Ralph And The Catfish

April 3, 2011

I have a great aunt and uncle that live in the country. Their names are Jackie and Ralph. They have a dairy farm, cows, horses and a lot of land. I used to go there often and fish in their pond. It was full of mud and catfish. Sometimes Ralph would cook catfish and hushpuppies for us. He always has called me “Tyle.” It still makes me laugh. Ol’ Tyle Brooks.

I spent a lot of time fishing as a youngster. The pond behind Jackie and Ralph’s house is always the color of mud. I never knew why. I kind of felt bad for the fish in it. How could they see? I also wondered if the mud was hiding the biggest catfish in the world. I knew there was one as big as me in there. One time a group of river otters showed up and ate a bunch of Ralph’s fish. He didn’t take kindly to this. I think he might of used some brute force to take back his lake. I never met an otter I didn’t like. Ralph wouldn’t agree.

A few times in my childhood I got in trouble with Jackie. I went in the fence with a bull. I took a boat out in the lake without supervision. I rubbed a bunch of her home-grown yellow squash into the trunk of a tree until it turned into mush. It is a wonder she ever let me come back. On another note, Jackie has painted many paintings of nature scenes with birds. She always had several hanging in her living room. I believe they were based on James Audubon’s bird portraits.  I specifically remember one of Blue Jays eating the eggs of another bird. I was always inpressed with her art.

I do not see Jackie and Ralph too much these days. I really need to go visit. Maybe they would let me walk around that pond by myself. I recorded Ralph talking a few years ago. You can listen to him telling a story with his unique voice here.

I found a big sheet of plywood on the side of the road a week ago. I cut it up and somehow knew this piece of wood was going to have a catfish on it. I started painting it and it made me think a lot about the ol’ catfish pond. I had to make blue water because I wanted my catfish to be able to see.

I like painting things that have been a part of my life. The things you do and see always stay inside of your mind. You might not think of them for years but they are there. Like old dusty jars of jelly on a shelf in the basement, you can open them up after all of this time and inside is a sweet memory. Swim on catfish, swim on.

-Tyle