kat stevens – fine artist and angler
Weightless
2014 Oil on canvas, private collection.
This painting is from a photograph taken by Bradly Bryan, VI Freedivers, of his beautiful wife, Michelle. She, like I used to do, was waiting for her partner to ascend from a deep dive, and was taking a moment to enjoy the shallow reef. I was privileged to use his photography as most of my underwater references.
ROOM SERVICE: WAKE UP THE KINGS
2016 Oil on canvas donation to Northside Sportfishing Tournament. Just providing breakfast in bed for the Kingfish royalty. Ballyhoo is always a favorite. Don’t forget to leave a tip…
WHAT IF I COULD FLY?
2017 Oil on canvas.
After a poem by Erin Henson that says, “Freedom waits for you on the breezes of the sky. What if I fall, you ask? Oh, but my Darling, what if you fly?” Just a little back diving off the boat in the middle of a sunny afternoon, probably had to pee.
HOG HEAVEN: A DINNER TRIFECTA
2016 Oil on canvas donation to Vi4Vets for the Northside Speardiving Tournament.
Hogfish love anything with a shell and have nutcracker like jaws for breaking them up. Those hogs think they are getting their favorite dinner, an angry lobster ready to fight. See the lucky diver who took home all three.
SCHOOL’S OUT
2017 Oil on canvas donation to Northside Sportfishing Tournament.
Kingfish dart and dive after a school of sprat that unfortunately became their area of study.
SPEAR DREAM
2017 Oil on canvas donation to VI4Vets for the Northside Speardiving Tournament.
A loose and dreamlike scene for a spear diver. Look at all the lovely dolphinfish… Above the surface, the sirens wait with their spears to see if you need help getting that Dorado…
ZERO GRAVITY
2017 oil on canvas private collection
Is it a skirt, flippers or a tail? Oh, the waters can bend the truth. The best part of being in the ocean is that swimming feels like flying…not to mention the colors. A great time to reflect.
BACK TO SCHOOL
2017 Oil on canvas private collection.
Watching the school regroup, there are less now as they circle back into their false sense of security.
Denoument: The Reason for the Climax
2014 Oil on canvas donation to Northside Sport-fishing Association.For the annual Bastille Day Kingfish Tournament – technically, this large creature is a King Mackerel, but in the Virgin Islands they are just called Kingfish. One of the tastiest fish in the sea, shown here going after its favorite prey, the ballyhoo. But when he chomps down and gets a hook, le
RETURN FROM THE HUNT
2014 Oil on canvas donation to VI Freedivers Spear diving Tournament.
Bradly provided the photography, once again, for this painting. Thomas speared and wrangled a 56 pound Kingfish to break the previous record. It is not easy to spear a kingfish, usually you would catch them by trolling. They are lightning fast.
THE SWEET SPOT
2014 Oil on canvas donation to VI Freedivers Spear Diving Tournament.
Just what is the sweet spot?
Is it the lucky reef, the tell tale marking on that sweet fleshy mutton snapper, or the beautiful kill shot? All of these.
500 ft. ABOVE SEA LEVEL
2015 Oil on canvas. Private collection.
I lived about a half a mile from Hull Bay for 20 years. This was my view over Lockhart Reef, which was a surf break, and Inner and Outer Brass Islands, where we also used to camp. The mango tree in the foreground we estimated to be over 100 years old and the yard was full of bananas and many other fruit trees. Certain times of the year
PELICAN BEACH
2019 Oil on canvas commission private collection.
On the north east end of St. Thomas, there is a place so beautiful and private. Looking out onto Thatch Cay, and fringed by sea grape trees, one of the prettiest and quietest places on Earth.
BETSY ON THE ROCKS
2018 Oil on canvas commission private collection.
Betsy was scrambling around in the bay on a sunny afternoon at the Bitter End, Virgin Gorda. The sargassum made for some extra drama on the waves, the foamy surf bubbling at her feet and her generous and beautiful ethereal spirit, her shadow, follows her all of her days. Here she is portrayed to match the ocean, the sky, the roc
AZENSION
2015 oil on canvas donation to VI Freedivers Spear diving Tournament.
The challenge was given, all the requests, a map of the islands, Thomas’ boat, Tony and his prize winning fish, and even the gun was specific. No problem.
FADE INTO YOU
2017 Oil on canvas private collection. The landscape is of Lockhart Reef and Inner Brass, just off of Hull Bay Beach. If you have been there, you know I left out the houses, the buoys and the fishing boats, so this sunset seems ancient, primordial.
WHY FISH? BREAKFAST AT BILLIE’S BANK
2015 Oil on canvas donation to Northside Sportfishing Tournament.
I painted a fish mob that year after asking what really excites fishermen, besides rum and other answers I will just leave alone…I learned that it is better to see sharks than dolphins if you stand a chance of catching anything that they are also trying to catch. There is nothing like a VI sunr
FUN TIME
2015 Oil on canvas. Private collection.
WINDOW DRESSING
2014 Oil on plate Absract Figurstive Expression
Anxious to get to the beach after work!