Fish Portraits at Good Hope

I love fish faces in their colorful diversity and breadth of expression. For a few years now I’ve wanted to explore those faces, handpick a few unforgettable ones from the multitudes and see where my creativity might take me. I spent the past few months doing just that, and my creativity took me on a detour from my usual art quilts into the world of mixed media.

I began my subjects sewing a fabric collage and embellishing with free-motion stitching, as in quilting. Then I fastened the collage onto a canvas.  I looked around my studio and threw at the canvas all manner of beads, sequins, dried flowers, plastic ferns and any other embellishment that wanted to come along and become part of a three-dimensional coral reef for my fabric fish to call home. Acrylic paints, gesso, gel media and glitter found their way onto the canvas too.   The result?
(You can click on each photo for a larger view)

Big Eyes

 Tasty Bites

Curious Faces

 Coral Gardens

I’ll be exhibiting my Fish Portrait Series this weekend at the 24th Annual Caribbean Fine Art Exhibit at The Good Hope School here on St. Croix. Friday, February 18th is the Opening Reception ($30/ticket at the door) with free-flowing Veuve Cliquot champagne. Entrance is free the rest of the weekend.
Here's a link for more info:http://www.ghsvi.org/cfae.htm.
If you’re on island, please come by and check it out!