Ray Troll

Ray Troll (born March 4, 1954) Attended Wichita Heights High School in Kansas, graduating in 1972. He is an American artist based in Ketchikan, Alaska. He is best known for his scientifically accurate and often humorous artwork. His most well known design is "Spawn Till You Die", which has appeared in many places including the film Superbad and being worn by Daniel Radcliffe

Troll’s renditions of everything from salmon to marine mammals to creatures only found in the fossil record have become iconic in fishing, scientific, and environmental activism communities around the world. He seeks inspiration from extensive field work in marine science, paleontology, geology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. His paintings and mixed-media drawings are in the collections of the Miami Museum of Science, the Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, Alaska Airlines, the Anchorage Museum, the Alaska State Museum, and the Ketchikan Museum.

He has collaborated once again with Dr. Kirk Johnson, a director with the Smithsonian’s Museum of Natural History. Entitled, “The Eternal Coastline: The Best of the Fossil West from Baja to Barrow," their book is near completion.

• 2015 Katherine Palmer Award from the Paleontological Research Institution
• 2014 Ocean Ambassador Award from the Alaska SeaLife Center
• 2013 Geosciences in the Media Award from the American Association of Petroleum Geologists
• 2011 Distinguished Artist Award from the Rasmuson Foundation
• 2011 John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship
• 2008 Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from the University of Alaska Southeast
• 2007 Gold Medal for Distinction in Natural History Art from Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University
• 2006 Alaska Governor's Award for the Arts
• 2005 Excellence in Public Outreach Award from the American Fisheries Society

• Something Fishy This Way Comes (2010, Sasquatch Press)
• Cruisin' the Fossil Freeway (with Kirk Johnson, 2006, Fulcrum Press)
• Rapture of the Deep, the Art of Ray Troll (2004, University of California Press, Introduction by David James Duncan and essay by Brad Matsen)
• Sharkabet: A Sea of Sharks from A to Z (2002, Alaska Northwest Books)
• Life's A Fish and Then You Fry, An Alaskan Seafood Cookbook (Author Randy Bayliss, Illustrations by Ray Troll, 2002, Alaska Northwest Books)
• Raptors, Fossils, Fins, and Fangs (Ray Troll and Brad Matsen,1995, Tricycle Press)
• Planet Ocean: A Story of Life, the Sea, and Dancing to the Fossil Record (Pictures by Ray Troll, Words by Brad Matsen, 1994, Ten Speed Press)

Ray Troll is a lifelong music aficionado and musician. He and his band, the Ratfish Wranglers, play festival, saloon, and dance party dates from Alaska to California, appearing at Salmonfest (formerly Salmonstock) in Ninilchik, Alaska, the Fisher Poets Gathering in Astoria, Oregon, and many other events around the Pacific Northwest.

• Fish Worship (2015, Ray Troll, Russell Wodehouse and Ratfish Wranglers)
• Cruisin' The Fossil Freeway (2009, Ray Troll, Russell Wodehouse and Ratfish Wranglers)
• Where The Fins Meet The Frets (2007, Ray Troll and the Ratfish Wranglers)
• Dancing To The Fossil Record (1995, music composed by Russell Wodehouse to accompany Planet Ocean, Dancing to the Fossil Record exhibit)