 About Gene
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 About Gene Bahr
Gene Bahr was born in Wellington, Alabama on May 30, 1950. Growing up in the rural countryside, he spent his childhood exploring the hills and creeks around him and developing what has become a lifelong love of nature and wildlife. He was fortunate to have a grandfather who was artistically inclined and remembers, as far back as the impressionable age of six, spending evenings at a kitchen table cluttered with art supplies where he would spend hours teaching Gene how to draw and color with pastels. His encouragement and kind approval instilled in Gene a love of art and a lasting confidence in his abilities.
After graduating from high school in 1968, Gene spent four years in the Navy travelling over most of the northern hemisphere. Upon leaving the Navy, he moved north and is presently living in a log house on a mountainside in the beautiful lakes region of Sebago, Maine with his two dogs.
 In 1976 Gene began working in taxidermy with his major interest in fish. Shortly thereafter he began taking art lessons. Gene began fish carving in 1986 after attending the Maine Wildlife Woodcarving Competition in Augusta, Maine. Inspired by this relatively new art form, he has watched its popularity quickly growing among everyone from sportsmen to art connoisseurs. While continuing a successful career in taxidermy he has expanded into wildlife artistry and now create with watercolors, oils, ceramic, wood and bronze. In 1991 he opened a gallery next to his shop where a variety of his pieces are on display for viewing or purchase.
Over the years Gene has devoted his creative efforts to portraying wildlife, and particularly fish, in beautiful and creative ways that make environmental statements and inspire people to think about clean water, the "Catch and Release" program, endangered species and above all to appreciate the beauty of nature. He has gained a deep understanding of the details of anatomy and color schemes in his work as a taxidermist as well as his many years as an avid hunter and fisherman. Art has brought him to see color, form, balance and composition with an artist's eye. The perspectives of naturalist, artist and taxidermist are blended together into each of his "Wildlife Creations."
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