In “Fleeting Communion” I’ve portrayed the intense but fleeting interest that dolphins often display when meeting a diver, and I’ve tried to simulate the brief non-verbal communion that many dolphin encounters evoke.

I’ve encountered dolphins hundreds of times underwater, and usually there are a few seconds of mutual appraisal, where I can feel the vibrations of their highly focused sonar, and where the youngest dolphins seem to be “reined in” by the older members of the pod, before they disappear again, leaving me with a vague feeling of disappointment. I always sense in these interactions that there is something just beyond the limits of my understanding; that there is pregnant revelation “just on the tip of my tongue”…

The original painting is 60×90cm, oil on canvas. It hangs on a wall at home.

See more dolphin paintings in my redbubble portfolio
or on GaryLawrenceArt.com