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The start
Painting the Trout.
The Fish on Display
I was asked to submit a proposal for painting or otherwise making an art object from a large fiberglass steelhead trout as part of the Santa Barbara Steelhead Festival

My original proposal to the CEC

I propose to paint a stream, the home of the Steelhead, on the fish sculpture. See some ideas below, and the enclosed template, but I will find a better water view to paint.

Around the base I will place pieces of concrete, or something that looks like concrete, in such a way it appears that the fish, and the rivers/streams/creeks have broken through the dams and other man made barriers, enriching and restoring life to our community and environment.

Due to Santa Barbara safety codes all the fish had to be mounted horizontally, not vertically as I had planned, and the broken concrete base was not allowed.

Willie Britt was the artist who made the original fish sculpture.
Click here to visit her web site

Me and my fish, primed and ready to go, January 19, 2006


Getting started, January 21, 2006




Two sides of the fish, January 25, 2006








January 29, 2006, several views of the fish, still in process

The finished fish in my studio during its coming out party, February 12, 2006

The fish, at The Frameworks & Caruso Woods Fine Art Gallery, during its unoffical debut Febuary 16, 2006

At the Steelhead Trout Unveiling Party in the Santa Barbara Public Library's Faulkner Gallery. February 17, 2006

The fish in downtown Santa Barbara, on the south east corner of State Street and Canon Perdidio. April 1, 2006

The fish is currently in storage but will soon be back on public view, in a new location. I will post its new location when it is back on display. Let me know if you would like to be notified when and where.


A spin-off

I went to Lower Oso Campgrounds in the Los Padres National Forest to find the streambed I wanted for the fish. I had not been there in a long time and not in the winter. I was reminded how wonderful the area is. Here are a few photographs from that trip.

January 19, 2006
click on the picture above for more photographs

Santa Barbara Steelhead Festival

In Santa Barbara, California the Community Environmental Council, along with a number of other organizations, sponsored the Santa Barbara Steelhead Festival to benefit watershed restoration and fish passage improvement projects for the Southern California Steelhead Trout (Oncoryhnchus mykiss irideus)

As part of the festival was an exhibit of eight fiberglass steelhead trout on State Street, the main street of Santa Barbara. Each fish was painted by a different artist. Each fish and artist was sponsored by a different organization. My fish was sponsored by the City of Santa Barbara, Creeks Division

The eight fish created for the festival were on display along State Street in downtown Santa Barbara from February 18th through April 2006. The Creeks Division of Santa Barbara, who are the owners of my fish, are planning to display it in different locations along streams with information about the need for creek restoration and the need to keep our waterways clean.


artworks / contact / directory