Brian Hester, a native of Boone, North Carolina, grew up waist deep in whatever river water he could find so he could develop his craft and love for fly-fishing. He found the outdoors and the Blue Ridge Mountains to be a limitless sanctuary that cultivated his interest in art and acted as a channel for him to embrace his observations and surroundings while fishing the waters from Banner Elk to Linville all the way back to West Jefferson. “The mountains of North Carolina are home to me, and it is where I can breathe.”  This heightened curiosity would play a key role in the creation of his art and writing. The passion and mission that ensued elevated his drive and awareness to recreate his subject matter as a “vision of a world that could not be defined either by being above the water, below the water or both.” Brian's charge is to capture what is usually “unseen,” and the inverse relationship(s) created from the wonderful world of fly-fishing. The symbiotic relationship between Brian’s fly-fishing and his art is simple, without one, the other does not exist.

Brian has been a visual arts teacher for 29 years. In addition to teaching in the classroom, he's also taught hundreds of people to love fly fishing almost as much as he does. He is a professional artist and sculptor.