One on One - Jonathan Marquardt

This month, I wanted to reach out to a Midwestern artist focusing on different types of fish themed art, Jonathan Marquardt of BadAxe Design.  I've had the pleasure of knowing Jonathan for a number of years now, back in the days before the name BadAxe was just a great trout stream in Wisconsin.  Since that time, I've been lucky enough to have a great seat to watch someone take a passion and turn it in to something so cool.  We enjoy each others company on the stream as often as possible, and have shared a ton of laughs and lots of good times.  He's a fishy dude with a great family and passion for the outdoors.  He's really living his art.  

I'm sure many of you know his art, so now sit back and get to know the artist.  And if you've got an open spot on your office wall, be sure to swing by his Etsy shop and grab yourself a print.  

 

Tell me a bit about yourself.

I love Wisconsin for so many reasons and love living here with my family.  We love the outdoors and this state has it all.  I am married with two boys and we are expecting a little girl this fall and we are very excited.

Is art your full time job?  If not, what do you do 9-5?

It is not and I am thankful for that.  I have a great circle of work, life, passion going with a full time gig at YETI coolers that has me traveling a lot and meeting all kinds of great people.  My spare time finds me in my home studio or out fishing with my wife Megan.

How long have you been fishing?  Fly fishing?

My dad took me to the Blue Quill in Evergreen, CO when I was 16 or 17 for an Orvis school.  I fished throughout college, but my skills really developed after school when I moved to Wisconsin and started fishing here.

What got you interested in fly fishing?

I’d be lying if I didn’t credit A River Runs Through It.  It think that inspired lots of people, but they’re afraid to say it.  More than the movie is the person who took me to see it, my dad.  My dad is an obsessed fisherman and fishing is his single passion.  I grew up fishing with him all the time and eventually became curious about fly fishing.  

Tell me a bit more about BadAxe Design.

BadAxeDesign is my studio and takes its name from the stream in southwestern Wisconsin.  It wasn’t meant to be a play on words.  

How does someone as good looking as you, end up as an artist and not a model?  Did you ever consider using your good looks for financial gain?

Ha ha.  I’m not sure what to make of this question other than to say that after a very lucrative career modeling in Europe I decided to throw in the towel and start a career making art and selling coolers.

It seems that you’ve risen to stardom pretty quickly, including landing the cover of The Fly Fish Journal, how has it been growing you studio and getting out there?

I am very grateful for the opportunities that have come from it and am thankful for the friends I have made.  The fly fishing world is a small one and the people in it are very supportive.  It also helps that most everyone is addicted to fish and whether they are catching fish or thinking about fish they usually like to cover their walls with pictures of fish.  

What’s been your favorite piece or project you’ve done so far?

I recently fished a commission piece entitled “Brook Trout Rising” and I am very proud of it.  Measuring 16x16,” it was one of the larger pieces that I have printed by hand.

What’s been the coolest thing to come from your art work so far? i.e. accolades, sponsorships, donated pieces, etc.  

I guess it would be that I was always making these prints and they were just piling up in my basement studio.  The coolest experience has been putting myself out there and getting such a warm reception.  I will never get tired of sharing my work with others.  The best compliment an artist can receive is to have someone purchase their work and display it proudly.  

What are your favorite art mediums to work in, other than finger paints?  

When  I am not finger painting or drawing in crayon, my favorite medium is block printmaking.  I have been following some other artists on Instagram who are working in large format.  I am going to attempt my largest piece yet this summer.  More to come on that.  

How much of your work is linocuts verse painting these days?

I would say 80% printmaking and 20% painting.  I sketch in pencil and watercolor.  Changing mediums is good to clear the head sometimes.

Tell me how you go about creating a piece?  Do you start with a photo?  

I start with a couple reference photos and use those to compose a sketch of the final piece.  Once the sketch is done I add a few color references so I can keep the layers in order for full color prints.  Single color pieces are not as complex in the planning phase.  I hand draw the image onto the face of the block in reverse and then start carving. 

If I told you to close your eyes, and picture your perfect fishing scenario, what we are we looking at?  Streamers in a deep pool?  Risers up and down a long stretch of river?  

Small stream, fish rising.  I love rising trout on a small stream with a small rod.  Sorry I’m not sorry.

Dragging mice across the surface to massive rainbows?  Bonefish on the flats? -  What are you doing and where?

We just got back from Florida where my wife got her first tarpon on the fly.  I backed her up with a nice tarpon myself.  Both fish ate within 25 feet of the boat which was sweet.

I know your job and fishing have taken you all over, but what’s been your favorite trip/place to wet a line?

