Frank Stick was a student of Howard Pyle in 1908, at which time he shared a studio with Harvey Dunn at 804 Orange Street in Wilmington, Delaware. He met his future wife Maud Hayes while in Wilmington and she often served as his model for illustrations.
Much of Stick's early work consisted of adventure and sporting pictures. His first published illustration was for Sports Afield in 1903. The Call of the Surf was co-authored and illustrated by Stick, and is one of the first published books on surf fishing. He was also known for illustrating books on fishing by Zane Grey, who he also fished with.
From the late 1920s until 1942 Stick stopped painting. At this time he was living in Interlaken, New Jersey and was their mayor throughout the 1920s. When he returned to painting later in life it was primarily water colors, such as his water colors of over 300 species of fresh and salt water East Coast fish.
Stick was active in a number of conservation movements such as the Roanoke Island National Park, the Wright Borthers Memorial at Kitty Hawk, and the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreation Area.
Sources:
Rowland Elzea and Elizabeth H. Hawkes, editors. A Small School of Art: The Students of Howard Pyle. Wilmington, DE: The Delaware Art Museum, 1980.
