Ray Troll, a guy who has some of the most unique fish artwork, is here today to share the story of how he got started with his career as an artist and how he became so fascinated with fish. We hear about the inspiration behind some of his famous pieces including, “Spawn Till You Die” and “Fish Worship, Is It Wrong?”. We dig into some of his books – how they came to be, and even get a hint about his upcoming book, Fish Head.
Ray also tells us about his podcast called, Paleo Nerds covering some very interesting topics about art and science. If you don’t know Ray, you are in for a treat today. His art, which some people describe as “Scientific Surrealism”, has a touch of humor and horror.
Click below and listen to the Podcast with Ray Troll:
Find the show: Apple | Spotify | Overcast
(Read the Full Transcript at the bottom of this Blog Post)
Sponsors and Podcast Updates
Show Notes with Ray Troll
07:14 – Someone described Ray’s art as “Scientific Surrealism” and somehow Ray agrees to it
08:01 – Linda Leary, founder of FisheWear was on the podcast at WFS 280
08:17 – Ray lives in Ketchikan, Alaska and it rains a lot there – you have to be a Pluviophile to like or appreciate living in his area
11:27 – Ray Troll’s Fish Worship – Is It Wrong? – he dreamt about this one
13:40 – Ray and Brad Matsen wrote Shocking Fish Tales (1991)
14:23 – Ray and Brad did a second book called, Planted Ocean: Dancing to the Fossil Record (1994)
18:43 – Ray has his Saber Tooth Salmon piece at the Oregon Coast Aquarium exhibit (Cruisin’ the Fossil Coastline Exhibit) – this art was inspired by a real salmon, a 5 million-year-old giant salmon
24:45 – Ray’s salmons swimming in a forest mural at the University of Alaska
25:26 – Ray’s mural at the University of Washington called, Fishes of the Salish Sea
27:53 – Take the fish quiz here – see how many fish you can name
28:56 – Ray Troll has a podcast called Paleo Nerds
30:26 – What a Sea Squirt looks like
34:13 – Elpistostege
34:23 – Tiktaalik
36:39 – Dr. Neil Shubin was on the Paleo Nerds podcast and talked about his book, Your Inner Fish
37:15 – John Long was on the Paleo Nerds podcast
37:39 – Next year will be Ray’s 40th year living in Alaska
38:20 – Ray tells the story of when he first got to Alaska
49:10 – That artwork Ray drew of himself waking in the middle of the night being haunted by that salmon and rockfish that he killed
53:14 – Ray wrote a song called, Fish Worship – Is It Wrong? (scroll down to listen to it)
53:49 – Ray tells the story of how the Paleo Nerds podcast came to be
59:09 – Ray gives a shoutout to Jerry Smith – Jerry was on his podcast
1:01:44 – Ray’s got another booking coming called, Fish Head which will be published by Clover Press
Check out Ray’s website at TrollArt.Com
You can find him on Instagram too @ray.troll
Their podcast at PaleoNerds.com
Videos Noted in the Show
Related Podcast Episodes
WFS 280 – FisheWear with Linda Leary – Women’s Fly Fishing Apparel
Read the Full Podcast Transcript Below
Conclusion with Ray Troll
Ray Troll shared the story of how he got started with his career as an artist and how he became so fascinated with fish. He told us about the inspiration behind some of his famous artwork and books. Ray also told us about his podcast called, Paleo Nerds covering some very interesting topics about art and science.
![](https://wetflyswing.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/download-29.jpeg")
