Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

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norcal_1
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Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#1

Post by norcal_1 »

Jack Smrekar fly framing ***
==============================================

email: jacksmrekar@gmail.com
541-999-1357
Florence, OR

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/for ... ing.15763/


Have many of you been to the Fly Fishing Museum in Florence Oregon? If it's still open, it is pretty interesting. I was last there maybe 12 years ago. The curator was a gentleman named William Cushner. I believe he has passed by now but his son in law (Jack Smrekar) has carried on William's artform (framing flies). William was the curator of the postage stamp collection at the Smithsonian for 50 years or so and was a master at framing art pieces. He had functioning equipment in his basement that hasn't been made in maybe 100 years. An odd thing about William was that he knew nothing about fly fishing however he had many friends that were super-notables of the first part of the century. Widows gave him bamboo rods, reels, etc. that belonged to very famous anglers and it is (or was) on display in this little house (280 Nopal St.). He also had hundreds, maybe thousands of pre-tied flys on gut leaders (circa 1910) that had been stored for decades in the basement of one of the old New York sporting goods establisments (Abercrombie's I think) after it closed. William's framing was remarkable. One I remember was a fly framed in a shadow box. The fly was mounted on a revolving fiber-optic narrow cylinder that both turned the fly and illuminated it. Is a cool place.

The museum in Florence is a real treasure. It is one of those small and very personable specialty museums. The last time I visited (over 17 years ago); Jack was still sorting through Cushners extensive collection. I spent a few memorable hours with him up in the attic as he sorted through an incredibly large and historic pile of fly fishing history. William Cushner's collection was eventually split. Part of it went to the American Museum of Fly Fishing, in Manchester, Vt., part to the The Sport Fishing Museum on Granville Island, Vancouver, BC and part stayed with Williams' son in law, Jack Smrekar, in Florence, Oregon. I have not been to the Vermont museum but I can say that a trip to either Florence or Vancouver is well worth the time. The Vancouver museum also has a substantial reel collection as well as some nice rods. If you are truly interested in visiting either place, plan to spend a few hours.
Vancouver has the added advantage of being on Granville Island which allows uninterested friends or family to stay occupied for a few hours while you indulge yourself at an unhurried pace.

Jack Smrekar continues William Cushners craft of Fly Plate framing. To learn more about Jack, William and the history of the framed fly go to http://www.anglerschoiceframing.com
Last edited by norcal_1 on 03/12/18 06:38, edited 3 times in total.

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gt05254
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#2

Post by gt05254 »

Sadly, the anglers choice web address doesn't work for me. AMFF has a little more than 200 of Bill Cushner's framings...they are really something!
Gary

P.S. a good, long article on Bill Cushner here: http://www.jackberryman.com/uploads/-194.pdf

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#3

Post by norcal_1 »

^thx Gary, I knew you would know him and that is a fantastic article

tackleman
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#4

Post by tackleman »

I am fortunate to have one of his framings and for having met Bill at his home/gallery in Oregon.
It is very special and amazing craftsmanship.

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#5

Post by norcal_1 »

more on Jack's father-in-law here:

http://www.amff.org/portfolio/william-cushner/

I contacted Jack and am working with him to make a frame for three salmon flies that a Japanese fly tier is creating for it using some of my favorite traditional feathered salmon fly patterns: the Green Highlander, Mar Lodge and Greenwell, all tied in the round formal style (high and tall).All tied on 3/0 hooks....big dramatic flies

The Green Highlander pictured below is the actual one he tied first and the other patterns will be tied in similar round style.

I'll post pictures of the completed framing

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gt05254
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#6

Post by gt05254 »

BTW, the Atlantic Salmon Museum (in Doaktown, NB) was just gifted 290 Cushner framings, plus a ton of other items from the estate of a collector in BC, valued at 500K. Plus they got an anonymous donation of 350K to add on to the museum. Maybe they won't need me to do their annual auction anymore!

They did ask me a little about shipping the collection, etc. (very nice of them) based on my experiences. Here is what the board member responsible for the acquisition said about it, briefly:

"In terms of certified appraisal, the family has engaged the services of a former Vancouver art gallery owner who has extensive experience in art and other appraisals and shipping art. He was the one to compile the appraisal of the collection, which is an inch and a half thick. It is detailed and presented in colour. Once the final discoveries are made (yesterday they discovered a drawer full of original paintings as well as a number of signed and numbered prints that were not in the original list) and the final figure is determined, we will have it. I am comfortable with his appraisal and he is in charge of the packing and loading as well. That is his favour to the family with whom he is a good friend.

