A fascination for frogs, their sounds, their sizes, the belief that they mean wealth and another belief that they mean good luck lends them to a good subject for my art work and photography. They are portrayed in many shapes, sizes and mediums by artists world wide. I personally like to portray them as realistically as possible. Although these five would not normally be found all in one place, here they are together in my frog fascination, the beauty of art. This piece consists of two toads, one I photographed at the bottom of Wiamia Canyon in Kauai, one I photographed at Kennedy Lake, Ucluelet and three other frogs with varying character. A mimic poison frog, a common marsupial frog and a local red legged tree frog.
This special artist conk was collected from a hemlock tree in the Clayoquot Sound. The bump protruding from the surface had me intrigued and unsure as to what to portray on this piece. After several months of drying and then several more of studying and several ideas later it was a toad that jumped off the canvas and said, 'pick me.' I have an affinity to odd numbers, so it would be one (too lonely) three, (didn't cover enough surface) or five. Five won out. The lily pads were added lending to the design a story of an unlikely and unusual group of amphibians gathered in a pond together enjoying the solitude that the west coast offers.

[ 9.5" x 16.5" x 9" ] This piece is available at Reflecting Spirit Gallery in Ucluelet, BC. Canada