Art Work

The two wall mounted salmon above titled "Leading the Way" Both salmon are cock (male) fish and the larger, older fish is leading the way to the younger, up river on its migration. 

The sculptures are made from the catalogued details of original fish, caught on the River Tweed. The smaller fish was caught in June 2023 on Upper Floors, it was a beautiful sea liced* fish. The larger fish was caught over 10 years ago on a netting station on the River Tweed at Paxton House, a Palladian Mansion on the banks of the River. Ten years ago, Paxton House netted salmon and sea trout for commercial markets, it still nets today but only for research. Jason would every year, in September, go to the netting station to catalogue the fish caught, detailing their weights and measurements, giving him literally hundreds of salmon and sea trout details that inform his sculpture still today. 

 

The two fish in the sculpture are mounted on two polished steels which represent water and give the sense that they are actually swimming in the room. Creative lighting provides real drama to this piece, a talking point always for fishers and non-fishers alike.

As a point of interest the larger fish had a well developed kype which suggests it had been in the river for some time, however this fish had likely lived in the river estuary for a good number of weeks and been going up river with the rising tide to taste for fresh water, which may account for the starting metamorphosis into its spawning livery. It was still a beautiful silver fish.

 

*a sea liced fish is a fish that has just come into the river from the sea, tide lice will only stay on the fish for 24hrs from entering the river from the sea.