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Spawned from her many years of
fishing and diving in the local water of the Atlantic and Gulf Coast
water of Florida and the Florida Keys, Elizabeth Karcher introduces her
own unique style of Fish Rubbing.
After artistically bringing the
body of the freshly caught fish back to life, with the colors it
displayed in the sea, she covers it with a shroud of canvas and lovingly
caresses and rubs each distinct characteristic of the fish's anatomy.
Upon lifting the canvas, an imprint of the dramatically painted fish is
produced. She then hand paints each eye to give new life to this
magnificent fish for fishermen and collectors to enjoy for generations
to come.
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In the beginning I fished…..
After catching a fish, I would sit
with a stick and poke at it until it died, and my dad would say
“Lets go eat our catch”
I always ate the fish I caught, that
is what I was taught, you kill it you eat it. Almost thirty-five
years ago I learned how to dive, and spearfish, another
dimension to my life. Seeing these beautiful creatures
underwater.
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I was lucky enough to have 3 years of
marine Biology in High School, which whet my appetite for the
sea even more. As time progressed my love for the sea became
even stronger. The colors of the fish, the characteristics, only
fed my starving brain with knowledge. And, did I mention the
food value?
One day not too many years past, I
happened to see a Gyotaku painting, black ink on rice paper. My
mind would not stop thinking of this imprint of a beautifully
colored fish painted dead in black. I wanted to do more justice
to this magnificent creation. I thought what an opportunity that
I have to add color to these fish. So, slowly and methodically,
I started to paint fish with acrylic paints learning by trial
and error.
At last I have come up with a system
that works. I paint the physical dead fish the colors that are
when they are alive. The colors either come from my personal
knowledge, or from reference books that I have accumulated. Now
when I receive a fish, I can paint it and the angler can have it
back to eat.
To finish off these magnificent
rubbings, I have been hand making and hand painting frames to
match. These frames are topped off with four coats of a two-part
epoxy system, which only enhances these rubbings for fishermen
and collectors for many years to come.
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Elizabeth is available for rubbings of
angler's fish
Contact her at 727-647-6989
or 305-293-8586.
If you cannot reach her, leave a message when a good time is to
return your call with your phone number.
To prepare the trophy fish for its
rubbing, gut it and ice it down. Or, you can freeze it. If the
fish is gutted, and it is an edible fish, the meat and/or fish
will be returned to you.
Prices vary on the type of fish and size.
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