Maggie the Sea Lion Paints for Fish

Some artists suffer for their work. Maggie, an 11-year-old sea lion at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, gets to eat dead fish for hers. Kesha Phares, a zoo trainer, has been teaching the animal to paint since last year.



It took three months to get the animal to hold a paint brush and touch the bristles to paper.

Phares picks the paint colours - sea lions are colourblind - and puts paint on the brush. The paintings are done one stroke at a time, with Maggie getting a fish after each stroke.

If the animal can be said to have a style, it is this: She tends to put more paint on the right side of the canvas than the left.