Opah

The Opah is the latest fish to be painted on my art quilt “We All Swim Together.”

OPAH
Latin Name: Lampris guttatus and Lampris immaculatus
Habitat: One species is found in tropical to temperate waters of most oceans. The other is limited to  34th parallel of the Southern Ocean.
Depth: deep water
6.5' and 650 pounds; the larger species is guttatus.
Notes: Color can range from an orangey-red all over, with dark orange-red fins, to a silver gray body with orange-red fins. The flesh is similar lightly flavored, similar to salmon, and nearly as pricey. It is used in sushi and sashimi.

To read more about this art quilt, click on the label “We All Swim Together” below.

How big?

How big? 

That’s the question I’m getting most often when I post about “We All Swim Together,” the new piece I am working on now.

Big. 

Bigger than any art quilt I’ve done to date. But as far as the exact size, I really don’t know yet.

To give you a better idea of the scale of this piece so far, I spread it out on our king-sized bed. The seven fish I’ve painted to date run from one side of the bed to the other. I suspect this piece will end up being at least 100" square. Maybe bigger.

I don’t usually work this way. I usually plan, and sketch things out, and know exactly how big the finished piece will be. I'm letting this piece take me where it wants to go. I’m taking a risk, having fun, focusing on the beauty of the fish, and not thinking too far ahead. 

I like it so far … both the piece and the process.

P.S. If you want to see detail photos and info about the fish I’ve painted so far, just click at the bottom where it says LABELS: We All Swim Together, and it will take you to all the posts about this piece!

Bigeye Tuna

The latest fish for my new piece, “We All Swim Together,” is a Bigeye Tuna. It is a beautiful and very large fish. On my piece, it is about 21" long; in real life, it can be more than 8 feet long!

Bigeye Tuna
Latin Name: Thunnus obesus
Habitat: Found worldwide in open waters of temperate and tropical oceans.
Depth: usually above 1650 feet
98" and 400 pounds
Notes: The Bigeye can live up to 12 years; the average is 7-8 years. They are one of the species that is very threatened by overfishing, and are also susceptible to purse seine fishing by man-made fish aggregation devices such as open ocean buoys. About half of the Bigeye caught are captured in this way. Many juvenile fish are caught in these devices before they reach breeding age, adding to the problem. Greenpeace International added the Bigeye to its seafood red list in 2010. The U.S. and some island nations have had treaties regulating and setting fishing quotas on bigeye.

In Hawaii, the Bigeye is one of two species (the other is Yellowfin Tuna) known as ‘ahi. They are prized in Asia for sashimi. 

Bigeye tuna sometimes have high levels of mercury, making them unsafe to eat. Pregnant women are warned not to consume too much tuna for this reason. 

John Dory

I got another fish painted tonight; I’m on a roll! This is the latest fish for my new piece, “We All Swim Together.” It is a John Dory, and I painted it tonight because it was the same colors as the Streaked Spinefoot I painted earlier today. The paints were all mixed up, and I figured I better use them before they dried out and were wasted.

John Dory
Latin Name: Zeus faber
Habitat: Found worldwide in warm seas, mostly in coastal areas.
Depth: 15-1200 feet
16" and 4-7 pounds
Notes: In the Mediterranean, it is called a “Saint Peter’s Fish” because of a tale of St. Peter pulling a golden coin out of its mouth. (And the circle on the fish is reminiscent of a coin.) Wikipedia notes: “In New Zealand, Māori know it as kuparu, and on the East Coast of the North Island, they gave some to Captain James Cook on his first voyage to New Zealand in 1769.” 

Also on Wikipedia: “Various explanations are given of the origin of the name. It may be an arbitrary or jocular variation of dory (itself from the French dorée, gilded), or perhaps an allusion to John Dory, the hero of an old ballad. Others suggest that ‘John’ derives from the French jaune, yellow. The novel An Antarctic Mystery by Jules Verne gives another account, which has some popularity but is probably fanciful: “The legendary etymology of this piscatorial designation is Janitore, the 'door-keeper,' in allusion to St. Peter, who brought a fish said to be of that species, to Jesus at his command.” (St. Peter is said to be keeper of the gates of Heaven, hence "door-keeper".) Considering that the other known names for the John Dory are the "St. Pierre", or "Peter's Fish", as referenced above, this seems the most likely etymological origin, and may also explain why dories were often referred to as Peter Boats (Saint Peter being the patron saint of fishermen). A related legend says that the dark spot on the fish's flank is St. Peter's thumbprint.”

 

Here is “We All Swim Together” so far: 

Streaked Spinefoot

I am continuing to work on my new piece, “We All Swim Together,” as I can fit in the time to sketch and paint. The latest little swimmer is a Streaked Spinefoot. It is lovely hues of copper, gold and taupe. Some Streaked Spinefoot have more yellow on them than the type I painted.

Streaked Spinefoot
Latin Name: Siganus javus
Habitat: Pacific Ocean, from the Phillippines, Malasia, New Guinea, New Caledonia and Australia in the south; and in the Persian Gulf to India and south China in the east.
Depth: 50-66 feet
12-22" and 1-5 pounds
Notes: This species has venomous glands on the fins of their spines. 
 

