Alright, readers, I have to divulge my latest art love. Gyotaku (pronounced ‘Gee-Oh-Tah-Ku’) is the art of fish rubbing on rice or parchment paper. I have seen this type of art work before at art festivals, but it wasn’t until I learned that a good friend of ours, Bill Lodzinski, used this technique to create his own art work that I truly fell in love. All of his work can be found here at Paper Fish Gallery.

Mr. Lodzinski held an exhibition of his art work this summer and I fell in love with this piece. I loved the colors, but most of all, I loved the name of the piece. Entitled “Skipping School,” you can notice that one fish (the red one) is swimming against the other fish who are all going the same direction. Being the literary nerd that I am, I loved the play on words and meanings. I’m a big believer in going against the current, so I loved that this piece of art represents this.

“Skipping School” by Bill Lodzinski

My dad and Mr. Lodzinski are great friends, and unfortunately, he was unable to make the exhibition. I was sending him photos of his work via text message and I told him how much I liked this particular piece.

He loved it, too, and I thought my brothers and I should purchase it for him for Father’s Day. By the time I conferred with my brothers, however, the painting had already been sold. I was so bummed!

Cut to a month later. I came home from what had been a long, disheartening day and there on my bed was the exact painting I had wanted to get my dad! He was the buyer of the painting and bought it for me as a surprise! I was so thrilled and I cannot wait to properly hang it in my new apartment.