Description
‘Steeves’ Firefly’ by Michael Patrick Bailey
Artist: Michael Patrick Bailey
Title: ‘Steeves’ Firefly’
Medium: Oil on Illustration board
Dimensions: 16″ x 20″
Framing: Unframed
Year of Creation: 2023
About the Artwork:
“Steeves’ Firefly is a mid-summer nocturne, featuring an aggressive rainbow trout rising – or better yet, breeching – to a lightning bug cruising over an angler’s dream spot. As a lifelong fisherman, my fishing dreams are historically not about a specific location, but have more to do with trout performing Evel Knievel stunts. That, or casting my line through the guides and off the reel entirely… but, that’s a different painting.
This painting borrows its title from a fly fishing pattern of the same name. Created by Harrison Steeves and designed to mimic the iconic, soft-bodied beetle, Steeves’ Firefly is a simple, buggy little thing. Tied with peacock, mallard, braid, foam, and a little ribbon, it’s an insanely productive fly. Hundreds of experienced anglers will tell you, with a handful of these in your fly box, lightning won’t strike twice, but again and again and again.” – Michael Patrick Bailey
About the Artist:
(Artist Bio)
Michael Patrick Bailey was born in Indianapolis and raised in the Miami Valley just south of Dayton, OH. A self-taught painter, his experience as a lifelong sportsman and lover of the outdoors blazed the trail for him to become an award-winning wildlife artist. Michael’s work strives to be more than bucolic landscapes and serene animals, it’s a study in aloneness — hoping to evoke memories of contemplative moments and quiet connection with the viewer, the artist, these creatures, and the places we all call home.
His wildlife and landscape works are featured in many private and public collections and have been shown in New York, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Salem, Cheyenne, Livingston, Honolulu, and beyond.
Additionally, Michael is a published illustrator — his works include the comics Uprooted, The Happy, and the Le Poux series, as well as the children’s books Now We Are Seven and Stella Rose and the Sea Dragon.