Raft of Otters, Big Sur #1

Oil on canvas

30” X 40”

A Giclee print can be ordered on request from this painting.

I took the photograph of five otters resting in the kelp from a stretch of beach near Julia Pfeifer Burns State Park (north of Mc Way Falls ). Springtime is otter time. During the summer and fall season the kelp beds grow and develop from the nearshore area out to a quarter mile from shore. The rough winter swells tear the kelp beds apart, so by spring the most developed kelp beds are very close to shore. With the otters resting in the kelp between meals, spring is an ideal time to photograph them in their natural environment.