b'c o a s t a la r tGyotakuJapanese Fish Print Art that Dinah Bowman Brought Us Upper Left: Dinah poising with a large-sized Gyotaku painting; Collage Above & Below: Dinah Gyotaku is a Japanese word that meansAfter Dinah returned to the Coastal Bend,demonstrating Japanese fish printing in her second appearance on Texas Country Reporter; Next fish rubbing and is a process that orig- she began teaching Japanese fish printPage: Gyotaku featured in large-scale artwork on display in private Coastal Bend homes.inatedin1700sJapanforthepurposeart to students, colleagues, and fellow ed-of fishermen recording their catch withucators, one of whom, David A. Bartling, indisputableaccuracy.Inkisappliedtotaught the skill to, and required its gener-the surface of the fish, over which heavyal competency of, all of over 600 Ocean-washi paper or another cloth material isographystudentsatFlourBluffHigh draped and then rubbed down onto theSchool, spanning his 30+ year teaching ink, catching the surface image of the fishcareer that ended in the early 2000s.on the other side. The result, especiallyDinah Bowmans Gyotaku prints are the under the hand of a skilled artist using acentral subjects for hundreds of paintings variance of colors, is breathtaking art thatthat place the featured fish on stringers, could not be more native to the coastalunderwater, and in free-floating settings. environmentbecause it comes from theThose of greatest value to the fisherman, actual fish! aka the buyer, elevate a proud catch to Dinah Bowman started her professionalartistic immortality through the magic of career as a marine biologist working atGyotaku. One of monster significance was the University of Texas at Austin Marinea 12-foot, 600-pound tuna that was land-Science Institute in Port Aransas, whereed in the Gulf of Mexico and fish printed sheemployedherartisticskillcreatingby Dinah on the dock in Port Aransas, illustrationsforscientificpublications.immediately after the boat came in. The While living in Japan where her dad wasmassive Gyotaku original print is proudly stationed in the military, Dinah learneddisplayed in the anglers home.GyotakufrommasterswhotaughttheTwo decades into her now-storied artis-intricacies of extracting a detailed imagetic career, Dinah Bowman was first fea-from the surface of the fish. tured on Bob Phillips beloved syndicat-118THECOASTALBENDMAGAZINE TheCoastalBend.com'