I don't recall exactly when I first came across Travis Sylvester's artwork, but when I did I fell in love with it. It was while I was spending too much time on Facebook that his work etched my retinas. It was this stunning vibrant color image of a brook trout rising to the surface. I had to know more about this artist and his work. I've always been a sort of closet art geek. When the media is environmental and ichthyological oriented I tend to gravitate toward it. I've seen his other works on ipad covers and fancy flask covers, but didn't realize these were creations of his. The other oddity was that I learned the brook trout photo that Travis used was taken by none other than Kevin Hospodar a Hatches magazine man behind the scenes. Kevin and I have been working together for a year or so and he has always been over the top in helping me get articles submitted into Hatches online magazine. I had shown my family several of the pieces that Travis had created and mentioned how much I like them. As father's day was approaching, my wife informed me that the there was surprise coming in the mail, and that it might not be here by father's day. This was fine by me, but I wondered what it could be, since artwork from my kids, a fine craft brew, and some barbeque are usually enough to make my day. As my day came and went my wife would ask every couple of days, "no package came in the mail today?" After several days it became apparent that something wasn't right with the mystery gift. My wife filled me in that she had ordered a print from Travis for me and it may be lost in the mail. I could see the frustration she was feeling and she contacted Travis to let him know. The package was suppose to have been delivered by Fed Ex. Fed Ex claimed that they had delivered it to our back door almost a week before. In order for Fed EX to deliver to our back door they would have to go around a fence, around a work shed, and then through the fence to deliver it. We searched the entire perimeter of our house. There is no way a Fed Ex driver would go through all that. It became apparent that they must have delivered it to the wrong house. Not to drag this out, but for the next five weeks we came to learn that our neighbors who rent a portion of their house out, have a scumbag for a tenant. What kind of person steals a package that was delivered to the wrong house, and that house being fifty yards away? A scumbag whore with scumbag children that's who. You can't blame the kids, but if you raise them without morals, they grow into adults without morals. The Fed Ex driver is at fault as well, but it was an honest mistake and he returned to the wrong house to investigate the incident to no avail. Enough said, not really but it still makes bile in my throat to think about it. My wife, Travis, and Fed Ex went through countless emails and claim forms. Travis was top notch through the entire thing and it was embarrassing for us to have to jump through all these hoops because of dishonesty and human error. Eventually a replaced print was delivered and father's day was complete. Stunning to say the least is what I can say of the heart that went into the photo, the print, and my family to make this gift so memorable. The print is now situated into my tying room for me to reflect and pull inspiration from. Thank you all for art and hearts.
Inspiration move me brightly....Terrapin Station, Grateful Dead
Links to Kevin's photography and Travis's Art are here:
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