Under Cover

Medieval style miniature portrait of a poisonous frog at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens

Available as a limited edition, numbered and signed, archival print (4.5″ x 4.5″ printed on slightly larger paper). The original is painted and illuminated (gilded) in watercolor, ink, gouache, and 24k gold leaf on real animal vellum.

The limited edition, numbered, archival (giclee) print has been painstakingly created to capture the brilliance of the colors and metallics as a print of superior longevity on cotton rag paper.

This is one of my few miniatures in which the subject is depicted at close to life size. Even my butterflies are smaller than their real counterparts. This tiny frog is part of a permanent exhibit of poisonous frogs that I visit on my frequent trips to ABG’s Fuqua Conservatory. His intensely vivid greens were a delightful challenge to create, as was the moss. The surrounding leaves, like in the rest of my miniatures, contrast the realism of the animal with the fanciful nature of the foliage. In this case, they are more realistically inspired by the aspidistra leaves surrounding my backyard fishpond with its own, much larger frogs. This juxtaposition of reality and imagination allows me to illuminate marvelous creatures in the most unexpected places!