Matthew DeLorme is an artist and photographer based out of Connecticut.  As an art student, he was focused on sculpture welding and lost wax casting before making the switch to photography.

     During the pandemic, Matthew got into woodblock printing as a way to keep himself busy during lockdown. He fell in love with the medium and was quickly working on large-scale pieces such as “When The River Ran Free,” a 24x48 inch block featuring Cello falls on the Columbia River before the dams were put in.  He says the process feels like black-and-white film photography in some aspects, his sketches are often simple line drawings, while the carved blocks have a rich level of detail.  He prefers to let the wood do the talking and let the details emerge as he carves.

     He draws inspiration from the outdoors and his favorite pastime, fly fishing. DeLorme has had a love of fish and animals since early childhood and has spent countless hours in nature.

August 1 2024 Illustrated by Matthew DeLorme

River Songs is rich with bracing, authentic, generous stories--writing that revels in language and spirit. Avoiding most of fly fishing’s clichés--the romantic elegies, the Moby-Dick-like conquests, the play-by-play detailing a "victory" over a fish-- Steve Duda instead offers pieces that breathe lived experience, reveal vulnerabilities, and convey a broad perspective of what it means to have "a long run with a tight crew." Duda is interested in what has been learned out there on the river: what is it about this "ridiculous activity" that connects us to this planet, makes us human, gives us hope?

River Songs focuses on the in-between moments and the unexpected revelations--awe, fear, frustration, doubt, joy--that are as much a part of fishing as tying knots and chucking flies. Readers ride along with Duda in battered pickup trucks, fish "between jobs," look longingly at unfished famous rivers while touring with a country-punk band, and wonder how a fishing trip led to getting a tooth pulled while being surrounded by trash-talking friends. They will find beauty, discovery, heartbreak, good dogs, and the wonder of nature within the expanse of Northwest landscapes and beyond.