Friday, February 17, 2006

Illustration Friday - Song

Illustration Friday - Song
I'm tired after staying up late answering the Reluctuant Nomad's personalised interview questions - see here for my answers.

So it took me a while to realise I should be celebrating the frogs currently active in our pond - for more see here.

Hope you like the frog's song - croak!

Detail:

Illustration Friday - Song detail

33 comments:

andrea said...

Ha! First! I love what you've done with this 'Carlone'. Wish I could have your feedback when I'm in creativity mode. I could learn so much!

Anonymous said...

Really nice work. Our frogs are working overtime as well...I actually found one in the house about a week ago.


andrea (yes another one)

Caroline said...

Andrea the first - thanks andear - I expect we could learn a lot from each other.

Andrea the second - thank you too! And hello! Do you have a pond to put the stray frog back in?

isay said...

please have a nice good sleep. sweet dreams, too. you've done a lot of posting already. they are all great and i love what you did with these frogs.

The Unknown said...

Cool! Great illo!
I'm told you can get high by licking certain frogs. Maybe that happened here? I keep licking my pc but I'm getting nothing.
love

Anonymous said...

Excellent - the song of the frog. Kermit would feel right at home.

Anonymous said...

I love the colors! Really nice work!

Anonymous said...

POND POEM

There once was a lady with an English pond
To have a pond she was very fond
She dug it herself big and deep
Wildlife itself had to keep
An English loved pond

Frogspawn batched and damselflies hatched
Springtime was particularly special to catch
The herons would supper on great frog dishes
In an extra swish, they would also eat fishes
An English loved pond

The fish were drawn to dining frogspawn
Frogs still appeared plenty were born
Alas great pond ripples would often shake
With a non poisonous but hungry for frogs grass snake
An English loved pond

The snake ate the frogs that quickly jumped out
The greyhound fell in when running about
Remember the pond was big and deep
Wildlife itself had to keep
An English loved pond

Later this lady either did move or abscond
She was still very fond to keep a pond
The soil was like sand, local fauna like stubble
The pond was not grand, but more than a puddle
An Australian loved pond

Goldfish made ripples and lived on tadpoles
These pretty fish were lucky not living in bowls
Herons gathered for brunch of goldfish crunch
A dog chased the heron, just imaginary lunch
An Australian loved pond

The Australian story of flood or drought
Made no difference to mosquitoes about
Motorbike frogs are not seen as chow
Their clever way how is by tasting real foul
An Australian loved pond

English or Australian however the same
Less famine than feast in either pond’s game
It does not differ no matter how deep
Wildlife itself always manages to keep
In a ladies loved pond

merlinprincesse said...

Wow! What could I say after Anonymous!!! Maybe only that I like the sound of singing frogs... For me it's the sound of a calm and cool summer night... *sigh*

Liz Jones said...

Great choice!! I can't wait to hear those peepers around our place!

Caroline said...

Isay - thank you a very kind thought from the one who dreams a dream like a dreamer

The unknown - hmm... seems to me that you may have become immune to the skin of your pc... love

Janey - ah but I missed out Miss Piggy!

catraven - thank you - the original was a little duller though more natural of course...

Anonymous - wow - I don't know what to say - I certainly can't match that! - thank you very much!

merlinprincesse - for some reason we get frogs croaking here (and amorous) even when its icy....

liz jones - hello - thank you and I hope you enjoy them soon!

MD said...

What a beautiful piece and stunning colours. Aren't frogs totally fascinating?
MD

meghan said...

Hello,

I am here for the first time & I wanted to say how much I LOVED your artwork, and your honest words. I'm so happy to have found you! I will definitely be back!!

Caroline said...

Thank you megg - I look forward to seeing more of you!

Anonymous said...

Did I forget to mention your image is wonderful! Apart from frog ponds, reminds me of rippling water hit by the sun.

Unknown said...

Caroline this is wonderful! love what you did to the photo.
One of these days i would love to see a spring vernal pond as the frogs are spawning and the salamanders crossing the woodland floor.

AscenderRisesAbove said...

Wonderful illustration Caro... the colors really are reflective of that environment and the personality of a frog.

carla said...

I just love what you did with the photo! The colors and the bubbling look are amazing:>

Catnapping said...

yummm. tasty. that one looks especially eager to be my dinner!

neena maiya (guyana gyal) said...

Ohhh, this takes me away to far away places, the colours, the blues and greens, the pinks and yellow, I'm sitting here feeling mellow, just looking at this.

I just noticed the key below, I mean, really NOTICED. Amazing, Caro.

Anonymous said...

This is fabulous! So light, clear and bubbly. I love it :-)

Caroline said...

Anonymous - thank you!

Melba - we have no pets but the pond fills the gap well. We have no fish as it is not a huge pond and we want to encourage the other wildlife. My sister has solved this problem by having at least three small separate ponds: one raised pool for fish, two more natural ones. (I say at least as its a couple of months since I visited and I never know what she's been up to that she hasn't got around to mentioning.... ;-)

Toni Kelly - Thank you. We don't have salamanders here - I think newts might be similar - I'd love to have some but so far only frogs and toads have colonised this pond. My sister was given some newts one year but they didn't care for her pond (she only had the one at that time) and they emigrated to another a couple of gardens away!

Ascenderrisesabove - thank you

Carla - thank you too - I played with some effects I'd not really used before.

Catnapping - naughty cat stay away from the frogs! ;-)

GG - thanks for both these compliments.

Frogs are often see as symbols of transformation (from tadpole to frog, or from frog to prince) and keys are there to unlock doors. I think they might go together more than I thought.... thanks for making me look at my own blog GG!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that's a wacky looking frog. I love it.

Anonymous said...

thanx for your comment...I like this very much...the abstract detail, especially...and the reluctant nomad site looks intersting to me!

Caroline said...

Thank Alexa!

And Krista - it is whacky isn't it - but then they are all putting on their gladrags and singing their songs to attract the female frogs... I just had to jazz them up a bit so it was visible to the human eye ;-)

Aynaku - thank you and have fun on his site!

Tony LaRocca said...

I suppose Kermit's "Disco frog" would be fitting

Caroline said...

Tony Larocca - ;-)

Willie Baronet said...

I love the frogs!!

Caroline said...

Croak ;-)

Todd DeWolf said...

This is so cool looking! It reminds me of the giant frogs that we had near our summer cottage that kept us up all night with their songs.

TXArtcGal said...

Very original...and, neat concept! Fantastic!

valerie walsh said...

i love this!!! and i looked at all your current posts and Love your new cards!!! The sound of frogs in the creek next to my house makes me feel safe!

Caroline said...

Holly - thanks - I'm glad to say our forgs are not keeping us up all night but when I'm near the pond I hear that thay are still singing.

Txartcgal - thank you!

Valgalart - thank you - I've made some more but not had time to post them yet... I've had a visitor and no time to spare... I like the idea of frogs making you feel safe... keep val safe... croak!