Fishing has been a love and a passion for me since I was a teenager,” says Mimi Matsuda. “It’s such a beautiful way to be intimate with the landscape.” She brings this passion to her art as well.

Matsuda graduated from Portland State University with a bachelor of science degree in biology. She worked the next decade as a park ranger naturalist with the National Park Service in Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks. As a park ranger naturalist, Matsuda educated park visitors about the surroundings and the preservation of wildlife and habitat. She included her love for art in many of her family-oriented programs and is most fond of her Fly Fishing for Families program taught on the Yellowstone River at Nez Perce Ford, just downstream from Fishing Bridge and Yellowstone Lake.

Matsuda is now a full-time artist based in Bozeman, Montana, where she spends her time creating the art that is inspired by one of her favorite pastimes: fly fishing. The fish, the animals, and the landscape tell their stories through Matsuda’s work, whether the medium is pastel, oil, or acrylic.

Mimi Matsuda is featured in many fly shops in Montana and receives much referral work this way; she is also represented by Jack Dennis’ Wyoming Gallery (Jackson, Wyoming). Her art raises funds and awareness for conservation organizations such as Trout Unlimited, the National Audubon Society, the Yellowstone Park Foundation, the Yellowstone Association, the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, and many more.

Note: this text was written in 2011.