Artist Gina Jrel

	Joy to the Fishes © Artist Gina Jrel, 2007 Medium: Hand-sculpted, oil painted fish on oil & water glazed background in shabby-chic frame Dimensions: 30 1/2"w x 7 1/4" h Framed Edge Treatment: See below. Framing: Tis fun shabby-chic frame has been customized with hand-painted details, a textured background behind the fish, and hand-painted writing on the top and bottom edges of the frame. Original available for purchase: Private Collection / Virginia, USA Available in Giclee: No Based on the One-Liner: "Joy to the fishes in the deep blue sea, Joy to you and me..." From the Song: Joy to the World Performed By: Three Dog Night From the CD: Greatest Hits About the Painting: I saw Three Dog Night live in concert a long time ago. They played in a city park in Southern California, and I was of a small-scale audience of a few thousand members. I will never forget the cool energy that overtook the entire crowd when they sang "Joy to the World." Up until then, everyone was walking around, talking, distracted, whatever. But when this song came on, everyone stopped doing what they were doing, and started to sing, sway, and wave their arms. I found it awesome...how a funny little song like this can unite so many people and control their mood. I returned to my own personal, yet repressed, joy to create this piece. I have a love for hand sculpting, but rarely get to do much of it these days with the demands of my painting endeavors. It was great fun to mold and carve the fish for this piece, out of polymer clay, and then bake them (holy cannoli! I actually used my oven!). There was a relaxing pleasure about the process of sanding each piece, assembling them by hand, and then painting them with the finishing touches. You can see photos of this piece evolve step by step in the behind the scenes section of this site. It's a whimsical piece, fun, and funny. That's the way I view that song, and to me..."whimsical" and "joy" are the same thing.