Coast Monthly Article-Artist Mike Quinn
Smiling sharks, shifty-eyed octopuses and fun-loving fish. Santa Fe artist Mike Quinn’s undersea and land creatures come with personality and attitude. Quinn’s art pieces have been featured in a variety of places and restaurants on the upper Texas coast and across the nation. Quinn, owner of Fish with Attitude, has attracted a strong following and a reputation for his art pieces. But his success didn’t happen overnight.
Quinn’s first step toward artistic success started with a failure when he was in college. Initially, he wanted to become a veterinarian. When an advisor informed him his grade point average wasn’t enough to get into a graduate program, he changed his major to art while attending Texas State University. He went on to take a ceramics class where he was assigned a molding project.
“It started from a college project from an art class,” Quinn said. “I started selling these fish. I wasn’t breaking any records at the time.”
Quinn chose fish because one of his college friend’s apartments featured fish tanks from floor to ceiling, he said.
Quinn’s friend kept fish he caught at the San Marcos River. Quinn eventually bought one perch for $10.
“We molded the fish and then it became sort of a printing press,” Quinn said. “I would do some with long fins or short fins; big mouth or short mouth; big eyes or small eyes. One mold started the whole thing.”
Quinn eventually branched out with crawfish, crabs, oysters, squid and octopuses.
One day, in the early ‘90s, a friend of Quinn’s had a gift certificate for a restaurant. Quinn joined him at the restaurant, where he noticed a sign that announced a six-week art show.
Quinn got in contact with the man who was in charge of the art show. The man agreed to display Quinn’s work.
“He called me about a week later and told me they had all sold,” Quinn said. Quinn soon was given an envelope full of cash, his first break in the art world, he said.
“All of a sudden, I was rolling,” Quinn said. “I was a pretty broke college kid at the time and I finally had some sort of income. It just took off. I kept bringing fish every Sunday night, restocked and collected a check.”
Quinn later went on to exhibit his work at art shows and displays outside of Texas.
One reason people might be attracted to Fish with Attitude’s pieces is because Quinn’s style is instantly recognizable.
“I was at a concert festival and this artist gave me the best compliment,” Quinn said. “He goes, ‘Hey, I love your stuff. You know what’s the best thing about your art? Every time I see it, I know it’s yours.’” 
