fishbone angler co.

ABOUT KAT

Kat is known by her rare works from her adventures in the U. S. Virgin Islands – Sport-fishing and Spear-diving paintings (2013-2017) 

CHILDHOOD 

My grandparents lived in Central Illinois and my mom’s dad had a fishing boat and used to take me fishing every summer up on Olney Lake. We used to catch bass mostly. These are some of my fondest early memories. I never wanted to come in from the lake. I never really had any formal education in the arts, just a love for all things visual.  

OFF TO THE ISLANDS

I moved to St. Thomas, U. S. Virgin Islands in 1997. I was introduced to Smokey Pratt and Jane Coombes, who owned Mango Tango, a prestigious art gallery. I was starry eyed over the collection of paintings, drawings and sculptures, representing artists from all over the world, but mostly with a Caribbean flavor. The colors of paradise were all on display.  

In 1999, my son, Casey Michael, was born in St. Thomas. I focused on him and gave him a life growing up on beaches till sunset, running freely and exploring nature, like I did as a child, only it was much prettier. 

THE AWAKENING

Around 2005, I had a friend open a small business and asked me for help making a sign. He only wanted it carved out of mahogany, and with raised letters and a faux stonework border. For some reason, I didn’t say no. I had never carved wood before but somehow, I made that sign. And then I made dozens more, painting and carving and giving new looks to small businesses in downtown St. Thomas. It became a full-time venture and I loved every minute of it. From that, I became known as an artisan, and one that rarely said no to whatever the project was.  

THE MOMENT OF CHANCE

One day, I found myself drawn to the palm fronds that had fallen off and were drying up under the beautiful royal palms that lined the driveway. I picked up a frond, and saw a bird shape in the drying sheath. I decided to see what I could do to make sure everyone else could see it, too. This started me on experimenting with yard waste and found objects. As I had always been hanging out in the gallery with Jane, hoping some of the incredible talent of her artists would rub off on me, I decided to show her my creations. She took a chance on me, gave me a spot in the next show with my found object sculptures. I called this line Hearts of Palm. This was in 2010, and over the next couple of years, she sold over 30 of the nearly 50 works I brought to the gallery.  

HONING MY CRAFT

Right about the time I was getting pretty well known for my unusual sculptures and unique sign work, I was blessed to meet David Hill, a very talented young artist from St. Thomas. He had grown up in the islands and after college, had come back to open a gallery downtown. He painted so freely and made me feel as though I could step into his paintings. As soon as I saw his work, I knew I wanted to learn how to work in oils. I spent lots of time in the gallery, learning how to stretch canvas, watching David grow his success, and eventually taking his figurative and plein air classes. I learned how to work with oil paints and focused mainly on realism.  

FISHING FRENZY

One day I was approached to create a work for a fishing tournament. This was to be a tribute to the original organizers of the Northside Sportfishing yearly kingfish tournament in Hull Bay, every year on Bastille Day. This was always a scholarship fundraiser for the kids in our neighborhood. After the first painting, I went on to donate a painting every year for the winning angler. Then I also donated to the VI Freedivers yearly spear diving tournament, which eventually became the VI for Vets tournament. I loved boating and fishing and free diving, and spent plenty of time doing these things, and had entered my son and I both into the tournaments, so I wanted to give back to the people who had become my village.  

FULL-TIME ARTIST

I went on to eventually start showing in oil and other mediums at Mango Tango, and it gave me great pride to become a full-time artist. I am still presently represented in St. Thomas at Mango Tango Gallery. Most of my works do not involve sport fishing, but during a 5 year period between 2013 and 2017 I donated to the two tournaments every year and got to present my works to anglers young and old.  

MEETING FISHBONE DADDY

Since then, I have moved from St. Thomas, after Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. After a couple of years of nomadic wanderings, I ended up in Dallas, TX, where my son and I both decided to hang out for a while. He finished high school, went into the Marines and is now in college. I moved into a house in a nice suburb, and made friends with my neighbors, one being Michael Languell (AKA Fishbone Daddy), the person who asked me to write this bio. He has been crazy for fishing his whole life, and as we got to know each other, I decided to show him my paintings from the tournament days. It brought back some of my favorite memories. We have become great friends. He asked me if he could use a painting to build his website for Fishbone Angler and the incredible fishing carts and comfort angler seats he invented. Well, that was a no-brainer… and now, thanks to his encouragement, you can see and purchase archival prints and T-shirts of my artwork – no one else besides a small group of fishermen from the North Side of St. Thomas has seen these pieces of art. I hope you enjoy the works, and I hope I get to go fishing again very soon. Michael and his products should make that easier for all of us!

Thanks for reading, Kat