Lessons from a Salt Water Metal Artist and Tarpon Fiend with Ashley Weber

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In this episode we WadeOutThere with Ashley Weber from Florida’s East Coast. Ashley grew up fishing in the Indian River Lagoon system along the “space coast” of Florida where she developed a deep connection with the ocean and salt water fish.

When Ashley attended art school she told her professors she wanted to paint fish and stay in Florida. She started transitioning from painting to metal art her senior year when she decided she wanted to create a metal tarpon for herself, after tarpon brought her to fly fishing. She quickly fell in love with the metal art medium, and it wasn’t long after school that her art became her full time work, and was paying for her many saltwater fly fishing adventures.

We discuss Ashley’s pursuit of metal art from beginner to accomplished artist, conservation efforts in the Indian River Lagoon System, and some of the lessons Ashley has learned following her dreams in art and saltwater fly fishing.

Key Ideas From the Show

When you start fly fishing for those fish, it’s just such a more intimate experience. You’re just so much more connected with them when you start to really study their patterns. You start to really see them in the water. You see them eat. You see how you’re feeding them. You’re noticing their eating patterns… everything about them. So the main thing is their movement. You’re fighting these fish sometimes so close to the boat and you’re watching them jump and all the acrobatics so close to the boat. I feel like the movement, when I started fly fishing for tarpon, that’s when I did definitely change my artwork…because before it was more static and then I was like, these fish really need to be captured moving.
Ashley Weber

I think, coming from fresh to salt is a big adjustment because everything’s a way quicker pace. A lot of times there’s not a gentle way to put things when it has to be said in two seconds. So I think that it can frazzle a lot of people. And I think that the quicker you can learn to find peace in the chaos and be able to like really connect with what somebody’s saying to you, and be able to not only process that information, but then to act on it very quickly… I think that that connection is where you’ll find success.
Ashley Weber

I think that at the beginning, I was always just focused on getting back up on the bow and getting more bow time. And I think that this year kind of started a click for me where I was like, I can learn a lot from the other person that’s fishing with me, whether they’re better or they’re worse. You can see things that they’re doing that you could either improve on, or that you can say, oh, I think I do that and that’s working out well for me.
Ashley Weber

Learn More

To learn about Ashley and her art visit:
Ashley Weber Art.com

Or follow her on Instagram at:
@ashleyweberart

You can inquire about purchasing art or commissioning a piece of metal art by emailing Ashley at:
ashleyweberart@gmail.com