As a kid, I discovered the extinct sea mink at the Bangor Public Library in Ernest Thompson Seton's "Lives of Game Animals." Seton had reprinted a 1903 article from "Forest and Stream Magazine" written by Manly Hardy of Brewer, Maine who handled pelts with his father who was in the fur trade from 1830-1860. He described the sea mink as being twice the size of the "woods mink" with coarse reddish brown fur and being extremely fat. Their last stronghold was in Penobscot Bay (mostly on Swans and Marshall Islands). 

As a young naturalist, I was disappointed that neither pictures in books nor artists' renderings existed, and almost no one had ever heard of the sea mink. At ten years of age, I felt it my mission to someday recreate this mysterious animal.

Then, in the fall of 1997, as I was driving home, I at last convinced myself that I was ready to sculpt the sea mink. Confident, my excitement and enthusiasm accelerated. Emotions swept over me as I felt a closeness to the sea mink whose habitat was my boyhood Penobscot haunts. My special passion for mink had encompassed all my teenage years when I raised them. Furthermore, I had spent most of my life sculpting animals - some with very limited reference materials.

As I turned into our driveway, a mink ran across the road. It was the omen that fueled me with energy and purpose to fulfill my dream. Recreating the extinct sea mink had been one of the most exciting and rewarding bronzes I've done. The "Sea Mink" is now visually recorded life-size for posterity.

Edition: 9

Height: 16"    Length: 34"