A fish swims up to a bar and splashes down with a pirate, a crab, and a Marlin. He orders a round of drinks. Things get a little rowdy and the next thing you know.... It becomes a Raw Bar.

As in a Diossy Raw Bar painting.

This depiction of four colorful Marine life characters has captured the attention of art lovers world-wide. Steve Diossy, (the grouper) started painting his friends in 2002. Most of his marine life images are fish but he chose the wildly famous crab to represent Robby. His real-life friend is a crabby and snappy guy known for speaking first and thinking later. If you've ever had someone "pinch" your last nerve, you probably ran into Robby.

His friend Scotty is the Marlin and he's the biggest influence on this crazy clan. He chose a Marlin because they have an unwieldy bill. Scotty was like a bull in a china shop always shaking things up and getting people excited with his infections personality. So, depicting a fish with a "sword" seemed fitting. But he didn't choose just any billfish, he chose a Marlin because it doesn't have a pretty sail like a Sailfish or the shark-like dorsal fin of a swordfish. Scotty wasn't fancy or scary. But he did have that bill. Do you know what it's made of? Solid bone- it's a protruding upper jawbone. Another way to describe it is a "stiff upper lip". Symbolically the sword represents slashing any obstacle. With a stiff upper lip, Scotty never backed down... as he would quote "ain't nobody got time for that!"

A question I'm often asked is why does your Mahi wear an eye patch? I pictured my friend Jason as the Mahi.  The patch is on the right side- offering a blind eye to whatever our friend Scotty was doing. Jason is the colorful guy you always want with you because no matter what you're doing, he makes it fun. Jason is a hilarious impersonator and his outrageous parroting is the "smoking gun" in the room-hence the cigar and pirate persona.  While he's a fun guy, his Mahi image is always mad.  If you've ever caught a Mahi on the hook, you know they put on quite a show- flipping and fighting.  It's fun fishing, but if you manage to wrangle them to the boat, they arrive mad... so Mad-Mahi became a popular piece of artwork on my decals, towels and Yeti tumblers. There's even a line of Mad Mahi Performance shirts showcasing these Ferocious fish.

Last is me- the Nassau grouper. They are commonly found in Florida like myself. They have thick bodies and large mouths. It’s okay, I've been called worse.  And they're a solitary fish like myself. Though calling them a grouper is a bit of an oxymoron don't you think?  In the painting, I'm in the group, but still the odd one out as I'm holding a full cocktail in my fin. Is it full because I just refreshed it or because I'm attempting to appear more socialized and reformed? I'll never tell. I also prefer a uniquely flavorful cocktail over a beer because you are what you eat. Chefs love cooking with grouper because of their sweet taste and flaky appearance- just like me.  Lastly I chose a grouper to represent my persona because while it's known for its bright markings, it is able to camouflage with the background.  This suits me as I'm not big on standing out- I let my art work do that for me. So if you want to know about the man behind the paintings, decals, cornhole boards, towels, tumblers, shirts and more, please check out SteveDiossy.com.