(H030) Mimic Octopus - Color Chart I love octopi!  Did you know that snails and octopi are of the same family?  Mollusks both. In Indonesia, the Mimic Octopus does a wonderful job of forcing us as humans to rethink what it means to "be aware".  Because there are no rocks where the Mimic lives, just sand, hiding in broad daylight is its strategy; mimicing dangerous sealife such as the lion fish, the sole and the sea snake.  So it's pure fun for me to mimic the Mimic!

(H031) Otter - Color Chart Who can resist an otter?  Surely this active animal reminds us that life is about having fun too, not just making money. When I pull the tiny legs out of the clay and then shape the illusion of their webbed feet I too play.  Most of all I love the arched back of the Otter - almost seeing them running, bouncing, sliding, swimming...... I loved to swim - don't do it much anymore - too cold.  But the activity I loved the most was swimming under the water.  If I had to pick a mammal to be it would be the otter; the ability to stay under the water for long periods of time and to play for a living.

(H032) Penguin - Color Chart Relationships in Nature attract me like a bee to a flower.  When I encounter them they nourish me like honey does a bee.  One of the most endearing for me is the power of parenting exhibited by the Emperor Penguin of Antarctica.  In the dead of the Antarctic winter, mated pairs join thousands of other; the female lays her one lone egg and before it touches the ground and freezes the male takes it and secures their future offspring in his brood pouch. Warm and snug, the developing embryo grows.  The mother feeding at sea, not to return until the chick is long hatched; the father near starvation. It is a very tender experience for me to hatch my penguin family. P.S.  I've been making the adult and baby penguin sculpture for a number of years.  You can't imagine how excited I was when I heard about the release in 2005 of the documentary movie March of the Penguins.  In our American society invariably mass produced items will be marketed to capitalize on a popular movie.  If you're hoping to find something genuine as a memento for the Emperor Penguin family of Antarctica, this is what I love to do.