We’d like to introduce you to Josh May, this years’s artist chosen for the 20th Anniversary of the Fly Fishing Film Tour’s poster and Stonefly Cover. Born and raised in Tennessee and Georgia, Josh spent most of his adult life in Missoula, MT, before eventually moving back to Atlanta where he works as an artist, illustrator and graphic designer. From an early age, May has been engaged in a multitude of creative endeavors, ranging from drawing, oil painting and watercolor, to sculpture, various types of printmaking, and even playing music in touring bands. Josh has been a professional tattooer in the Northwest and Southeast for over twenty years now, and these days spends more time creating mixed media art and murals as a freelance illustrator and designer. Although May’s work spans many mediums and styles, the common thread is a reverence for life, nature, and the interconnectedness of all things.

“I get my inspiration from everything around me, but the driving force is a deep appreciation for the natural world. I live and work in the city, but I try to get out and commune with Nature as much as I can, which 99% of the time means going fishing. I try to target native fish whenever possible, so one of my favorite pastimes is fishing for brook trout in the North Georgia Mountains- but a two hour drive isn’t always in the cards- so fortunately for me, there’s a beautiful tributary of the Chattahoochee just 14 miles away from downtown where I can go after my other favorite native species: The Shoal Bass-they are truly amazing creatures-I love to fish for them and I love to paint them.” Although May cut his teeth fishing for native trout on the Clark Fork and its tributaries, he is a true urban angler. “I will fish any urban pond or creek I can find-and I do. Of course, Ideally I’d rather be on Georgia’s pristine Flint River, but in the meantime, I’ll take what I can get.” Atlanta really is a beautiful city full of trees and random waterways. This juxtaposition between city life and love for solitude in nature often shows up in May’s mixed media work, combining multiple layers of serigraph printing with various paint mediums. May’s love for art, fishing, and the outdoors has given him the opportunity to work with many outdoor brands, from logo and apparel design for guides and outfitters, to illustration and package design for large companies, as well as working with non-profits such as Paddle 4 Tomorrow, Flint Riverkeeper, and Chattahoochee Riverkeeper. May is always willing to donate artwork to a good cause.

“For the art for the F3 Poster, I had the simple idea of mixing a fly reel with a film reel- I thought it’d be fun to fill the frames of the film with little individual illustrations. This being the 20th anniversary of the Film Tour, the F3 folks had the idea to pay homage to some of the posters from years past, so I threw in some of our favorites. I started the project with brush and ink, but knowing that it would be used across print and digital media platforms, I converted the illustration to digital after mapping out the colors with mixed media. Each frame is individually drawn, including the posters- I wanted to represent a bunch of different species and the places they dwell, so I went with Golden Mahseer, Peacock Bass,Permit, Brown Trout, and I couldn’t resist throwing in the “Raja Kaloi.” There are also some brook trout and redfish hiding in the frames.”

To see more of Josh May’s artwork, visit www.jmayart.com or https://jmay.design/
Find him on Instagram @JMay_ATL and @thecosmicstreamer