‘I want to spread positivity, and I’m so glad to hear people in Bellingham enjoyed it’
Bellingham’s great koi mystery has been solved.
On Wednesday night, two koi ponds appeared like “magic” on Holly Street — one in front of the Vintage 360 antiques, collectibles and gifts shop, and the other across the street near the Cabin Tavern.
They were the product of well-known American street artist Jeremy Novy, who is known for his pieces of stencil artwork and, perhaps most famously, his sidewalk koi.
“I like to spread beauty as I travel,” Novy said Monday afternoon, “leaving little pieces of art behind in what is intended to be a very positive approach.”
Novy said he was on tour last week doing commissions in Seattle and Spokane and decided to brighten Holly Street just north of Maritime Heritage Park with his artwork.
“People may stumble across a couple of other things (in Bellingham),” he said. “I like to make them like Easter eggs — where you find your own and experience it that way.”
Novy estimates he’s painted approximately 80,000 koi at various locations across North America.
“I can do 32 different koi fish before I have to repeat the same pattern,” Novy said, “but I don’t have to do all of the pattern. I can do only half of it or change colors. I try to create each and every one differently.”
He estimated it takes him less than eight minutes of work to paint the koi. And it’s time well spent.
“I feel strongly that putting art into public is very therapeutic for the person viewing it,” Novy said. “I hope to make people stop and smile as they’re walking from one point to another.”
And just in case that wasn’t enough to bring a smile to your face, Novy said that his koi are recognized by the Pokemon GO app, regardless of the color and pattern he paints them with.
Novy said he’s been painting the koi since 2006, when he finished his last art degree in photography at the Pecks School of Arts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. After graduating, he had an opportunity to travel in China for three months and, according to a post he made at noladefender.com, he said that gave him an opportunity to see how community propaganda art and images were used to persuade the public.
Novy said the trip also allowed him a chance to discover hidden messages and symbolism Chinese artists used under the surface of koi images, including good fortune, success, prosperity, longevity, courage, ambition and perseverance. Certain numbers also had hidden symbolic meaning, Novy said.
“My koi artwork is meant to be a positive,” Novy said. “I want to spread positivity, and I’m so glad to hear people in Bellingham enjoyed it.”