So, for somewhat random reasons, recently I was invited to be a guest speaker at the local area’s Country Women’s Association day. Their topic was frogs, and since I happen to make prints and paintings of frogs sometimes, the delightful lady who invited me thought I would know enough to talk about them. What I lack in knowledge, I can make up for by being quite convincing, haha.
I had some of my frog etchings to show the ladies, but I also wanted to make a piece about a critically endangered Australian frog - this is a picture of a Southern Corroboree Frog.
These little guys are only about 3cm long (body length) and live in alpine areas. There’s a northern and a southern variety (the northern is a bit more lime green than yellow), both species are endangered. They are just the coolest little critters.
5x7 watercolour. Mr jemimah has already acquired it for his collection.
AIMR
(Linda -2026 time to regroup and renew :us:)
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What a wonderful opportunity to show off your art as well as speak on the subject of frogs and the environmental impact on their ability to survive. So many species are going to be lost if we don’t do something now.
We have seen the impact on human life so maybe it will wake up some people so that animals can be saved as well!
Good for you! The frog painting is lovely…glad Mr. J acquired it!
I love this story! Not the endangered frogs part, of course. And I love this painting. The frog looks wonderfully slick/wet. I’m also captivated by how the background dissipates in the lower left corner.
Frogs are such wonderful creatures. This species was down to only around 50 individuals in the wild. There’s a lot of effort going into captive breeding, and they’ve been releasing frogs and eggs into the national park where they live, so hopefully that number has been going up a bit.
I am in awe of your watercolor skills. I love that your husband kept it for his collection!
It’s also great that your local group has speakers about different topics. Topics that not everyone knows about or maybe would not be interested on their own. It is very good for your brain to keep learning as you age.
An alpine frog! I wonder if there are alpine frogs in Colorado
My fascination is with the invasive cane toad, specifically the birds that learned to flip them in order to eat them and avoid the toxins on their back. It’s amazing. Birds are smarter than I have given them credit. MINI DINOSAURS.
eta: We do not have an alpine frog, but we do have the Boreal Toad that mostly lives above 8k feet (above 2k higher than where I live) in wet habitats including, brrrr, glacial kettle lakes. Those are ice cold. It’s basically endangered, but hasn’t been granted extra protection by the Endangered Species Act. What else I did not know is that there is a fungus–chytrid fungus–that has been at work on several species making them vulnerable and even extinct. I thought it was just global warming and habitat destruction. Hm… maybe the warming has caused the fungus to develop Toads are one of my favorites.
Yes - It’s a huge problem around the world, including here in Australia. I think a lot of scientists are working on the reasons why, and how to stop it (probably climate change is part of it).
That Boreal Toad is a cool little guy! The natural world is amazing and there’s so much we still don’t know about it, I hope we humans can do better at protecting it - or at least not wrecking it.
I agree, the way it breaks out of the frame and the light on the frog’s back are just spectacular. They are spectacular critters in real life too! So glad the talk to our local ladies went well.
Impressive work, as always! I like how you did the background and the highlights on the frog are perfect. It looks like the frog may hop off the page at any moment! What a great addition to your talk.
There are still many that do not care at all and/or do not see the big picture.
SO many, a very unsettling amount, here in the USA.
But those that do care… we keep trying.
And now, you’ve made some ladies aware of it-- awareness is the start!
Whoop whoop! Your wonderful craft is one of this week’s Featured Projects! 
