Dolphin Art ~ Beauty and brains in the sea
Dolphins are smart.
Dolphins are beautiful.
Dolphins make for great art!
Today on Seashell Madness it’s another Beach Art day and I’ll be showing you some really cool dolphin art!
Check it out:
Dolphin Trio
Dolphin Trio is a really beautiful piece of work. Designed by artist Joanne Ferrara, the dolphins are hand-carved wood. I have to admit that hand-carving wood really fascinates me. I can’t even saw a board straight, so how does someone do something so precise and beautiful as carving?
Everything is also hand-painted. And those hand-painted dolphins are swimming their way through a metal reef — with its gold-colored, twisting seaweed (very fancy!)
This is one of those pieces that I love just looking at all of the details — not just of the idividual parts of this sculpture, the the fact that it has so many layers to it.
Details: 44″ x 20″ • metal and hand-carved wood
See all of our Sealife Art Pages:
Dolphin Art •
Sea Turtle Art •
Octopus Art •
Crab Art •
Seahorse Art •
Starfish Art •
Seashell Dolphin
Seashells!
I do have the seashell madness after all, so a work like Seashell Dolphin really catches my eye! I’ve featured art from artist Maria Lampton before, because I love what she does with shells (not to mention that I love that she uses shells which she has collected herself on beaches in Florida and the Caribbean).
I mean, take a really close look at what Maria has done with those shells. There’s the outline of the body, which you probably didn’t notice at first glance.
Then look at the flippers and the tail! And the nose! And then the crushed shells of the body!
Look at all of those shells!
How cool is that?
Details: 17″ x 13″ • seashells and crushed shells • handmade
Since we’re talking dolphins…
You have to check out this video. It’s one of the coolest vids that I have ever seen. And that’s not just a click-baity kind of comment — it really is one of the coolest vids I’ve ever seen!
Wouldn't you love to surf with dolphins just once? Youtube
3D Large Dolphins
I was first drawn to 3D Large Dolphins by the pretty blues and teals in use. The colors are so subtle and lovely that at first I didn’t even notice the 3D aspect. I was too entranced just looking at the blues of those dolphins.
But then I noticed something really fascinating about this particular piece of art: it’s bendy!
3D Large Dolphins is laser-cut metal, but done from thin metal with a design that is meant to be bent. This means that your copy of this art will not look the same as someone else’s as you bend the art to create different relationships between the different dolphins and the waves.
I just thought that was really neat.
Details: 20″ x 21″ • metal
Dolphins Photo Print
There are a lot of photo prints of dolphins out there — a lot! — but I have to say that this one, taken by photographer Barathieu Gabriel is my favorite. Dolphins Photo Print is such an amazing image!
Look at how the deep, rich blues of the ocean have been captured while at the same time the light blues of the sky have been captured and between those two extremes the dolphins themselves have been captured. Anyone who has taken ocean pictures knows how difficult it is to get good exposure on all three of those.
I wish I was underwater taking this picture! (or at least next to the photographer as the photo was being taken)
To be that close to dolphins in their natural habitat is amazing.
Details: available in multiple sizes • photo print
Large Blue Dolphin
I’m a big fan of watercolors and I love the way that those watercolors have been used for Large Blue Dolphin. Those bright blue colors are just amazing.
And, you know, one of those things that humans tend to like about dolphins is that the shape of their mouths makes it look like they are always smiling. Now, while I doubt that creatures that are as intelligent as dolphins are always happy, a smiling-looking dolphin really makes my day.
And here, the artist has taken a bit of liberty and made this dolphin’s smile really beam!
Details: available in multiple sizes • print from watercolor original
Dolphin Scenic Sunset
What a great piece of art for a patio or porch or your beach house (or even on your porch at a house not at the beach). Dolphin Scenic Sunset is just beautiful.
It’s cut out of birch plywood which has then been painted with a sunset scene. I was really drown to the teals of this one. And the way the sunlight ripples off of the water and the clouds.
And then I absolutely love the wisdom portrayed in their eyes. Great!
Details: 24″ x 18″ • birch plywood & paint
It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English — up to fifty words used in correct context — no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese.
Carl Sagan
Dolphin Sealife Photo Print
Is this dolphin puckering up for a kiss?
As I mentioned before, there are a ton of dolphin photo prints out there — a ton — but the thing that I love most about this Dolphin Sealife Photo Print is that it feels so personal.
