Blog Post

30A Gnarly Prints Highlight

Gyotaku — “gyo” meaning fish and “taku” meaning “rubbing” — is still practiced and has evolved beyond Japan to inspire a modern art form. Enter Harley Van Hyning, a beach-born waterman and surfer turned artist. Harley was born on Eglin Air Force Base in Western Florida and now resides permanently in Destin. Harley has both art and a love of the water deep in his heart. As a child, he was artistically influenced by his mother Anna, a London-born painter educated at The British Royal Academy. “Growing up I was always seeing my mother paint. I think I absorbed that like a sponge and I just took to it naturally.” After endless hours of his childhood spent Pompano fishing with his beloved step-father Randy, he began surfing at thirteen and his passion for the gulf and its inhabitants was sealed. “There’s a connection I have with the sea that is really special. In high school, I really liked James D. Audobon and Salvador Dali.” Harley says throughout his formative years Anna and Randy nurtured and encouraged his organic love of the natural world and different forms of art. He tells me, “If it wasn’t for both him and my mother, I wouldn’t be who I am today.” Harley thought briefly of attending The Savannah College of Art and Design. Instead, after graduating from Fort Walton Beach High School he went on to study advertising and marketing at The University of West Florida.

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Beach Happy Magazine

Gnarly Prints: When Fish Become Art

Take a drive down any coastal highway and you might find it difficult not to look out over the watery landscape passing before you. I have often done this and found myself daydreaming about that next time I’ll spend on the water fishing, or in the water swimming or free-diving. Some people might not give a second thought to what lies beneath our shimmery seas but stop for a moment, close your eyes, and imagine that other-worldly realm where a cornucopia of unusual creatures, mammals, and beautiful fish live out their destinies. Every single creature in our oceans plays a vital role in the ecology of our waters. Humans have found sustenance in the ocean’s abundance for thousands of years. But now, the fish taken from our waters not only provide us with a food source but something a bit unexpected — art.

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30A Live coverage

We’re LIVE at the docks with painter Harley Van Hyning grabbing fresh catch off the boats and making it into art!

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The Destin Log

With a roll of canvas and paints in hand, he’s an artist on the go and ready to record your catch. Harley Van Hyning, 34, of Destin, has been making art all of his life, but in the last couple of years he has taken up the art of Gyotaku, which is a Japanese art form that started in the mid-1800s.