Teach A Man To Fish

Chinese Proverb: “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”

Remember him… (napkin ring, blush brush and poly clay head) – he’s painted and assembled now. The inspiration for this piece was the oil lamp I found at a garage sale for $1.00.

Coat – when viewing the fisherman I wanted to “see” the fish in his belly. I felt belly was “the heart” of the fisherman – his contribution so to speak. So, when I made his coat I lined it in white linen that was larger than the coat and, with a little help from some polyfil, would lay close to his belly when his coat was on.
Top stitching served two purposes – one was to keep the coat and lining tight at the edges and the second was to create a channel to put a wire frame in. Now I can style the coat where I want it because the wire goes completely around the bottom, up the sides and around the collar.

Hands – holes were put in the wrists. The hands and cuffs were sewn to the selvage at the wrist before the coat and lining were sewn closed.

Hat – the color of the brissels on the blush brush were too natural and brought attention there first. So I darkened them with an ink pad. I didn’t make ears on the fisherman. At the time, artistically, it didn’t matter. However, as I assembled him – it did matter. So I made him hat extenders with a tie.

Fishing pole – the fishing pole is a vintage wood crochet hook. If I decide to keep the coat it will get string and the same fish the fisherman has in his belly.

My current delimma is – does the coat detract from the message? I’m thinking (it takes me a little time) of getting rid of the coat, collaging light weight/water-colored paper on his the back of his belly and the proverb across his chest (diagonal above the water line).

I’ll let you know…