & Stream, Outdoor Life, and Wiscosnin Natural Resources over the years) went very well with my prints.

The River Chocolate Company supplied gormet chocolates and, my friend Jeff Pierce from Great Ciao supplied artisan cheeses to gnosh on. I took the opprotunity to serve my home-made Plum wine and Black Currant Port, which apparently were well recieved(!)


I'm afraid I've callously led my daughter over the edge: she made a good chunk of change off her prints and cards, and can't wait to blow it with a trip to the art store. Beats working at Dairy Queen, IMHO...

Here's some photos my good friend Bob Weisner took:

the un-assuming "studio". A machine shed built about 1917 or so:



inside - ProPanels are the best.





The spread: 3 artisan cheeses (a locally made Emmenthalier, a wedge of Trumpeter Meadow, and my favorite, a chunk of raw milk Blue), fried Spanish Almonds, Spanish Fig and Apricot breads. And of course, wine (the commercial Smoking Loon Savignon Blanc didn't get opened...)



and at 5:00 Sunday, we turned out the lights, shut the door, and Eli and I went fishing

2009 Creative Drive

Trout Lily Studios will again be a stop on the 2009 Creative Drive, May 2 & 3, from 10am - 5 pm each day. The Creative Drive is a driving tour featuring the work of over 40 artists located at 6 different sites in the rural heart of Western Wisconsin.

(click to enlarge/print)

At Trout Lily Studios, I'll have my latest work from last fall and winter on display. It was a good printing year, and there are lots of new prints to show. We've printed out a bunch of Sophie's drawings, and are excited to have on hand several posters and smaller sized prints featuring her work. And we'll have on hand a large assortment of our popular greeting cards.

We're also very excited to announce that Al at the River Chocolate Company has once again agreed to display some of their fine, fine chocolates for folks to sample and purchse. We'll have a few home made wines and terrific cheeses on hand, too. We wouldn't want to risk anyone going thirsty or hungry.

It's the regular Wisconsin fishing opener, and we're right around the corner from the Rush River - make sure you bring your flyrod along. What could be better? See what's new at the studio, pick up a gift or two, eat some award winning chocolate, wash it down with a little black currant port, and THEN GO FISHING!