Alaskan artist and musician Ray Troll will share his newest book, “My Fish Filled Life and How I became an Accidental Science Communicator,” with a presentation and book signing at the Kachemak Bay Campus on Aug. 1 at 6:30 p.m.

Troll moved to Alaska in 1984 and currently lives in Ketchikan. He notes in an artist statement from his website that living near the Tongass National Forest with “deep woods on one side of me and the deep ocean on the other, was magical for me and transformative for my art.”

The timing of the presentation coincides with the 2024 opening of Salmonfest. Troll was one of the original coordinators for the festival in 2011 with the intention to help stop Pebble Mine and protect and promote salmon in the region. He used his art to create the first posters for the festival and the Salmonfest logo.

Troll said he stayed involved for about 10 years and then retired from participation as long as he could have the opportunity to return. Another key artist Troll has collaborated with for Salmonfest over the years is Memo Juaregui, who has helped design some of the main stage murals. Juaregui will be back again this year.

Troll’s presentation at the campus will be the fourth for his newest book, which he describes as the magnum opus for his Alaska environmental art.

“It’s an overview that draws from the entire body of work I’ve created since I arrived in Alaska,” he said. “The book is almost purely visual but there are a few opening essays from other people I have collaborated with on other books over the years,” he said.

One, by David Craig from Willamette University, provides an essay on spawn. Another essay is by Brad Matsen, an author of several sea-themed books.

“Fish have been a muse as long I’ve been in Alaska,” Troll said. “Some of the pieces in the book are humorous, and then maybe some of them are more evocative or kind of deeper pieces — some more serious kind of art things — but it flows together pretty nicely, I think.”

Troll said the talk will be on art history. “I’ll talk about some of my influences from throughout my life, of different artists who you can kind of see their DNA in my work and how science really began to inform my art over the years.”

Troll said he has provided other artist talks in Homer since 1994 at venues like the museum, bookstore and library. “I just absolutely love Homer. The community is a hippie Hamlet by the sea, and it speaks to me. I always want to get back there.”

On this trip he will be accompanied by family: his wife and siblings and his son. His son, Patrick Troll, is also in the process of producing a film documentary of Troll’s life and work. The website for the film describes it as, “profiling his father’s life, work, and obsession with the natural world during a transitional period in both of their lives.”

More information and a summary about the film can be found at www.spawntillyoudie.film.