Rackley Art
A New Kind of Fish Art
For those of us who live on the Texas Coast, big beautiful fish being caught is a regular experience. Still, most of us have never caught a huge blue marlin or a tournament winning trout.
At this year’s Lonestar Shootout Tournament, a special artist made some special art that displayed and preserved just how special those tournament winning fish can be. This was a new kind of picture of the winning blue marlin. Artist Larry Rackley was in POC specifically to ‘paint’ those magnificent marlins in a brand new way.
The crowd was awed as he quickly and beautifully created pictures on loose flowing canvas using multiple paints and fixing agents in rapid succession. As soon as the marlin was weighed and measured, the artist went to work very swiftly. He matched each color nuance and variation exactly as he painted the actual marlin skin and then transferred that paint to the white canvas producing a perfect print of the beautiful fish. His ‘sheet stamp’ art of the Lonestar Shootout marlins was meticulously created to reflect the depth of color and detail of the beautiful fish using numerous colors of paint applied directly on the fish and then reproduced almost imprint style on a large white sheet like canvas.
Most of the spectators had never seen art like it. The results were breathtaking.
As an active philanthropist, one piece was earmarked for a charity auction supporting a regional children’s hospital and the other went to the boat captain.
An active, outdoor enthusiast and fisherman, artist Larry Rackley has a unique way of blending mixed media such as watercolor, ink and pastels to create beautiful works of art.
Rackley was raised in Alabama and grew up fishing Gulf Coast. After serving eight years in the Marines, he followed his dream of painting for a living. His art reflects his love for the coast and big game fishing. Rackley’s art utilizes airbrush and oils and has great depth and detail. His wish to make art ‘fun and accessible’ has led to some unconventional approaches such as the ‘sheet art’ and is anything but stuffy.
Rackley says young and old, collectors and first time buyers have purchased his work. He credits his loose, abstract style with ‘breaking barriers’ to enjoying art and allows anyone to hang a Larry Rackley original in their home. Art aficionados have described Rackley as a ‘rockstar of the marine world who is blazing his own path and changing the fishing world one painting at a time.’
Rackley also paints equine, political and patriotic themed works, supports CCA and other conservation efforts, and is an active, outdoor enthusiast and fisherman. He hopes to return next year to create more big fish art.
To view more of Larry’s outstanding work, please visit www.larryrackley.com or the Lonestar Shootout Facebook Page.
