Otters the clowns of wildlife

This was a fun piece to put together.  It involved two of my favorite things, animals and wood.

Underwater Playground

At the time I was helping the Division of Wildlife here in Colorado research river otters along the Platte.  My partner on that first particular trip ended up not showing so I covered the area alone.  I became aware of the danger in that when I fell through the top of a cave along the bank created by a beaver.   It thankfully did not break anything but I realized I was miles from a vehicle if I had needed it. To an observer I probably looked pretty comical because my main fear was a rattler down there so I came out as fast as I fell in the hole.

From then on we partnered that responsibility and my son often joined me to scare off snakes and collect all the ticks first.

Otters are playful, fun animals and I tried to catch that attitude plus the grace and movement of these wonderful creatures in this work. (Ocean otters are totally different)

Old wood, what can I say, I have wandered shorelines for years picking up drift wood and love what time and weather do to give it character.  I tried to capture that look in the tree that the otters chase the trout around. Often trees damaged when young have distorted root systems and create a playground for fish and otters alike.

This work went fast as does anything you are passionate about. The patina lends itself to a look of underwater reflections on the tree and the otters. This is an older piece with only one edition remaining. It has also always been a difficult piece to photograph but then photography of sculpture is another long post in itself. A good piece that can be viewed in the round also showing the movement and flow easily.