Portrait of a stoat | my painting story

Below is a short video following the story of how a new painting featuring a stoat named Crackle came about. Crackle was born in my garden in 2019 and when she was just a young kit she starred in a TV documentary for BBC Natural World and for the US station PBS. The programme was all about stoats and the family of mammals they belong to; the weasel. It was made possible after I installed cameras inside the nest of Crackle’s mother, Bandita, in order to see how she brought up her young.

I continued to follow the story of this stoat family long after the camera crews left and the following year I noticed that Crackle was expecting kits of her own. She had to fight off her mother, Bandita, who tried to push her out of the territory. Eventually, however, she gained the right to raise five kits of her own here – alongside Bandita. My cameras revealed so much about the character of stoats, their tenacity and their cheeky, inquisitive natures. Crackle, in particular, is a strong, proud, animal and I worked to get that across in my painting, choosing to pose her as she gazes directly out of the frame. Watch my painting come to life in the short video below.

Click here to read more about Crackle and all the stoats in my garden 

 

https://youtu.be/N_Al0P8JlNY

Click  to play video

The Finished Portrait

Crackle: Standing Proud | Original Acrylic Painting | Available Here

Read More: 

https://www.robertefuller.com/stunning-paintings-of-stoats-weasels/

 

https://www.robertefuller.com/stoat-camera-stories-spring-2019-setting-up-home/