Otter in the Rushes
Portrait of a European Otter in its natural habitat along a river banks hunting for fish.
Gouache and watercolour on 130gsm Winsor and Newton Watercolour paper.
Mounted on wood board.
6 x 6 inches
The Otter population in the wild is recovering after decades of destruction and near extinction from use of insecticides as well as hunting. Once a rare sight in rivers and lakes, they are now popping up and reclaiming their old locations.
The friendly, cheerful industrious Otter appears in one form or another in Irish folklore. Dobhar Chu translates as river dog or hound of the deep, a cross between a hound and an Otter.
The Otter Bride is a version of those magical shape shifting women such as Swan maidens, selkies and crane wives. Half animal, half creature, tricked into marriage by mortal men who steal their animal skin, until the inevitable plot twist and the resourceful creature recovers her coat and escapes. The last that is seen of her is a trail of bubbles as she slips back to the water and its infinite freedom.
Otters collected firewood, salmon and mussels for St. Brendan as he crossed the Atlantic and had an island devoted to them I The Voyage of Maelduin.
These quicksilver animals give me hope for nature’s recovery from what has been inflicted on it and trust the same successful outcomebis’s possible for other species that have disappeared from our landscape.
Portrait of a European Otter in its natural habitat along a river banks hunting for fish.
Gouache and watercolour on 130gsm Winsor and Newton Watercolour paper.
Mounted on wood board.
6 x 6 inches
The Otter population in the wild is recovering after decades of destruction and near extinction from use of insecticides as well as hunting. Once a rare sight in rivers and lakes, they are now popping up and reclaiming their old locations.
The friendly, cheerful industrious Otter appears in one form or another in Irish folklore. Dobhar Chu translates as river dog or hound of the deep, a cross between a hound and an Otter.
The Otter Bride is a version of those magical shape shifting women such as Swan maidens, selkies and crane wives. Half animal, half creature, tricked into marriage by mortal men who steal their animal skin, until the inevitable plot twist and the resourceful creature recovers her coat and escapes. The last that is seen of her is a trail of bubbles as she slips back to the water and its infinite freedom.
Otters collected firewood, salmon and mussels for St. Brendan as he crossed the Atlantic and had an island devoted to them I The Voyage of Maelduin.
These quicksilver animals give me hope for nature’s recovery from what has been inflicted on it and trust the same successful outcomebis’s possible for other species that have disappeared from our landscape.
Portrait of a European Otter in its natural habitat along a river banks hunting for fish.
Gouache and watercolour on 130gsm Winsor and Newton Watercolour paper.
Mounted on wood board.
6 x 6 inches
The Otter population in the wild is recovering after decades of destruction and near extinction from use of insecticides as well as hunting. Once a rare sight in rivers and lakes, they are now popping up and reclaiming their old locations.
The friendly, cheerful industrious Otter appears in one form or another in Irish folklore. Dobhar Chu translates as river dog or hound of the deep, a cross between a hound and an Otter.
The Otter Bride is a version of those magical shape shifting women such as Swan maidens, selkies and crane wives. Half animal, half creature, tricked into marriage by mortal men who steal their animal skin, until the inevitable plot twist and the resourceful creature recovers her coat and escapes. The last that is seen of her is a trail of bubbles as she slips back to the water and its infinite freedom.
Otters collected firewood, salmon and mussels for St. Brendan as he crossed the Atlantic and had an island devoted to them I The Voyage of Maelduin.
These quicksilver animals give me hope for nature’s recovery from what has been inflicted on it and trust the same successful outcomebis’s possible for other species that have disappeared from our landscape.