The sculpture was first carved in strawberry alabaster and later, from a mold made from the carving, cast in multi-patinated bronze. Since its debut, Abaco Hogfish has been widely exhibited from New York to California and has won the Anna Hyatt Huntington Award from the Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, headquartered in New York City. The artist wrote of her inspiration: “We anchored the sloop in the cut on Double Breasted Cay, just south of Walker’s Cay. Bone fish flats lay to the north, and a cove to the right. As the tide moved in and out, the fish below found food flowing past. The ledges and reef had a group of Hogfish that were amazing to watch. I spent two days with them, and their cheery attitudes were delightful. They colored up when excited or feeding, and seemed little bothered by my presence. The shapes, colors, and attitude stuck with me, and became a sculpture.”

Abaco Hogfish,

14" x 14" x 10",

Bronze, silver patina

edition of 12,

$4,450

The artist is a Signature Member of the American Society of Marine Artists. Celebration was juried into its 2008-2009 traveling exhibition shown in museums in Wilmington, DE, St. Michaels, MD, Atlantic City, NJ, Spartanburg, SC, and New Bedford, MA. Cathy Ferrell wrote: “Celebration was done originally for a family from Belleview, WA. They loved the five-dolphin Rejoice!, but were building a house with a magnificent entrance hall and needed something larger. It was designed to be seen from particular angles as well as to be mirrored, so all sides were quite visible and there were depth constraints. We wanted the piece to convey joy, life, and light. My jumping-off point was the image of the dolphins splashed with sunlight as they played.”

Many of Cathy Ferrell’s sculptures have been inspired by her view from the deck of a sailboat. The artist wrote: “As captain of my own 36-ft Cheoy Lee sloop and a licensed captain delivering boats, I was able to spend time on the water and to experience new places. Always there was sea life: native dolphin and tarpon, wintering right whales, and all sorts of marvels. Diving allowed access to an underwater world, leading to ideas for many works of art.”

A habitual journal-keeper, Cathy Ferrell has been writing down her thoughts, activities, and inspirations for many years. In 2003, she wrote down thoughts on the creation of sculpture that could pertain to Indian River Morning: [her goal was] “… not to produce an exact replica of the subject, but to study it, discovering what caught my attention, letting the beauty, characteristics and spirit of the subject soak in. I then work with these elements to create a sculpture that may give more emphasis to these qualities… Leaving some areas less developed allows the viewer to complete the work.” She later wrote specifically of this piece: “A cormorant was feeding nearby, and the combination of wildlife led me to the circle composition of the bird and the manatee family.”

An animal artist must have a photographic memory because wild animals do not pose, nor do they usually remain in one place for any length of time. Cathy Ferrell remembers her inspiration: “These came about as we had sandwiches on the dock. A large thump and disturbance of the water surface, followed by the sound of sea mammals breathing, alerted us to the presence of a family of manatees who had hit the cross-bracing under the dock. They stayed around quite a while and seemed curious.”