I was interested to hear that William Cushner's work is highly regarded. Many of the 290 fly plates in this collection were framed by him. The collection owner was a billionaire who spared no expense in making his collection the best it could be. Fly tyers like Wulff, Krom, DeFeo, Fay, Leyden, Oatman, Sang, Talleur, DeChamberet, Rogen, Simpson, Duncan, Freeman, Haig-Brown, Lingren, and many others are included".

This museum, bless its institutional heart, doesn't have a single professional museum person on its staff or board.
Gary

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

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Post by norcal_1 »

^ Gary,

That's incredible!

Maybe if you're up there visiting this summer you could take photo's and post them? There are almost no photographic examples anywhere on the Internet for Cushner's work despite hundreds of examples in museums

At least they are in public hands and that problem can be corrected

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gt05254
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#8

Post by gt05254 »

I will likely do a BIG blog post on them. They have already taken every thing down off their walls in anticipation (they close for the winter...not much interest in their stuff when the snowmobilers take over from the fisherman, lol). It is taking a full 53' semi to bring the collection east. I know exactly how much stuff that is. When we were shipping
Anglers All around the country, we filled a 53 footer as well.

To say the least, they are happy campers up there at the moment. Now they just need to increase their insurance coverage.

Gary

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#9

Post by norcal_1 »

I found a link to the mother of all fly frame examples from all the major museums around the world, put together by the Sport Fishing Museum in B.C. - includes many Cushners

http://66.51.163.9/fishing/collection/i ... category=1


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Last edited by norcal_1 on 03/27/17 06:46, edited 3 times in total.

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#10

Post by norcal_1 »

this one is incredible,only needs better art in the center

I'll use those oval cutouts with four size 3/0 flies on all sides surrounding a better painting lithograph

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thehersh
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#11

Post by thehersh »

really beautiful stuff

norcal_1
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Re: Jack Smrekar fly framing (museum quality)

#12

Post by norcal_1 »

Wanted to update this post today as I met with Jack Smrekar today. I also acquired another interesting frame this week that I thought I'd share a picture of as well. Jack's are the two on the left. All of these frames will eventually be donated to fly fishing museums, with instructions on the back to do so and where when I'm throwing fly lines in heaven. Jack is one of the nicest, most talented guys in fly fishing memorabilia and it was an honor to work with him and I'm hoping we can collaborate on many more to come.

The first frame has an Ogden Pleissner salmon fishing scene litho plate print along with three salmon flies - a Mar Lodge, a Greenwell and a Silver Grey. The second frame is of a Green Highlander framed with a NH salmon fly stamp I sourced to go with it. Jack Smrekar's father in law William Cushner was the Smithsonian stamp framer and later fly museum framer and I thought the two together would pay tribute to that heritage. Jack's work is the equal of his father-in-law. Museum quality and just incredible attention to detail.

The last frame with the brown wood I purchased recently, and it is of three Jock Scott salmon flies tied as wet flies from the late 1800's/very early 1900's. It's framed along with a period gut leader that I was able to find in the 1907 Abbey & Imbrie catalog. My photography skills don't do justice to the quality of the frames by Jack or the flies and Photobucket wasn't very cooperative getting them uploaded (and I apologize for the image quality - I had to take photos in a spare bedroom to get the glare off the plexiglass).

These are the first frames of many more to come, including a (1) Jock Scott + Jock Scott stamp framed like the Green Highlander; (2) a larger frame with 16 flies from the 'River Runs Through It' 1930's period flies (Potts, George Grant, Bunyan Bugs, etc); another frame w/ circa 1890's Abbey & Imbrie wet flies (twelve) all tied the jungle cock cheeks; (4) Dave Whitlock golden trout stenciled art print with 4 of Dave's hand tied flies below it; a frame with circa 1890's Wm Mills trout flies and (5) many more on the drawing board if I can find the flies.

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and another....all flies hand tied by Dave

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Ron Alcott Durham Ranger
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a vintage frame of late 1800's/early 1900's Jock Scott salmon flies miniturized as wet flies

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Bunyan Bug frame
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Classic Rangeley streamer flies with Henry McDaniel print
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Completed Rangeley streamer frame #1, written about here
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Completed Rangeley streamer frame #2, written about here
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Atlantic Salmon fly frame
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