FISH BRO SHOW

JOE TOMELLERI & RAY TROLL

May 31 – June 29 | 2025

Opening reception at Fish-A-Palooza

While Tomelleri’s illustrations are appreciated for their painstaking precision, Troll’s work is equally admired for its playful detachment from reality. Both artists are rooted in science but share information in distinct ways.

Like many other serendipitous connections that happen in the middle of everywhere, Joe Tomelleri and Ray Troll, artist/fishermen with international reputations and roots in Kansas, finally crossed paths after years of being aware of each other’s work. In 2024, Tomelleri, an original Fish Wizard (a group of ichthyologists who lead an annual fundraiser for the Native Stone Scenic Byway and Volland Foundation in Wabaunsee County Kansas), alerted his colleagues that Ray lived nearby and should be invited to be a featured guest. Ray became an instant favorite of the event’s organizers, and Ray connected immediately to the whole idea of leading people to a clear creek in the Flint Hills to learn about fish! In 2025 Ray is a newly minted Fish Wizard. It was only a matter of time for the obvious to happen – the two fish artists will exhibit their work together at the Volland Foundation Gallery in the FISH BRO SHOW, opening May 31, 2.30pm, at Fish-A-Palooza.

Tomelleri is known for his exacting Prismacolor drawings of fish, accurate down to individual scales, and Troll for his whimsical, surreal, and sometimes irreverent work based on science.

FISH BRO SHOW highlights how art interfaces with science to share information and engage viewers with nature.

Did you know that all Tomelleri’s fish face the left for a reason? It follows standard scientific illustration practice when depicting these gilled vertebrates. Tomelleri writes, “It’s called ‘left-lateral view.’ In the 1800’s, when scientists got serious about having illustrators draw accurate pictures, it became a standard that any tissue samples or dissection or scales pulled for aging be done on the right side of the fish, that is, with the fish snout facing the right of the viewer. So all drawings were done from the left-side of the fish by convention to avoid having to contend with the damaged tissues."

Factual representation is also important to Ray Troll. The part-time Kansan, part-time Alaskan draws on pop-culture and surreal imagery to build meaning in his work. Troll is particularly interested in the interaction between humans and fish, ecosystems and paleontology. Look at Tree of Life below. This work, underlining the artist’s penchant for witty titles, is a prime example of Troll’s ability to fuse facts with surreal imagery. Using the idea of a phylogenetic tree as inspiration, Tree of Life shows a real tree while carefully mapping out the different evolutionary breaks -branches, nodes and clades -with tree imagery. A frieze around three sides of the work drives home our seemingly jumbled yet interconnected evolutionary story.

The Tree of Life, a colorful illustration of a tree with animal and plant life within the leaves and borders.

T H E B R O S

JOE TOMELLERI

Man fly fishing in a river, holding a rod, wearing a vest and hat, with trees in the background.

Joseph R. Tomelleri has been illustrating fishes since 1985. Holding Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in Biology, Tomelleri recognizes the importance of first-hand experience in producing his scientific illustrations. This process has led to trips across North America and beyond where he has collected the majority of his specimens. He photographs the fishes and preserves them for use in the illustrations.

Tomelleri’s expertise is respected by ichthyologists worldwide who often invite him to illustrate newly discovered or endangered species. In 1997, Joe became a founding member and illustrator for Truchas Mexicanas, a binational group of ichthyologists that studies the native trout of Mexico. In 2023, Tomelleri was invited by Colorado Parks and Wildlife to illustrate the newly rediscovered “San Juan Cutthroat trout” and to visit Bear Creek and it’s population of endangered Greenback cutthroats.

Joe works in Prismacolor pencil, and his 1,300+ illustrations have appeared in more than 1000 publications, including Trout and Salmon of North America, Fishes of Alabama, Outdoor Life, The In-Fisherman, and Eddie Bauer.

Joe lives in Leawood, Kansas.

RAY TROLL

Portrait of a man wearing glasses and a cap. He has a beard and the inscription

Troll began drawing dinosaurs at age four.

He draws his inspiration from extensive field work and the latest scientific discoveries, bringing a street-smart sensibility to the worlds of ichthyology and paleontology.

Ray Troll is known for his diverse, often humorous, science-inspired artwork. His art can be found in museums and books, on posters and hoodies, and on literally millions of t-shirts. He has created a dozen books and numerous traveling exhibits, and he also co-hosts the popular Paleo Nerds podcast. Ray believes that everyone should be in a band regardless of talent or ambition, and he headlines his band the Ratfish Wranglers. Ray has received much acclaim but it’s hard to beat the fact that Hydrolagus trolli, a newly discovered species of ratfish, was named in his honor. Ray and his wife Michelle split their time between Ketchikan, Alaska, where they operated a gallery for 31 years, and Lindsborg, Kansas, where they own and operate the Prairie Sea gallery.

Ray earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kansas in 1977 and an MFA in studio arts from Washington State University in 1981.