This portrait of an elephant seal pup named Yeehaw has taken a long time to come together, but good things take time!

Yeehaw was a northern elephant seal pup that stranded on Rodeo beach (🤠) and was rescued by The Marine Mammal Center back in 2023. During her time in rehab, she was a bit of a mess with advanced malnutrition and a stomach full of rocks. But Yeehaw made a full recovery, puked up those rocks, lost a whole suite of hat tags, and packed on the pounds enough to make those glorious back rolls. She’s a perfect distillation of why I love elephant seal season, and she’s pretty darn cute to boot!

While Yeehaw has been back in her ocean home for a few years now, seeing her adorable little face on my studio walls every day makes it feel like she’s in the room with me (only without the smell!)

If you love nature inspired art, this piece is a perfect unique addition to any gallery wall or art shelf!

Yeehaw is woodburned by hand on a 10.75 × 7.5 inch Basswood round and comes with a hanging wall cleat fastened on the back so it can go straight up on your wall!