Guy Harvey’s New Canvas – Pure Silver
Acclaimed marine conservationist and artist Guy Harvey has transformed his paintings of aquatic life and the Caribbean into a lifestyle statement embraced by millions worldwide. From its beginnings on t-shirts and posters for fishing tournaments, the Guy Harvey brand has extended to jewelry, resort hotels, and even a Guy Harvey-designed mural on the hull of a cruise liner.
Given the Caribbean native’s many ties to Florida, it was only natural that he team up with Gainesville Coins to bring his art to a new audience. The exclusive Guy Harvey© Silver Collection features brilliant uncirculated and proof rounds in .999 fine silver. The collection kicks off with Series 1, featuring Guy Harvey’s favorite game fish – the Blue Marlin. These rounds depict Harvey’s original painting “Mahi Blue,” of a blue marlin going air-borne as it smashes through a school of mahi mahi.
As a tenth generation Jamaican of English descent (his family immigrated to the island in 1664,) he spent his childhood snorkeling and fishing with his father, drawing the marine wildlife he saw. He became entranced with the blue marlin when his mother landed one on a family fishing trip, and set himself a goal of catching one himself. He caught his first blue marlin in 1973, during a deepsea fishing tournament in Jamaica that his family had entered.
Also offered as part of the Guy Harvey© Silver Collection is a 10 ounce silver bar bearing an illustration from the book “Santiago’s Finest Hour,” inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel “The Old Man and the Sea.” A young Guy Harvey discovered this story while in boarding school in Scotland, and by his own admission has read the book “hundreds” of times. As an adult, his sketches illustrating Hemingway’s story were the focus of his first one-man art show in Kingston, where he returned after earning his PhD in Fisheries Management. The reaction to this 1985 show convinced Harvey that his art could be more than a way to earn extra money while working as a marine conservationist. He signed his first apparel deal with a Florida t-shirt manufacturer in 1987, and the Guy Harvey empire was born.
While he now devotes most of his time to his art, he also uses it as a platform to continue his work promoting marine conservation and “catch and release” sport fishing. All Guy Harvey merchandise helps fund the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation and the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University in Dania, FL.
About Guy Harvey
Guy Harvey is a critically acclaimed artist (both painter and underwater cinematographer) and a highly successful entrepreneur, yet he is first and foremost an accomplished marine scientist. After earning his degree in Marine Biology from Aberdeen University (Scotland), he returned to the Caribbean and received a Ph.D. in Fisheries Management while studying at the University of the West Indies. In addition to painting ocean life, Guy continues to spearhead marine conservation efforts through his Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, the Guy Harvey Research Institute at Nova Southeastern University (Florida), and his documentary films chronicling various patterns of underwater life. A skilled diver, Guy is also the innovator of techniques for observing free swimming billfish in their natural environment. Most recently, the 1,065-foot cruise liner Norwegian Escape, which is set to debut in October 2015, will bear a full-size mural covering the hull designed by Guy himself. He also has one of the most distinctive (and thus recognizable) signatures in the celebrity sphere.
