BadAxe Design

I can remember the weekend like it was yesterday.  So many great things happened that weekend - I met Sweet Chili, Steve Martinez, who happened to have a broken tooth (I come from a family of dentists) and needed some emergency pain management, to meeting his guiding parter Kevin Morlock who my wife was enthralled by since she recently saw him on TV, to spending some quality time getting to know Austin Adducci while enjoying some sudsy adult beverages.  It was the weekend of the Chicagoland Outdoor Show up in Huntley a handful of years back.  We even found the dog we would soon adopt that weekend.  

It was as I was doing the normal rounds of the show, for me, looking for random types of jerky when I stumbled on a small booth in the corner, a small stock of hats and some prints.  The print that caught my eye was a set of red trout, with the outline of the state of Wisconsin.  The next, a red and blue sunburst behind a trout, only this time it's on a hat.  I walked over and introduced myself, "Hey, I'm Jonathan, nice to meet you" he replied.  This was his first show, just getting his start.  We talked for a while, exchanged business cards, and a friendship was born.  Fast forward to today and he's one of my best fishing buddies.  He's a family man, with an awesome wife who fishes, two great kids and if you've bought a Yeti in the last couple years, he's had a hand in getting it to your door.  

I've been able to watch him grow from a guy running his first table at an outdoor show, to becoming a signature artist for Korkers.  It's been pretty awesome, opening Fly Fish Journal and seeing his work, or seeing an interview he did with a blog.

A little while back I swung through the Madison area and stopped by his studio to hang out with he and the fam.  To watch him work, printing and cutting, drawing and painting, it's neat to watch something take shape and then see it come to life on a t-shirt or hat, or inside a frame on the wall of my office.  

Go check out his website and learn a bit more about how he works and the steps it takes to create some of his original work.  

BADAXE DESIGNS - Jonathan Marquardt

Revive Fly Fishing Mag

I've been proud to have contributed in the past, and it's always great to see the stellar product getting kicked out by the CB Crumpler and the boys at Revive.  They delivered another dose of solid photography, some great writing, and as always a killer layout.  Only an article in, but expect this to live up to the norm they're putting out with every new issue.

Give it a look!

REVIVE FLY FISHING

Revive Volume 2, Edition 2 Cover (photo by - Matt Guymon)

Hobbies

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Trout Wreath

Origami is nothing like fly tying. Granted you have some tools in common:  waste basket, scissors, x-acto knife, swearing, and you are usually sitting down in a well-lit area sometimes with a drink. It also uses your small motor skills and results in something that is pleasing.

However, you would never cast an origami creation. So maybe they’re like full dress Salmon flies? You only use them for decoration.

Origami has one neat thing and it’s about the instructions: they are either easy to follow, in Japanese or you have to learn what all the little arrows and diagrams mean when you sit down with a piece of paper in front of you.

However, this little jewel is quite easy to fold as you only have to make one piece and then assemble them and there is a great book if you’re interested in what do with all those pretty calendars that your friends give you as a holiday or birthday gift. You fold them up into wreathes instead of cutting them into little squares that you mix epoxy on.  

So the next time you have an old calendar and are about to chuck it into the trash,  you should buy this book:  http://www.amazon.com/Trash-Origami-Materials-Full-Color-Instructional/dp/0804841357, cut the calendar up into squares and fold up a wreath.

I’d publish the instructions but I’d violate copyright laws but it’s easier than it looks and you can impress your significant other with your new found skills in paper folding. And yes, you still get to use sharp objects and face dangerous situation, like getting a paper cut or slicing your thumb with an x-acto knife.

Couple of quick notes: use glue on the pieces if you want to them to stay together permanently. The wreaths can come apart as paper is affected by weather changes. Make sharp creases by using your fingernail or if you’re thinking, wow, I’d like to do a lot of these (which you might do after a couple of beers) and get a bone folder as it helps in folding.

So there you go something to do when you’re not fishing, tying flies, or thinking about all of the above, also, you can do this while you’re watching TV.

Try this at home! Then try a crane. Then go back to tying.

Stuart