"Fade"

I've had this piece in the back of my mind for quite some time.....years, in fact, but I never quite found the time to realize it.

This is the initial watercolour sketch.....three frogs on a log with the colour successively fading from them.

I decided a couple of months ago that I wanted to make this piece (finally!) for my exhibition in August, so I knuckled down and got it done in the past week. First I had to make three fabric frogs:

Since these are quite small, this is tricky and intricate fabric piecing, and they all needed to be in slightly different poses.

The frogs were then arranged side-by-side on a piece of wood that I have had set aside for this project for ages..........I painted the fade into the wood as well.

Of course, it is fairly obvious that this piece has a strong environmental message: frogs and amphibians generally, are "canary-in-the-mine" species.....their sudden decline and disappearance from many habitats indicate that all is not well with the ecology of these habitats. Presence of frogs is a strong indication of environmental health.