ahead of the curve: are fish the new deer?
Last week, after wondering if deer were OVER, Matt from Sesame Letter Press suggested Fish are the New Deer. Here’s the story behind his first piece of gilled decor.
I said to myself, “Matt, what is going to be the new, quirky animal of favor… and what would look cool in the vast expanses of coconut-creme walls in my bedroom?” For some reason nostalgia kicked in and I started reminiscing about visiting restaurants and taverns in the northern Wisconsin of my youth and their ironic “nature inside, 10 feet away from nature outside” decor… and fresh water FISH kept coming to mind. I started to try to Ebay some mounted sunfish (bright, small, cute) but I kept being outbid to the tune of $50+. I started bidding $80… and kept losing.
My parents live in Northern WI — and my mother is a retiree whose passion is garage sales and flea markets, so I put a request in. Low and behold, my birthday present arrived in December in the form of a bass! I was crazy for it (even though my wife makes me hang it in an out-of-immediate-site corner of our room. To retaliate, she now has an autographed picture of the Gilmore Girls on our mantle).
I am not crazy about the vintage mount (apparently from the 1950s)… I may try to find a white ceramic mount or commission someone to make some wood grain ceramic mounts (my mother-in-law comes to mind). Or perhaps I may even letterpress a wood grain backing of sorts.
The other thing that I am not crazy about is how this particular bass is so perfectly done: So much in fact that people routinely ask me if it’s “one of those singing bass” things (you know the ones… rubber… flap and sing on command).
So anyway… that’s the story for now. I hope to get some sun fish mounted on driftwood soon…and we’re working on several nautical coaster and card sets as you read this for our retail line. — Matt H.
January 19th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Hmmm… not sure if the world is ready for angling as art. Maybe a Marlin over a fireplace…
January 19th, 2007 at 9:21 am
along the lines of cute nautical/fishy gear, there are some really cute cards at the design*sponge shop this month. can’t remember who made them, but they are super cute!
January 19th, 2007 at 11:20 pm
Re the title: god, I hope not. It seems like when these “rugged” retro things become trends lately, they become trends in a rococo way. I’m really not sure there’s any way to do that with the fishing lodge style.
I have seen a lot of fish motifs, mostly swirly Asian-inspired things, in the same way that songbird silhouettes heated up in the last few years. I mean, it’s almost like birds have been swapped out for fish, to update these items. The styles are really similar.
January 20th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
I thought squirrels were the new deer.
January 21st, 2007 at 11:01 am
I scored some cool vintage fish necklaces a few months ago and sold them almost immediately from my website. People keep asking me for a heads up when I find more, so you might be onto something with the fish trend.
By the way, I too grew up in northern WI surrounded by that lake house decor. I actually love your mounted fish because it reminds me of those times–don’t you dare change that vintage mount with the taxidermist’s sig or we’ll have to revoke your retro-fishing license!
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:38 pm
OK OK… I will keep the vintage mount
I personally HOPE that more creative versions of my fish become the actual trend: Ceramic fish, cool fishy prints, silver jewelry of marlin, etc.
That said, we just installed a second lock on the door in case you are all pining after my bass!
January 29th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
what about mounting mr. bass on a high gloss painted ceiling medallion? now if you painted the fish one color.. it could be like the whole modern kookoo clock look.. take one trend, add new element, stir, paint, dry, repeat….
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