ROFFS™ Artist of the Year

At ROFFS™ we annually select an artist that we would like to feature as our “Artist of the Year.” The purpose of this honor is to develop a mutually beneficial relationship with relatively new and up and coming artists in the marine community. We select artists based on a variety of objective and subjective criteria. Previous recipients have been Don Ray, Steve Goione, Cary Chen, Kevin Brant, Barry Barnett, Daniel Jean-Baptiste, Mark Ray, Tony Ludovico, Judy Shillingburg, Larry Rackley, David Mellor, Dustin Cole, and Dennis Friel. This year the ROFFS™ “artist of the year 2016-2017” is Adrian E. Gray.

We feature an “Artist of the Year” this to support relatively new and exciting marine artists. We hope the samples of their art will make our website a more interesting place to visit. We hope that it will promote the artist and their art in that our web visitors will tell other people about the art and generate sales for the artist. ROFFS™ does not get a commission or any direct financial benefit from this. We do not charge any fee for anything or ask for commission on any sales we bring to the artist. Any sales derived from our “Artist of the Year” site belong to the artist. We will not take orders, but instead refer people to the artist’s website directly. This is clearly shown.

Meet our 2016-2017 ROFFS™ Artist of the Year – Adrian E. Gray

Marine artist and underwater photographer Adrian E. Gray, and avid fisherman, was born and raised on the southeast coast of South Africa where he was first exposed to the marvels of marine life as a very small child. The vast ocean and its tidal pools were just a short walk from home where his parents, Edwin and Kate, raised gray and his sister.

“I used to plow through tidal pools for hours upon hours, plucking and feeling and looking at everything that inhabited those shallows”, said Gray. “That’s where the fascination began”, Gray explains. Ocean life became the subject matter of countless school assignments as well as drawings.

In the 1980s, Adrian went to school in New York and learned to fish Long Island Sound for striped bass and various local reservoirs for trout. He later settled in Miami, Florida. After graduating with a degree in marine sciences from the University of Miami he held a few jobs related to his field.

Living in South Florida had a significant impact on Gray and fueled his passion for fishing even more. “Tarpon, snook, permit, bonefish, sailfish, swordfish, dolphin – I couldn’t get enough of it”, said Gray.

Currently, Gray works at the International Game Fish Association in Dania Beach, Florida, creating and producing the organization’s multimedia materials, including its world famous World Record Game Fishes yearbook and International Angler magazine. Gray also serves as the organization’s in-house photographer, videographer and website support.

As odd as it may seem, Gray never took any formal art or photography training and is essentially self-taught. He started off by sketching fish and photographing them for fun. A friend recognized talent in Gray and gave him paints and an easel to express his passion for fish – the rest is history.

Contact Adrian for custom orders, scheduling, or questions that you may have via email or through one of his websites – Sportfish Gallery or Sportfish Images.

Sample photos of Adrian Gray’s work are shown below – thumbnails zoom when clicked on…