Doesn’t it?
Most photos of dolphins are taken from farther away to capture them interacting with their ocean environment. Which is great. I love those. But the feeling of this photo is that this dolphin has come up to say hello (and maybe steal a kiss). This really appeals to me.
Details: 26.5″ x 20.5″ • print from photo
Homecoming
I’m a sucker for purple. And the deep rich purples of Homecoming really sucked me in to this scene.
Artist Kirk Reinert has just soaked this image in purples. Combined with the pinks and blues, this is amazing.
Details: available in multiple sizes • print on canvas
Stainless Steel Pod
This is another one of those that I love checking out the details. The dolphins of Stainless Steel Pod start off as a plasma-cut metal piece, and from there the real art starts.
The artists at this small, family shop then take those cutouts and hand-burnish then to give them that cool, soft-edged bevelled look. Then they apply heat to the stainless steel to come up with those unique and interesting colors.
Very unique and very cool!
Details: 14″ x 20″ • stainless steel • handmade
Dolphin Beach Art
Personally, I am a fan of art that is unique. And this Dolphin Beach Art definitely is unique.
Artist Sherri Ortega has taken crushed abalone shells to create this mosaic of a dolphin. It’s also great that she has done this artwork on a piece of glass — so no matter where you display or hang it, you will get the effect of gliding through the sea.
Details: 13″ x 11″ • crushed shells & resin • handmade
Driftwood Dolphin
So it is really cool to me that artists Naomi and Steve Mailloux have chosen driftwood as their primary medium (they have a 40′ trailer filled with driftwood they’ve hand-collected from the shores of Lake Erie).
Now, anyone who has ever tried to create a mosaic using driftwood knows what a challenge it is to find just the right pieces to create what you are envisioning in your head.
This one is just perfect!
Details: 23″ x 12″ • driftwood on oak base • handmade
Baby Dolphin
Wow, just look at the amazing colors of Baby Dolphin. I love the deep blues combined with the whites to create a pattern with these resins that is reminiscent of waves breaking on a reef.
And from there, artist Dixie then creates a beach pattern using crushed opal and seashells. This is one of those that I can just sit back and stare at, admiring all of the detail to it.
Details: 12″ x 12″ • resin, crushed opal & crushed shells • handmade
Seashell Sealife Dolphin
Tell me now, does Seashell Sealife Dolphin feel like seashell madness or does it feel like seashell madness?
I wouldn’t even be able to count the number of shells that artist Cathy has used in creating this stunning dolphin mosaic — I just know that it’s a ton of them.
It’s just fascinating, like a sea floor full of real shells, but shaped like a dolphin.
I love it.
Details: 26″ x 16″ • shells • handmade
Rainbow Dolphins
I love the color combination of Rainbow Dolphins. The soft pastel swirls that create the ocean are lovely enough, but then the rainbow-colored dolphins frolicking through those waves just makes this painting awesome.
Artist Tatiana Matveeva uses oils to create this amazing look (by the way, this one is NOT a print, it is the actual oil painting). I’m just entranced by the way that these colors melt together.
There’s something that is definitely hypnotic, and very poetic, about the swirls of the ocean. Fantastic!
Details: 16″ x 24″ • oil on canvas • handmade
Sea Life Dolphins
I am always fascinated by metal art like Sea Life Dolphins. It seems to me that bending and shaping metal to look the way that you want it to look would just be really, really difficult.
And the details of this piece — this is one of those where the more you look at it, the more things that you discover. I love art like that!
The dolphins, the seashells, the starfish… just amazing.
And as an extra bit of coolness, this particular piece is made from recycled steel and has been created by Fair Trade artisans in Haiti.
Details: 24″ • recycled steel • handmade
Bottle-Nosed Dolphins at Sunset
Wasn’t there a popular song in the 90s about shiny, happy dolphins?
Oh, I got that not quite right? Sorry.
Still, I love this triptych print of Bottle-Nosed Dolphins at Sunset.
The lighting is fantastic. And seeing this group of dophins gathered together, seemingly celebrating the sunset, makes me smile.
And I like to smile.
Details: 24″ x 16″ (3x) • print from photo original
Dolphin Art
Thanks for checking out my list of great dolphin art. If you liked it, please share on your social. Thanks!
Written by Renee
