Our next Howard Alan Event is the 22nd Annual Downtown Stuart Art Festival.
Historic Downtown Stuart is the proud recipient of the title “Most Beautiful City” from America In Bloom and called a “small Intracoastal gem on the Treasure Coast” by Coastal Living Magazine. A quick look around and you will see a downtown filled with a great mix of shopping, arts, the historic Lyric Theater, Stuart Heritage Museum and many dining options.
Coastal Living Magazine
Local Stuart Artist Jim Matheson
creates his art through a Japanese art from called GYOTAKU. A technique that began in the 1850’s by fisherman as a way to record the size and other information about their catch. The process evolved into an art form.
An Overview of the GYOTAKU process.
Step one the artist cleans the fish and applies paint or ink to the fish making sure it is positioned to highlight the body in the best way.
Step two the artist lays Japanese rice paper over the painted fish and rubs it to imprint the fish. The paper is carefully removed and left to dry. Step three the artist will paint the eyes on the fish to complete their replica. The artists can then clean the fish, freeze it to un-thaw and paint again another day.
Jim Matheson is an avid fisherman and studied the art of Gyotaku in Sarasota with 2 local artists there. Jim says that he loves to reproduce the fish he catches on his own fishing trips and admires the beauty in their form and color. The majority of Jim’s paintings are of native Florida fish.
You can meet Jim and discuss GYOTAKU further this weekend at the Stuart Art Festival on Osceola Street in Stuart. Stop by and check them out!
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