Fish Art
7/27/2006 6:17:24 PM by Sandy Lindsey
Carey Chen likes to put his passion on canvas, apparel and tiles — all the while keeping his rods handy just in case he has to put down the paintbrush to go fishing.
Every so often boating publications run articles on how to “live the boating dream.” Well, with a lot of hard work involved, noted marine artist Carey Chen is doing just that by combining his love of fishing with his artistic talent on canvas, apparel and, of late, even decorative tiles.Given a choice, however, he’s never very far from a fishing rod.
“Once we were fishing the Presidential Challenge of Guatemala at the Fins and Feathers with our team Bamboo,” says Chen, recounting his wildest day on the water. “On the last day on the boat, I caught 28 for 28 sailfish. We had over six triple-header sailfish releases. At the announcement of the end of the tournament, they said that team Bamboohad won. We were so excited and got lots of congratulations on the radio. Back at the bar, our team was celebrating when we got the bad news that they had miscalculated and we had lost by one fish. That was a big disappointment to our perfect fishing day.”
However,his enthusiasm for the sport has not dimmed. “I think there is nothing more exciting than a lit up blue marlin behind your baits, but I’m just as happy on a flats boat casting into the mangroves for snook, tarponand redfis. I also get a thrill hooking up a fish and passing the rod to a kid or an amateur angler. Just the look on their face as they fight the fish makes my day.” Chen is also an avid spear fisherman and can be found snorkeling, enjoying the reefs and researching the creatures that live in the ocean. He also island-hops the Caymans,St.Thomas, the Bahamas and St. Lucia, etcetera, not only for the fishing and beaches, but for the friends he has made there over the years.
In his younger days, Chen was hardcore and fished a lot of tournaments and was known for rigging tackle for the whole week prior to tournaments,getting up at 3 or 4 in the morning to catch bait, and venture out in to the roughest seas. He has since calmed down and gives rough seas a second thought.
All this passion for the sport is reflected in his prolific artistry and ever-growing fame. “In the last few years, we discovered a very popular printing process called dye-sublimation which uses digital images to be printed on tiles,” he explains. “These tiles can be used in pools, bartops, showers, flooring, decorative outdoor walls or just prints for paintings. Customers can measure an area they would like to place decorative tiles on and pick a design from my website. Our company will ship the tiles in small boxes to be installed. If one of the tiles break, we can replace the same one because we have them numbered.”
As for the future, there are plans for a high-end gallery either in Fort Lauderdale or West Palm Beach. There is always a steady stream of requests for custom paintings with customers’ boats or fishing scenes that anglers have witnessed. Sometimes these are reproduced on T-shirts for fishing teams. A big part of his business is still tournaments, for which he designs custom paintings that can be reproduced on apparel,trophies, or tournament programs. Chen usually sets up an art display and donates prints to the tournament charities.
He has been so busy of late, he doesn’t even own a boat at present. “I fish with a good friend of mine,Scott Steele,whose collection of boats includes a 61-foot Garlington, a 46-foot Hines Farley, a 44-foot Garlington, and a 25-foot Sea Craft tender. Sometimes we fly to a good fishing spot on his jet. Besides fishing with Scott in the most exotic locations, I get hundreds of invitations to fish all over the world and attend over 50 tournaments a year…so this is why I no longer have a boat.”