Lovers of wildlife and fine art might want to angle on over to the Connecticut Audubon Society of Fairfield this weekend. Its annual "Birds in Their Habitat" exhibit features works by dozens of artists, including Easton's James Prosek, who will also be on hand to sign copies of his books.
Since age 9, when most boys were studying baseball cards, or playing with Matchbox cars, James has been focusing his attention on fish. His obsession got to the point that at age 21, he published his first book, "Trout: An Illustrated History," featuring watercolors of 70 different types North America trout.
"I could've painted 600 fish, and they all would have looked different," James said. "I think it opened people's eyes to the diversity of trout."
After graduating from Yale in 1997, he continued to turn out books about his true love, fishing. His next effort was "Joe and Me: An Education in Fishing and Friendship," which tells the story of his relationship with Joe Haines, a park ranger who became his friend after catching him poaching fish in Easton's reservoir.
Since then, James has added nine more books to his résumé, mostly about fishing. And his art has taken off as well, being featured in galleries from New York to Ghana. He's won a slew of awards, including the Peabody Award for his documentary "The Complete Angler," and most recently the 2010 Artist of the Year Award from the Connecticut Audubon Society. The latter brings James' career full circle. The famed naturalist John James Audubon was one of the inspirations for his first book more than a decade ago, he says.
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