"Otter Circle"

  This is my third and most ambitious effort painting this relentlessly charismatic member of the weasel family, and my first ever depiction of an underwater environment. I chose a looser style representing what appears to be this species free-wheeling spirit for both the background and the main subject matter. While I've recently set personal records for encountering them in the wild in varied environments throughout the Northwoods, I referenced these three in the Milwaukee County Zoo, WI USA. While they seem completely liberated and capable from my usual perspective of a kayak their "poetry in motion" takes on a whole new level in a marine circumstance. Impervious to any hint of captivity their enthusiastic aquatic frolicking emitted simultaneous joy and purpose, with an infectious enthusiasm that I could best interpret as an "Otter Circle."