Fly-fishing artist paints rivers with a rod and reel. You can see his work at Expo Chicago art fair at Navy Pier.

For most people, a rod and reel are meant just to catch fish, but for artist Ben Miller, they're his paintbrush using a fascinating technique.

"I've been fly-fishing since I was little, and then pursued the arts, and then one day it came together, and then it's just been one thing after another," he said.

Like a fish out of water, an artist like Miller would rather be by a river.

"I think every river has a story," he said.

Rivers are his muse, and his method is a fly-fishing pole.

"The rod is about nine feet long, and then I don't reel very much, and then there's kind of a give and a take as to where it's going to hit on the surface," he said. "The fly rod will take that color from here to there. A paintbrush will take that color from here to there. It's like the same thing."

Miller's latest work – depicting endangered rivers – is being exhibited at the Expo Chicago Contemporary Art Fair at Navy Pier.

He creates his art by using what he calls "fly brushes" to cast paint onto plexiglass from 20 feet away. It took him two days to create a painting of the Chicago River downtown along the Riverwalk.

He has created about 50 special fly brushes by hand.

"The 'pompompom' is to create a lot of stones at one time," he said.

He laughs at suggestions it would be easier to do with a paintbrush.

"When I look at these lines and I think about a paintbrush, and it's like you wouldn't get these lines with a paintbrush. You wouldn't get that velocity, you wouldn't get that length, and that one hit that is going to leave that mark," he said.

Proceeds from the sale of his Chicago paintings will go to the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River and their conservation efforts.

"How healthy is the river is going to say how healthy your city is," Miller said.

Miller grew up by the water in Washington state.

"If you teach a kid to fish, they're going to turn out to be okay," he said.

The river is where he belongs – catching fish or canvas.

Expo Chicago runs through Sunday at Navy Pier.