Salmon River was designed closely with interior designer Delilah Henry and owner Jack O'brien. The original concept came from a 50's style illustration Delilah found; a fish-eye's view of a salmon going after an angler's lure. I suggested we go from there and expand to include more of the story. As size of the mural was being discussed, I simply said the more wall the better. So what started as a fourteen foot mural soon doubled. Delilah and I worked out sketch concepts until we found a direction we liked. As there was more wall, there came the opportunity for more story, also the mural eventually stretched to the point where a small portion of it could be seen from the lobby of the hotel. I took this chance to use the fisherman as both part of the story, and as a silhouetted pose to beckon people from the lobby into the restaurant. The dawn colors also draw the eye as guests walk toward the elevator or stand at the front desk.

    From left to right, the mural story goes something like this: The first panel shows the fisherman making his first cast of the dawn. A bear in the background is also going out for breakfast, but both fishermen are so concentrated on the salmon, they make no notice of each other. In the next panel we see the fisherman's line break the surface of the water. This part of the mural is my 'comic relief' the two fish are more interested in the patterns on the surface of the water that the bait. I named these two fish 'Rosencrantz & Gildenstern'. In the panel below these two characters we see life continuing as normal in spite of the fishing taking place around them. The two largest fish in the center are the climax, with a 'hero' and 'villain' fighting over a jock scot fly fishing lure. Herein also lies a cruel joke as we all know what the prize is for the 'winner' of this fight. In the end panel we see the same bear that started the piece has been successful. Just below him we see the recognizable scarlet of the spawning salmon. This suggests that life continues on through all of this to once again begin the cycle of birth up river.