Grandmother Toad

Medium:  Transparent Watercolour
Image Size: 6" x 91/4"
Limited Edition Giclée Prints Available

One day in May, I was out picking fiddleheads, and scuffing through the dead leaves left over from the previous autumn.  It had been a cold spring, and it was one of the first warm days of the season.  As I stepped forward, I noticed at the last second, this enormous toad just where I was about to put my big foot.  She was very sluggish with the cold, and wasn't moving too fast.  I managed to avoid her, but it was a close call.  Fortunately, I had my camera with me, so I was able to get several photos of her for reference for the watercolour painting which was the original of these giclee prints.

The title comes from an interesting synchronicity.  Toads and frogs are "indicator" species, the first to show distress when an environment begins to become toxic.  In the lore of many Native tribes, Grandmother Toad is the totems' totem - the one to whom other totems look for wisdom and guidance.