I was cleaning the garden and found a flower pot broken just as you see here. The break happened in such a way that it made a door into what could be a little house. But , who would live there? I immediately thought of the toads in our yard and I asked my son to catch one for me. I sketched him as he hopped around a big glass bowl on my desk . As soon as we could, we put him back in the garden so he could be happy again . Now he lives here along with a tiny friend in my picture of the "Toad's House" . The weeds are growing wild but they cool his front yard and he has some beautiful Chameleon plants in the backround for some flash. Why should a toad's life be dull?
The original was SOLD this fall to a nice family from Virginia. There are limited edition , signed and numbered prints available as well. The image on the prints is just a tiny bit smaller than the original.
- Print Image 10" x 7.25" one size only $45.00
- Greeting cards (blank inside) w/envelopes pack of 5 for $ 6.00
- shipping costs are included in the stated prices
The Diamondback Terrapin is a picture I wanted to ink for a long time. I saw my first one up close a few years ago at a nature center. I reached out a finger to touch its head and wondered at the softness of it's silvery white skin. Since then I have met a couple more and the colors that glow through their faces is sometimes a peach or a pink along with some silvery blue. They are beautiful! The backround was done late last summer while I was on Chincoteague Island. It is composed of things I found as I walked the "loop" at the refuge there. My favorite find was the branch you see here in the grasses. It was dry as a bone washed up long ago in a high tide but the barnacle's shells hung on. In a word it looked COOL. So into the picture it went along with the teensy fowler toads that hopped around me as I knelt to sketch the beach aster. Four of those cuties hide in this picture. I couldn't finish the drawing or begin inking then as I wanted to draw the turtle while watching a live model. Well...as cold weather came it was impossible to find one in the wild. The good people at the Wetland Institute in Stone Harbor NJ came to my rescue when they told me that they had more than a dozen turtles right there swimming in their tanks. I couldn't believe my good fortune. That day with the diamondbacks was great fun. My favorite one walks across the picture.
 The original Diamondback Terrapin inking is 12" tall by 16" wide. It is inside a nicely ornate dark brown wooden frame behind double mats. It is for sale for $3100.00. I also have limited edition (300) signed & numbered prints of museum quality available. They come in two sizes, chosen to fit frames that are either 11"x14" or 16" x 20". These are nice standard size frames and easy to find. Just trying to keep things easy. There are also notecards in packs of 5 with this turtle's picture on them too.
Here's another chance , and I will take it, to say help keep the turtles off the road. When you see them on the road please safely stop and help these beautiful creatures to get across the road unharmed. I joke...but only half joke really...that if God turns out to be a turtle then we will be golden for doing this small kindness.
- Large Prints $80.00
- Smaller Prints $ 45.00
- Notecards are also available package of 5 $ 6.00
- Shipping included in prices
When springtime rolls around with that first really warm day , we begin to keep our eyes peeled for turtles as we know the sun will draw them out. We live near wetlands and turtles can be found climbing on the fallen logs bordering the ponds and marshes. Keeping children quiet so as not to frighten them ( the turtles) back into the water is a job but it is fun to spy on them with our binoculars . It is a treat to see the cozy fellowship that turtles share , piled shell upon shell , warm and friendly in the sun. It makes me wish to be among them to hear the stories they might tell. It is surprising to me , i do not know why , to find the mud colored green of them edged sometimes in shocks of red and yellow designs . Beautiful. I inked this picture in the spring of 2005. The original is SOLD it now belong to a most wonderful , completely huggable young family.
There are signed and numbered limited edition prints available in two sizes .The smaller is 11" x 8" , it fits matted inside an 11" x 14" frame . The larger print , 15" x 11" is made to fit matted in a 16" x 20 " frame. There are greeting cards as well with the turtles on them. Now , please be a good citizen and if you see the turtles crossing the road , stop and help them get quickly to cooler , safer more turtley areas. We always do , and feel good about ourselves afterwards. And , we know this ...if we die and God turns out to be a gigantic turtle...we are as good as gold :) .
- Large Prints image size 15" x 11" $ 80.00
- Small Prints image size 11" x 8 " $ 45.00
- 5 cards 5 envelopes (blank inside) $ 6.00
- all prices include shipping costs
- Detail of "Fellowship of Turtles "
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