There are so many great places that we enjoy fishing.  If I had to pick a favorite, it will always be Montana.  I went to school in Bozeman and it is a special place to me.  Megan and I head out there every year to fish the small streams and float the Yellowstone.

For all the groupies out there, where can we go to buy a print, learn more about your different projects or get a bit more Jonathan?

www.badaxedesign.com or visit my Etsy store: www.etsy.com/badaxedesign  Thanks!


Jonathan battled the cold for last year's Early Season Opener and though cold, we produced fish on streamers, dries and nymphs.  Just the right kind of day!

 


Rewriting a Curse

Really, it totally depends on how you look at it.  Either we took a long storied tradition and proved it's really just a fisherman's tale, or we missed out on a day that truly would have been epic.  

Anytime you can land a ride in a guide's boat on his day off, you don't turn it down.  Two hundred and twenty days a year, people pay for that chance.  And a beautiful day was expected. 

Per the weatherman's best guess, it would be a great day to be outside - the perfect Spring day.  I left the house early, and in a rush.  Scrambling to get the coffee going and my contacts in my eyes, the dog nipping at my ankles trying to get a morning treat after sniffing the bushes in the backyard.  As the sun began to fill our bedroom, I reached for the first pair of pants I could find, threw them on, grabbed some socks and a couple of long sleeve shirts and bounded down the stairs.  I filled the Hydroflask with a triple shot espresso, grabbed some ice for the cooler and headed out to the garage.  Tossing the last few things in the car, the sun stopped peaking over the horizon and quickly filled the sky.  Before I knew it, I was rolling in to Warner Bridges.  

As I rolled in, Austin appeared around the bend and hopped in.  Bill was waiting at Bird Park, drift boat loaded and ready to roll.  As we met Bill, I quickly noticed neither happened to be wearing their waders.  "It's gonna be beautiful," Austin said.  "Whatdaya need waders for?"  At that exact moment, I couldn't have agreed more.  But quickly a realization came over me - I was wearing my work pants.  Business casual, heavy cotton slacks - exactly what you don't want to be wearing on a drift boat for a warm day of fishing in the sun.  Suddenly I was hoping my Lucky Brand khakis were just that, lucky.  

As we got the rest of the boat packed up, Bill was the first to notice.  One of the most superstitious rules in the fly fishing world was broken - a banana had made it's way on board.  I won't point fingers, but it's presence was immediately feared, mocked and laughed at all at once.  Some of us tried to fight it, hesitating to get in the boat.  But it was what it was, and had already been tossed on board.  Our fate was sealed, or was it?

As we made our way down river, we jockeyed from one side of the river to the next, with Austin sliding us from hole to hole, looking for prime water.  Strip, strip, strip, pick up, re-cast.  Strip, strip, strip, pick up, re-cast.  The thing about streamer fishing is what it does to my heart.  I can't speak for you, but with every strip, I'm hoping to feel the tug.  The anticipation building from cast to cast, I truly expect a fish to be in every perfect spot, and hope every good cast is awarded.  It wouldn't be too late in the day before my desire for a tug was satisfied, the skunk was knocked off the boat and we could forget about the curse of the banana and focus on finding "the" pattern for the day.  

A nice fat smallie rolled on my streamer, putting a nice big bend in my Fenwick six weight.  It was great, the first fish on my new, classic fiberglass rod and a my first smallie of the year.  With a fish on the board, I busted out the powdered donuts and someone ate their banana.  And that's when things turned on.  

Bill, chilling in the back of boat, decided to flip the switch.  It wasn't before long that it seemed like I was merely inviting the smallies to the dance, but Bill was filling their dance card.  From the front of the boat, I couldn't have been happier.  It's fun watching someone catch the biggest smallmouth of their life, and then doing the same thing with the next fish.  The kid was on fire!  

With every cast and oar stroke, Austin and Bill put on a clinic.  Austin showing us the best parts of the river, hitting the best holes, rowing upstream to help me get my streamer out of the trees, and Bill was picking fish out of every run it seemed.  From alongside the boat, to inches from the shore, in deep holes and on shallow banks, Bill had it zeroed in.  

It's days like these where I tend to wish the river wouldn't end, the pull out would just stay another mile down stream.  The fish were biting, the conversation and laughs were flowing and the weather was outstanding.  Just the kind of day you'd order up, given the chance.  And best of all, the Kankakee hippos stayed just downstream of us.  Or were they staying just ahead of Bill, waiting for us to slip up?  But in the end, the question still remains - had we debunked the myth of the banana, or was a great day tempered by a storied curse?  I'll go with the former and stand confident that with the right guide and fishing partner, the fish will be found.