By Josette Keelor — Daily Staff Writer

BLUEMONT — Clay Givens' home in Clarke County has a definite theme going: The small country house on Ravens Rock Road is decorated with many types of fish, all native to the Northern Shenandoah Valley.

The walls of his kitchen and bedroom are lined with shellcracker, black crappie, yellow perch, large and smallmouth bass, and bluegilll.

"I like 'em all; I think the yellow perch is probably my favorite ... and then probably the largemouth and smallmouth."

Because Givens, 45, has enjoyed fishing most of his life and appreciates the beauty of fish, it was a natural choice for him to take up taxidermy and touch-up painting as a hobby.

"I think I got my inspiration to get involved in all this from some local taxidermists," he says.

He began learning the process of taxidermy in 1999, he says, first by watching over the shoulders of professionals and then by trying the work himself, making mistakes and asking a lot of questions.

"I got interested because of the artwork side of it, and I thought I could [do] the same work that these taxidermists were doing, and that I could do it myself and save the money," he says. Though he keeps many of the fish he catches, stuffs and paints, he distributes some to family and friends. He has also begun considering making a career of his passion.

"I'm about to go into business for myself ... I definitely want to go into business some time very soon," he says.

Currently between jobs, Givens says right now he's a full-time caregiver to his mother. Formerly he was an electrician, but he says that for a while he had wanted to do something different. He also works as a handyman from time to time, for supplemental income.

"If I'm not doing handyman work, I'm either out there on the lake fishing for a fish [or] at home working in the shop painting a fish, or reading a magazine article on catching a fish or just plain asleep dreaming about catching more fish. Anyway you put it, it's probably fish-related," he says.

Though painting is a big part of his work, Givens says he never painted much before he began painting fish.

"I had an eye and a talent for small details, and I'm definitely into small details and accuracy," he says.

Accuracy is clearly a quality needed in the field of touch-up painting. Givens has devoted half of his basement to his passion, having set up a work station with air brushes, various sized paint brushes and hundreds of paint colors.

The entire process of drying, stuffing and painting a fish takes from 10 to 18 hours of active work, he says.

After bringing the fish home, he skins it, removing everything inside. That can take up to two hours, he says. Then he tans the fish in a Borax solution. The fish needs only 24 to 48 hours to tan, but it can stay in the solution for about a month or so, where he will keep it until he has obtained the right size glass eyes and foam body on which to mount the fish, which he orders from a distributor.

After mounting the fish, which can take another couple of hours, he sets the fins and mouth in the positions he wants them and hangs the fish to dry for about three weeks.

Once it's dry, he sets the glass eyes and begins the epoxy work, using a compound to hold or rebuild any shrunken areas in the skin of the fish. It also tightens the skin, he says.

Then he primes the fish with a water-based sealer.

"[There are ] about a dozen steps for the mounting of a fish and painting," he says.

For him, it has become routine, but the steps are important, and he says if he doesn't get a step right the first time, he will do it over again, and again, until the fish is in exactly the right position or fits perfectly on the foam body.

"If it fits right off the bat, then I'm lucky," he says, though he can shave off some foam if the body is too big or build it up with papier-mâché if it's too small.

As if the preparation of the fish is not tedious enough, the painting is even more involved and important, he says.

"I really have to make sure that I get that right," he says, because it is so easy to mess up the process. "I'm very deliberate and patient."

Patience is certainly a virtue in this line of work, and Givens says it has taken him up to five times painting and then stripping a fish until he was satisfied with the end result.

"Any of the bluegill species are difficult," he says, listing redbreast sunfish and shellcracker fish as others that need special attention.

"Just about every bluegill you catch has different characteristics on them ... bar patterns and spot patterns can change from fish to fish." In order to get the color scheme right, Givens studies the fish immediately after catching it and takes pictures, which he can refer to later.

Givens plans to expand on his hobby by seeking freshwater fish he has not yet caught, and is even looking into fiberglass reproduction for future customers wishing to purchase artificial fish.

But Givens says his interests lie in fish and fish alone.

He does not want to worry about any larger animals, he says. "If it doesn't swim, I don't want to know about it."

Whether or not he begins his business, he says he will keep doing the work. What he calls an enjoyment, touch-up painting is "a way for me to just kind of get down to the studio and get lost," he says.

"I think fish taxidermy is an art and that people should appreciate it as just that, because it is an art," he says, adding that it takes a lot of work involved and a desire to do it right. "I think you have to appreciate it for what it is."

*Contact Josette Keelor at jkeelor@nvdaily.com