Larson’s inspiration for ‘Heceta Takes Flight’ is her favorite lighthouse on the Oregon Coast, a Florence icon and the most photographed lighthouse in the world, Heceta Head Lighthouse, viewed beautifully from Sea Lion Caves. The gorgeous life size sea lion form provided for the project looks so fluid and graceful, it caused her to think of how sea lions move through water like birds through air. This thought inspired her to turn the top of her sea lion into a giant flying seagull, with Heceta Lighthouse on its back, thus the name ‘Heceta Takes Flight’.

Originally, Larson planned to feature only Heceta Head Lighthouse on her sea lion. But when she was told that her lion would be displayed in Newport for the first six months of its life, and was asked to add the two Newport lighthouses to her design for that reason, she decided to go one step further and add ALL the lighthouses on the Oregon Coast, which are each painted on the sides and back. The two Newport lighthouses are painted larger and more centrally located, with the others radiating out from the center above and below, according to their location on the Oregon coast and proximity to Florence. 

n 2019 julie took on the job of volunteer website manager for the Dancing with Sea Lions site, where she updated all the information, redesigned and added photos and links to the home page, and added a ‘Gallery’ with hundreds of additional photographs of the sea lions and their fans, which she found online and from other sources. 

Please feel free to submit your own photographs of the sea lions for her to add to the Dancing with Sea Lions Photo Gallery: jdlarson24@gmail.com