One-on-one with Guy Harvey

One of the most popular marine artists ever, Guy Harvey’s distinctive paintings of fish and fishing have become a part of the angling culture worldwide.

In addition to being an artist, Harvey is an accomplished diver and photographer who holds a doctorate in fisheries management. A 10th generation Jamaican of English ancestry, Harvey, who now lives in Cayman, was a recent inductee into the International Game Fish Hall of Fame.

Harvey was in town recently for a signing at Palmetto Moon, and The Post and Courier’s Tommy Braswell caught up with the iconic artist for a one-on-one conversation.

OK, let’s get this out of the way. How many Guy Harvey T-shirts have been sold? And is any one a best seller? “We’ve been doing this for 25 years, so it’s been a long time. It’s really taken off the last seven or eight years, possibly because we have a change of licensee and manufacturer. We’re now made in California by AFTCO, which anybody who fishes knows about their fishing hardware. Several million, probably. Favorite designs? There are many. Being the artist myself, I do have my preferences. But that’s not necessarily the ones that do the best in the market. The cash register will tell you what’s most successful. The billfish do very well. On the Gulf Coast, redfish do extremely well. Snook do very well in Florida.”

How did the T-shirt idea come about? “It started with a man called Raleigh Werking, who is a record-setting fisherman. Raleigh was in the T-shirt business and saw my work. He said he needed to get my stuff on his shirts. That was in 1986. At that point, the technology of printing was evolving. We used a four-color process, and my art was faithfully reproduced on a T-shirt and it was very durable. Nowadays, we use 15 or 16 screens for one design.”

What’s the first Guy Harvey piece of art you remember? “I’ve been painting a long time, from my boarding school days. My mother actually came to live with me in October, and she brought a couple of my old sketchbooks. I drew all kinds of things in those days.”

What’s your favorite art subject? “I do like the big gamefish because of their size and majesty. They’re such incredible animals. I’ve just done two new books. One is ‘Fishes of the Open Ocean’ and the other is ‘Panama Paradise,’ which is liberally illustrated with photos and artwork.”

Aside from yourself, who are your favorite marine artists? “There are some very accomplished marine artists, but not enough of us. But there are some very good ones. One is Stanley Meltzoff, a favorite artist of mine. There is a sculptor, Kent Ullberg. I’ve collected his work. Don Ray. Al Barnes. But there are not that many accomplished artists.”

What was the genesis of your passion for marine life? “I think it was growing up in Jamaica with parents who fished a great deal. I’ve tried to instill that in my kids, too.”

Do you have any fishing heroes? “Ernest Hemingway, of course. And Pierre Clostermann, a Frenchman who was on the board of IGFA for many years. He was best known for his writing. He wrote books on fishing, but he also wrote books on the second World War. He was a very famous aviator who was highly decorated. I got to know him very well.”

How about the book, “Santiago’s Finest Hour,” whose artwork was inspired by Hemingway’s “The Old Man and the Sea?” “The art was my first one-man exhibition in Jamaica, which did very well. I’ve been to Cuba a few times and met Gregorio Fuentes, Hemingway’s mate. With my friend Raleigh Werking, we had the idea of putting the whole story together with my artwork to celebrate Hemingway’s 100th (birthday). We had to get special permission from the estate, and they wouldn’t allow me to call it the ‘Old Man and the Sea.’ That’s why it’s called ‘Santiago’s Finest Hour.’ Since then, we’ve done three editions. It’s done very well indeed.”

Don’t you have ties to Steve Potts, the founder of Scout boats, which is headquartered here in the Lowcountry? “I do. I have a 28-foot Scout boat in Cayman. It’s a very well-designed boat, very seaworthy. I’ve caught a good amount of fish out of it. In a year and a half, I’ve caught 10 blue marlin.”

Didn’t you charter Potts’ boat, Caliente, as a film and dive platform for your television show? “We did two (shoots) in Venezuela. Those were some of the best shoots we ever did. He came along on a couple of them.”

Have you ever had any close calls while diving? “No, I don’t take risks. If situations are deemed risky, whether it’s weather conditions, current or visibility, I’m not going to chance it.”

Has there been one awe-inspiring moment that stands out above all others? “There have been a lot of great dives. I think the greatest single experience I’ve had would have to have been the 1,200-pound black marlin in Panama. I dove on that fish eight times to get underwater footage. It was hooked on a 50-pound outfit, and after five hours I dove on the fish and clipped 80-pound gear to the 50-pound gear so we could catch the fish quickly and release it in good condition.

“We tagged the fish (using a satellite tag), and she took the tag 10 weeks. She went from Panama almost to the Galapagos Islands and back to Panama. I think that’s probably the single greatest experience I’ve had from a photographic point of view, a diving point of view and from a fishing story point of view. The image I took of that fish behind the boat is going to be on the cover of this new book, ‘Panama Paradise.’”

What’s Guy Harvey’s ideal day? “A work day? I have a 4,000-square-foot shop and gallery. I work there a few hours a day when we have walk-in tourists from cruise ships. I’ll go back home in the afternoon and do some more work on other paintings. My average day is a 10-hour day. I’ll go and take some type of exercise, whether it’s jogging or (playing) squash.

“Typically on the weekend, I’ll take the Scout boat and fish for a couple of hours. Then I’ll do a dive. The diving in Cayman is unbelievable. Then I’ll do a bit of trolling for blue marlin or wahoo. I’ll do another dive, then come back in and have lunch. We all get together on a Sunday afternoon and raft our boats, have a beer or two. It’s a family type thing.”

Tell us about Guy Harvey Island Grills. What’s the specialty? Any chance of bringing one to Charleston? “There’s a very good chance (of bringing one to Charleston). It’s a licensed product. I don’t want to be running restaurants.

“The original is right across the road from my gallery. It’s only sustainable seafood. We don’t serve any groupers or swordfish or any over-exploited type of seafood.

“If I were to serve swordfish or grouper, I’d be open to a lot of criticism. I enjoy catching fish and eating them. I think every fisherman and diver has that right. You have to do it responsibly. That’s what I practice and that’s what we try to ask fishers and divers to do.”

How great is it to make a living off something you’re so passionate about? “It’s kind of cool, I have to say. I never envisaged it would get so popular. It’s very frightening because with success comes an ability and responsibility to do a lot of things. You can influence people. You can educate people, really help on doing the whole marine environment.”

Source: The Post and Courier