Hello all, Rich here – taking the reigns of blogging duties and all things web from my wife so she can get some long needed rest and relaxation. In the midst of this rest, she is still sketching out new ideas and working on new paintings so we’re not expecting any significant down period. We are going through a pretty challenging chapter of our lives but we are not allowing this to stunt the development and growth of our business. And as she said, I’m picking up where she’s leaving off for the time being. It is our responsibility to our loyal customers, friends and most importantly to our overall mission.

With the birth of Ecopatterns, we took on the responsibility of utilizing art and social media to raise and spread awareness about animals most folks won’t know are endangered, and to back it up with factual information. This may seem like a modest responsibility to shoulder, but we feel it is critical for the future of the planet. We feel it would be particularly sad if elephants, giraffes and even little monkeys are spoken of in the same vein as dinosaurs a few generations from now. We have an opportunity to prevent this from happening especially if the threats are coming from things we have the power to control. So I wanted to extend a big thanks to everyone who has supported our mission thus far and those that continually encourage and help us spread the good word. Without you guys, we’d accomplish so little, and for that we are incredibly grateful. We look forward to keeping up the fight.

These days we are hearing a lot about the big oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Of course oil spills take us back to the horrific memory of what happened with the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. The primary victims of that spill were the little sea otters. The plight of sea otters inspired me to produce my newest painting in my Endangered Species collection, “Sea Otters Sing Many Songs.” They will be available in note cards and prints in the coming days, so keep an eye out for them.

You can generally find Sea Otters foraging in the morning and napping in the afternoon before resuming their daily chores. They are busy little animals that are, for the most part, peaceful. Their contributions to the health of coastal ecosystems is significant despite their tiny frames giving them the distinction of being labled a keystone species. Though there is a rebound boost in the population of the smallest marine mammals, these little furry guys are still listed as endangered. The most significant threat to sea otters according to Wikipedia has been oil spills. Fur trade and other hunting-related activities have also threatened this very cute but important animal.