Something fishy: Middletown man's passion leads to fish print museum

Artist Tony Chatowsky will be debuting his Fish Print Museum in Portsmouth on Earth Day this year, featuring over three rooms of original fish prints including striped bass, cod, barracuda, snook, snappers and tarpon.

Chatowsky, a retired navy physician who grew up in Providence, received his master’s degree in marine affairs from URI and now lives in the John Clarke Senior Living Center in Middletown, has built upon an ancient Japanese technique known as gyotaku or “fish rubbing.”

Starting back in the 1800s,  Japanese fishermen would clean their catch, then use sumi ink and rice paper to make a record of their catch, pressing the paper against the actual fish to create a detailed image. Chatowsky uses rice paper for his prints as well, but instead of ink he uses acrylic paints.

Where and when to go see Tony Chatowsky’s unique fish prints

Starting Saturday, April 22, visitors to the D. Chatowsky Gallery across from Clements Market at 2572 East Main Road in Portsmouth can admire prints of species ranging from New England all the way down the eastern seaboard to Florida (where Tony lived for 27 years before returning to Rhode Island), participate in tours from noon-5 p.m. and purchase reproductions of the original fish prints.

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Thereafter, the Fish Print Museum will be open every Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 1-5 p.m. Parking is available behind the building. David, the owner of the gallery and Tony’s son, is also a visual artist, and his work is on display in the other half of the gallery.  Patrons of the arts with questions can contact David Chatowsky at 401-835-4623.

How a Rhode Island angler started using a traditional Japanese art form to create striking images of local fish

Chatowsky told The Daily News he began doing fish prints around 30 years ago, printing the fish on T-shirts for his children.

“I then made it into an art form,” he said. “What is involved is that after you catch the fish, you clean the fish good, you paint the fish with acrylic paint, and then you use rice paper and press the paper on top of the fish and you make a rubbing. Then you pick up the paper and you have the print of the fish with all the details, the fins, the gills, the eyes and everything.”

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After the process is complete, he mounts the images on acid-free foamboard and frames them.

“I always liked to fish,” explained Chatowsky. “Growing up here in Rhode Island, I fished all the time during my time at URI…I guess when I was stationed in Key West in the Navy (1974-1976), I think I printed a dolphin fish, and that may have been my first fish print.”

The museum will feature a wide variety of fish species from New England, Florida and the Caribbean – and every image is a fish Chatowsky caught himself

The museum will feature a room of local Rhode Island fish such as striped bass, blue fish, cod, summer flounder, scup and sea bass. It will also have a room of Florida and Caribbean fish such as tarpon, permit, dolphin fish (mahi-mahi), groupers and snappers.

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“These are all fish that I have caught here in Rhode Island and down in Florida, where we lived for 27 years before moving back here,” said Chatowsky.

In addition to Chatowsky’s original works, the exhibit will display two original Japanese gyotaku fish prints, which Chatowsky received as a surprise gift while serving as president of the Martin County Arts Association in Florida when a fellow member traveled to Japan and purchased them for him.

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: Portsmouth fish print museum to debut gyotaku art display