It’s back to the fish

Yellow-Eye Rockfish (sketch by SBK)

It’s back to the fish for me! (For those of you just popping in, I’ve been working on a new piece that will be covered with fish.) On my long flights to and from Australia this month, I had lots of time to sketch more fish. Here they are. I’m hoping to do some painting in the next few days, and will post when I do. I also have several more posts on my Australia trip coming up.

Danube Sturgeon (sketch by SBK)

Giant Guitarfish (sketch by SBK)

Greasy Grouper (sketch by SBK)

Piper Gurnard (sketch by SBK)

Sydney Skate (sketch by SBK)

Thresher Shark (sketch by SBK)

I will leave you with a few good fish quotes:

“Many men go fishing all of their lives
without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” – Henry David Thoreau

“Ten percent of the big fish still remain.
There are still some blue whales.
There are still some krill in Antarctica.
There are a few oysters in Chesapeake Bay.
Half the coral reefs are still in pretty good shape,
a jeweled belt around the middle of the planet.
There's still time, but not a lot, to turn things around.”
– Sylvia Earle  

Painted Comber

The fish of the day is the Painted Comber. This is the third fish I’ve painted for my new piece, “We All Swim Together.” He is a species of sea bass; beautiful fish with shades of pale blue and pale yellow, and darker areas of gold and brown, and distinctive black streaks on his body and up into the fins.

Painted Comber
Latin Name: Serranus scriba
Habitat: Eastern Atlantic, Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea
Depth: 300-450 feet
12-14" and 1-1.3 pounds

Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel

  

Today I painted the Narrow-Barred Spanish Mackerel. Such a beautifully patterned and colored fish! I was sad to read that it is listed as “near threatened” due to overfishing (see information below.)

Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel
Latin Name: Scomberomorus commerson
Habitat: South-east Asia, as far west as the east coast of Africa; Middle East in northern Indian Ocean; Fiji and South West Pacific Ocean; Australia from Perth to Sydney; China and Japan
Depth: 16-984 feet
99" and 154-165 pounds
Notes: According to the ICUN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species, “Several sub-regional stock assessment in the Western Indian Ocean report this species to be heavily overexploited, with some estimates of fishing mortality in the Arabian Gulf between two and four times over the optimum. In India, its current exploitation rate is estimated to be 60% over the optimum. In the Torres Strait, this species biomass has declined at least 40–50% since the 1980s, and has declined at least 40% in eastern Australia. In Queensland, management authorities determined this species to be overfished, and the fishery may be in danger of collapsing. Where data are available to conduct a quantitative stock assessment, results have shown at least a 30% decline in biomass or other indicators of population abundance over the past 25–40 years. However, there is little information on stocks of this species in East Africa, southeast Asia and in the northeastern portion of its range. Consequently, this species is listed as Near Threatened.” 

I took the shot below before I started painting the mackerel.  This is my cat Wicked, who loves to sit on my lightbox when I am tracing images. It is nice and warm! She is shedding her winter coat right now, and I had to pick a lot of tiny white and black cat hairs out of the paint. She is keeping a close eye on the fish.

Swimming along…

The start of “We All Swim Together”

I had meant to trace some more fish onto my fabric before I started painting, but I just couldn’t stand it, and this afternoon, I gave in and started painting. I love to paint. It is so relaxing, and I just forget all my troubles and get lost in it. I’m using my favorite textile paint, ProFab Transparent and ProBrite Pearlescent paints by ProChemical & Dye. 

This is the Blackbelly Rosefish:

Yes, it really is this brightly colored! You can see photographs of it on Google Images. He is about 15" long on my piece.

Blackbelly Rosefish
Latin Name: Helicolenus dactylopterus
Habitat: Eastern Atlantic Ocean from Norway to South Africa, and the Mediterranean Sea; and Western Atlantic Ocean from Nova Scotia to Venezuela.
Depth: 330 to 1600 feet
16-18" and 2-3 pounds
Notes: This is a type of scorpionfish. Color is variable. Spines contain toxic venom.

I am just getting started on the Painted Comber:

Getting started on “We All Swim Together”

Spotted Weever, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

I am very excited! I am finally getting started on a piece that has been in my head for several years. I’m planning to call it “We All Swim Together.” It will include fish from all over the world, both fresh-water and salt-water, and it is going to be a bigger piece than I’ve worked on for some time. I hope it will raise awareness about the amazing diversity of fish, and the issues affecting the world’s fish, particularly water quality. This is an issue I explored previously in “Running Deep,” which features Bear Lake Cutthroat Trout:

“Running Deep,” 17" x 22" (2008) by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Here are a few more fish that will be on “We All Swim Together.” I’m planning to sketch more — probably a lot more! — on my flight to teach in Australia next week.

Streaked Spinefoot, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

Narrow-barred Spanish Mackerel, by Susan Brubaker Knapp

For a while now, I’ve been sketching fish from specimen photos, and tonight, I enlarged some of the black ink drawings here and printed them out in sections, then taped them together:

 

Then I traced them onto a large piece of white fabric:

Three fish down, a bunch more to go before I can start painting!