The Artistic flies of Mark Romero

[tie2fish]

The trip to the Netherlands sounds great, Mark. And I think this most recently-posted fly (Blue Lagoon) is among the very best that I have seen from you. Etherial is the word that first comes to mind, and blue has always been the color I like best.

[willowhead]

Thankx Bill.....i've spent a LOT of time in Holland before......love that country. i was thinkin' just now...........bout what goes through your mind when you sit down to do a fly like this..........or any artistic fly tyin'............for me, a lot of it has to do with why or whatever hook and bead i choose to use at any given time...........i mean i don't really "think" about it that much, or As Much, as just go with a feelin' i may have........if you understand. i mean, i got "Choices" when it comes to beads and hooks............litterally thousands of choices........so i narrow it down by mostly, goin' for somethin' i haven't done in a while.....i mean in terms of size, style, type of bead.......so that i'm always bouncin' back and forth and never getting into a rut. i just did two in the last couple days, actually three days (one took two days), and they are totaly different, in terms of the hooks and beads.......and that is reflected in the end result. Anyway, it's usually just a feelin'.....so i try to switch it up as much as possible...........of course my over-all style is always gonna come thru and i have my limitations obviously.........but what is really important is to constantly be finding new challanges, and to do your best to meet them, and to be learning something. The rest takes care of itself. Tying in such a "Purely" improvisational style is definately not for everyone.....not for most actually.....lol. But i dig it, and what else matters? Kelly saw the Blue Lagoon over on the streamer list, and made reference to it as a somethin' or other "Morsal" for a fish........i thought that was great.
Btw, we're gonna have to maximize our time in Somerset.......i take Misa to Newark airport Mon. morning the 30th.....then i gotta be in Houston on the 3rd of Feb. for a show on the 4th..... It aint to bad.....300+ miles a day for 5 straight days...................RAWHIDE!!!!!

[letumgo]

Mark - I would rank this fly (blue lagoon) as my second favorite fly out of all your jazz flies. Fabulous fly!!! There is still one fly, which you tyed ages ago (with cree hackle, jungle cock eyes and multiple beads), which is my all-time favorite jazz fly.

This is still my number one favorite jazz fly ("Creedence Streams"/page 63): http://www.flymphforum.com/viewtopic.ph ... 620#p21116

[willowhead]

TKX. Ray.....i remember which one your refering to.....it had the see-thru, copperish, boomerang lookin', weird bead in the center of the body..........
wait'll you see the one i just did last night...........somehow i just like how it came out..........it's on a Jens Pilgaard Artistic hook, and you'll have to look closely (hope Misa can get good detail in the pic), but it's a double rib.....gold braid, followed by claret/maroon yarn.....and the yarn kinna hides because it blends with the body dubbing, in color so well........btw, before i forget.....the dubbing is from Trouts Men Enterprises http://www.troutsmen.com i have no idea where i got it. Misa is callin' me for dinner.....

[willowhead]

Ray.....i think that fly is on page 50.........if that's the one you mean? Here's a fly you outta recognize............i was lookin' around and realised i had never posted a pic of it. i'd BEt it was because i was not happy with it...............but i hardly ever am..........so Here it is.............

[willowhead]

Here's a couple pics (that didn't come out that well, and the fly [dressing] got wacked outta position, but no biggie), of the fly i just did on Tue. & Wed. this week. Took you 2 days to create that piece-a-jumk your thinking.......... ..........YUP, it did.........
Just did wanna ask Misako to redo the pics.....so bare with it. ...........give me the impression of a stormy, grey day at sea. And while i've never been "to sea".....i have spent lots of grey days at the ocean.....actually i like the ocean on days like that............anytime you can witness mother nature do her thing, it's always pretty amazing.....fact she be amazing, even when she aint doin' her thing.......funny, and just when might that be.....

[hankaye]

w-h, Howdy;

I can get the idea of what your reaching for... but to me a "Gray Day at Sea" wold have this as the dominate color

http://flymphforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=2430&start=0

Very well done though. I really like the pheasent tail lower wing ????????? Not sure what you'd call the chevroned Blue/black feather
running along the side.
How long is that hook ???????????????

hank

I think Martin's storm has come all the way here... 100 mph winds in Salt Lake City today
(I stay in touch), 80 mph gusts in Santa Fe and Albuquerque today... Got some snow
comming in tonight and some more tomorrow... Get ready East of here...

[willowhead]

Thankx hank..........there is no pheasant feathers in the dressing at all..........there are feathers off bout five different saddles (rooster) in the underwing.....bout a total of (just a guess) 15 to 20 feathers.......3 in the collar.....light blue, dark blue, and dark grey. It's all natural greys, light & dark and dyed light blue, medium blue, dark blue grizzly, etc. Oh and there are some dark CDL feathers in the wing as well.....they're a kinna greyish/brown. The bead veiling (above & below), is all PB.....white, grey and blue, both light and dark. The butt is blue Ostrich, and the tag is dyed blue wool yarn, with a UTC black Holographic tinsel ribbing. Body is white ice chennille with three palmered light grey saddle hackle feathers..........the overwing is all synthetics.............bout a half dozen or more different greyish/blueish/blackish/silver........just all kinna different synthetics, piled one of top of the other or mixed together. And the eye is antique Violin string gut, painted blue.
Hook is a barbless Alex Hayes i painted blue........bout 9 or 10 inches long. All of Alex's hook are barbless..... haven't gone to your link yet.....will do

seconds later.....been there, seen that.....looks identical (in spirit), to the fly from my point-a-view.....i can see the fly shootin' across that water.....

course, you gotta always remember.....as in the title of the fly.....i very often have musical (message), reasons for the names of the flies as well.....

[letumgo]

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!!!
(the most descriptive superlative I could think of to capture the beauty and scope of this fly)

Glorious piece of art Mark. This one is begging for a large finished driftwood base.

PS - The fly you tyed for me ("Ray's Fly") is displayed above my tying desk.

[tie2fish]

I'm letting Ray speak for me on this one .