Marc Seguin
Marc Séguin is a French Canadian painter and novelist whose work is held in several important collections. He splits his time between his home in Montréal, Québec, and his Brooklyn, New York studio. Touching on themes of the politically backward, the environmentally compromised and the socially divided, his work reveals deeper truths about the nature of humanity through images that are not only thought-provoking but beautifully elegiac.
Since 2000, the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Montréal, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec have all acquired major works by Marc Séguin. His prints and paintings can be found in numerous Canadian corporate collections and those of major private Canadian and American collectors. To date, Marc Séguin has held more than 20 solo shows and participated in many more group exhibitions and art fairs around the world, including Madrid, Barcelona, Venice, Berlin, Cologne, New York, Miami, Chicago, Brussels, and Namur.
Marc Séguin has also published 4 critically acclaimed fiction novels – La foi du braconnier, Hollywood, Nord Alice, and Jenny Sauro. He also directed and produced a feature film, Stealing Alice, and directed a documentary entitled The State of the Farm.
3 words to describe Nature?
A Resilient & Beautiful Thing
3 things Nature taught you?
Patience
Violence
Creativity
3 most treasured Nature spots?
The ocean
The island I live on
Anywhere in the wind
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Introspective
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Human, impaired and perfect
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Like being on a spaceship made of rock
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
Like time has passed again
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Unfit to live in nature. It also means I gotta get out of the river and stop fishing for a while.
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
Powerful forces can be invisible. And it draws a smile. Every time.
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Anywhere, as long as it remains wild and not impacted by us.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
Playing and shaping my child’s world with mud.
Jeff Creswell
Jeff Creswell is the co-owner of family owned and operated company, Klean Kanteen. Growing up at the foot of the Sierra, Jeff at an early age developed a passion of the outdoors and the connection between human behavior and the natural world. This passion led him to pursue a degree in Fisheries Biology from Humboldt State University. Jeff worked in the Fisheries field for a few years before taking a job with his family and moving back home to Chico, California where for the past 14 years has dedicated his time to all things Klean Kanteen. There, Jeff has touched every functional role, from driving a forklift to driving the vision and mission of the brand throughout the company. Jeff's unique sense of self, community, and family is a touchstone throughout Klean Kanteen. As an unexpected businessman, Jeff has successfully performed the judo move of replacing himself with folks that have the brand passion and leadership skills to drive Klean Kanteen into the future. Jeff remains a steward of the brands mission, and vision and is executive sponsor of Klean Kanteens Environment and Fair Labor Department, and is often found checking in with the folks at Klean or daydreaming of mountain biking, trail running, fly fishing, and free flowing rivers.
3 words to describe Nature?
Healthy. Wild . Free
3 things Nature taught you?
To be present in the moment
To be observant
That every action has a reaction
3 most treasured Nature spots?
Pacific Ocean
Humboldt Redwoods
Sierra Mountains
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel...?
Refreshed
When you see a forest, it makes you feel...?
Adventurous
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel...?
Full of wonder
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel...?
At Peace
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel...?
Energized
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel...?
The need to hunker down
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
BMX bikes, fishing poles, and best friends exploring the local waterways during summer breaks.
April Vokey
Photo by Jeremy Koreski
April Vokey began fishing as a toddler. By the sixth grade she was saving her allowance for weekend visits to the local tackle shop where she eventually stocked her ‘hand-me-down’ Plano box with every lure and bait she could afford.
After discovering a passion for fly fishing in her late teens, April soon dedicated her entire life to the pursuit. She began her guiding career on the Fraser and Harrison rivers for sturgeon and salmon, but left after several season to found her own guiding operation, Fly Gal Ventures, in 2007 at age 24. The company was built on the basis of the promotion of education and encouragement to those who looked to chase their dreams. She has since established herself as a respected authority in the sport and has traveled the globe in pursuit of gamefish on a fly rod.
Her writing has appeared in numerous industry leading publications including Fly Fisherman, Fly Rod & Reel, and Fly Fusion magazines. In July 2012, April became the first fly angler to be featured in Outside magazine for their “XX-Factor” segment.
Also a popular TV personality, April has been featured on the Outdoor Channel’s Buccaneers and Bones series, 60 Minutes Sports, The Steve Harvey show, Discovery Channel’s Refined, Discovery’s/OLN’s Close Up Kings, and WFN’s Fly Nation TV.
Most recently, Vokey proudly wrote and hosted her own exclusive series, ShoreLines with April Vokey, as shown on the World Fishing Network. The series focuses on fly-fishing’s rich history and the people it consists of. Feeling limited by airtime, she has since branched out with her podcast, Anchored with April Vokey, an uncensored series dedicated to archiving the stories and personalities from some of fly-fishing’s most influential people. The show is one of the only fishing podcasts solely recorded in a face to face environment where April ensures to ask questions apart from the norm.
She now resides in Canada for six months of the year, and in Australia for the other six. Her dog, Colby, travels with her between countries, keeping her safe from grizzlies and kangaroos alike.
She is a FFF certified casting instructor, a fly-tying instructor, an active conservationist, traveling speaker and an eternal student of life and love.
3 words to describe Nature?
Beauty. Balance. Brutality.
3 things Nature taught you?
How small I really am.
That every day on this planet is a gift.
That predatory animals are more ruthless than an ethical human hunter/angler could ever be.
3 most treasured Nature spots?
BC’s north-west
Australia’s north-west coast
New Zealand’s South Island west-coast
When you look at the ocean, it makes you feel…?
Humbled
When you see a forest, it makes you feel…?
Complete
When you see a volcano, it makes you feel…?
Intimidated
When you see a sunrise or sunset, it makes you feel…?
Thankful
When you hear thunder, it makes you feel…?
Invigorated
When you hear the wind howling, it makes you feel…?
Eager to bunker down
Are you an Ocean, Mountain, Forest, or Desert person?
Mountain
On a scale of 1 to 10, how important is Nature to your well-being?
10
Share with us a childhood nature memory?
When I was around seven years old my parents took me to a nearby river. A large, chrome chinook salmon lay dead and washed up on the rocks. It hadn’t spawned yet, but had died from a head injury during its migration. My parents explained salmon and their lifecycles. It was an invaluable lesson. In that moment, I learned: how complex BC’s eco-systems are, how the inevitable death of the salmon had a bigger reward in the end, and that I could catch these enormous creatures if I just waited for them to enter the river. From there I became an angler.