Skip to content

A town square for an unsquare town

redbankgreen

Standing for the vitality of Red Bank, its community, and the fun we have together.

RED BANK: LANDING, THEN PRINTING, FISH

pride-fishing-050714-2-500x375-3784366 Max Berry silhouetted by one of his fish prints. Below, another of Berry’s works hangs on a fence outside the shop framed by a wall designed by artist Mike Ciccotello.  (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

pride-fishing-050714-1-220x165-3095002It was a long, quiet winter at Red Bank’s Pride Fishing Tackle store. But owner Max Berry landed something rather unexpected.

His inner artist.

Berry, who says he’s harbored a creative yearning for years, decided to act on it by throwing himself into the Japanese art form of gyotaku, or fish printing, during the long lulls between customers this winter.

max-berry-050714-1-500x375-5344355Max Berry with some of his artwork visible in the background. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

Berry’s desire to create may be genetic: his father, Bill Berry, of Rumson, was a fine art major in college and returned to oil paintings after a an interval of several decades.

“I’m more of a self-taught artist,” said Berry. “I’m a guy who just likes to create things.”

He’s also been diagnosed with attention deficit disorder, for which he takes meds. As a kid, “I ended up drawing a lot in notebooks and on desks,” he said. But not all of his teachers understood that, “if I’m drawing, I heard every word you said. It infuriated some of them.”

Now 41 years old, Berry said he was watching a TED Talk video on creativity when he realized he hadn’t acted on his artistic thoughts in a long time. He’d also been thinking, ” a lot,” about gyotaku. So one day, when a customer came into his East Front Street shop with a 10-pound fluke looking for a print, “I was like, ‘I can do that,'” Berry recalled.

“I had no idea” where to begin, he admitted. But “I hopped on YouTube, found an instructional video, and I just did it.”

He was on his way.

“This winter was so cold. I was just banging them out,” he said. “They just got better and better.”

In case you’re wondering: the fish doesn’t have to be discarded once they’ve made their contribution to the visual arts.

“I like the idea of being able to eat the fish afterward,” Berry said, recalling a 50-pound striped bass he printed. “A lot of people enjoyed that fish.”

With the end of the cold season, Pride Fishing Tackle has become, like many nearby hair salons, restaurants and bars, something of an art space. Berry contacted Mike Ciccotello after coming across his work online, and invited him to take over one wall with his work.

“I just liked the lines he was drawing,” Berry said. “I was super impressed.”

If the work sells, a portion of the price goes to charity, and Ciccotello “gets more paint,” said Berry, who adds that he’s looking to bring in the work of another artists to “kind of tie it all together.”

Meanwhile, Berry’s enjoying a bounceback for his three-year-old shop, after not just an “arctic” winter but the havoc wrought on recreational fishing by Hurricane Sandy in October, 2012. But he’s also producing charcoal drawings, woodcuts and yes, gyotaku prints – all of fish.

“It’s like cooking,” he said. “You just try it, see if it works out. The only person who has to like it is you.”

 

 

Remember: Nothing makes a Red Bank friend happier than to hear "I saw you on Red Bank Green!"
Partyline
CRASH ON LEIGHTON
The driver of this car was headed north on Leighton Avenue when they it hit an SUV pulling a work trailer headed in south in the opposing la ...
CAR VS STREET SIGN
The driver of this Mercedes hopped the curb and toppled the street sign at the corner of South Pearl and Drs. James Parker Boulevard Wednesd ...
SKETCHES OF RED BANK BY LOCAL ARTIST MICHAEL WHITE
Sketches of Red Bank scenes have been floating around on social media and we thought they deserved some spotlight. First appearing in our fe ...
POLE DOWN
Utility pole falls on English Plaza shop Forge after being struck by SUV shortly before noon. No injuries reported, though 86-year-old drive ...
YO, ADRIAN!
It’s a tough turn for our hero as Rocky Balboa is relegated to the curb for trash pickup on Locust Avenue. We’ll have to go back ...
“EL PALOMO” IS IN THE HOUSE
Jesus Rios, a mariachi singer who performs under the stage name “El Palomo” (The dove) pauses for a moment before entering a bac ...
CROC SPOTTED IN RIVER
Frighteningly hideous and green, a solitary Croc lurked ominously amid the flotsam and foam in the Navesink River alongside the Red Bank Fir ...
KISS ICON REFLECTS ON BROADWALK
A Swarovski crystal-bedazzled self-portrait painting of Paul Stanley, longtime singer and guitarist for the rock band Kiss peers out from a ...
CHISELIN’ AWAY
Marcelo Garcia Lopez works with hammer and chisel on a new feature for his flower garden on Shrewsbury Avenue: a hollow in a carved log in w ...
STORM CLEANUP CONTINUES
  Saturday’s storm sent a tree toppling on this house on Bank Street, damaging the roof. Workers Wednesday could be seen removing ...
SNAPPING IN THE BREEZE
RED BANK: Blustery winds had the flags in Riverside Gardens Park snapping Monday evening.
POWER LINE DOWN
Red Bank firefighters were on scene at Manor Drive dealing with a live power line Monday afternoon. There was no immediate report of fire. T ...
TAR BEACH SOLSTICE
Aldo Quiroz of Ocean Township came ready with his beach chair and found a shady spot to spend his lunch hour in a parking lot off Broad Stre ...
GOING GREY
Workers painting the stone facade of the PNC Bank at the corner of Broad and Harding Thursday morning. An upgrade? Maybe it’s just pri ...
COFFEE & WILDLIFE
RED BANK: The best wildlife show in town can be taken in from a waterfront bench outside the public library, and it's totally free.
FAWNING OVER HER BABY
A mother deer and her fawn were spotted between a row of garages on Hudson Avenue and some trees alongside the Broad Street parking lots. Re ...
EVENING ESCAPE
RED BANK: Sailors in Monmouth Boat Club's weekly racing series found tranquil conditions on the Navesink River Tuesday evening.
PEAK COLOR ON BROAD
RED BANK: A year after they were installed, downtown mini gardens have added to "transformational" improvements, says business owner.
RED BANK: FAIRIES MOVE IN ON WHITE STREET
Red Bank: Girl scouts turns tiny parking lot plot of dirt into a "magical girls sparkle garden."
TRAINING UNDER FIRE
RED BANK: Volunteer firefighters train to cut into pitched roofs under active fire conditions.