River Otter Jester

Finally, this sweet little fella is finished and ready for his new home. This river otter was a custom order through my etsy shop. The sky is the limit! I am always thrilled with custom orders because they often point me in a direction that I have not been before. The creation of this little fella help land a month-long gallery showing this fall with the promise of more spirit-animal related items! So I certainly have my work cut out for me this summer!

I have never made a little beret before, so that was a fun challenge. This otter is sporting a lush blue velvet beret with a little gold leaf. His stick is covered in matching velvet and wrapped in gold metallic thread. He sports a cream colored ruffled collar and one of golden netting. His jingle collar is made with the same cream material matched with a light checkered sage. The diamond-shaped panels are edged in an elegant gold trim. Gold bells jingle off the end of each panel. He is painted with a little gold tint in his eyes and the entire head is covered in a glaze to protect it. The mono-filament whiskers are trimmed to closely match a wild river otter. I love working with whiskers. They add so much to each piece. If you look closely, there is a little smile underneath those whiskers! And finally he bears a braided loop for convenient hanging on the wall.

Here are a few pictures of this little guy. Enjoy them here because this item won't be in the gallery showing as it's off to live across the country!