Quernus Crafts: Wee Frog (b.3 February 2010)

Introducing another first for Quernus Crafts! Meet Wee Frog, a very laid back dude who is taking some time out from hopping about on lilypads.

Wee Frog came into being at the request of Carey, the lovely lady from Harrogate who commissioned Wee Crystal and Wee Strawberry, along with a large menagerie of other wee creatures. (I had the pleasure of meeting Carey on 20 February when I handed over the bag of wee creatures, and it was just lovely to meet the person behind a fun and prolific email correspondence!)

It took a bit of time for Wee Frog to reach his final shape. Initially, I had tried to keep to my usual style - roundish, simple shapes with clear characteristics to identify the particular creature in question. However, no matter how much I tried, the frog just didn't seem to work. Here's one of the early prototypes - I quite liked the legs and the toes, but it just didn't look like one of my wee creatures.

And then one evening, just when I was feeling a bit frustrated with it all, I stopped thinking about it and just let my hands get on with the job (this, I've found, is usually when I come up with my best designs!) When I started shaping the body, I found that he naturally had a wee pot belly and he seemed to want to lie back. This led to the idea of having his arms behind him and his legs out in front, bent at the knees. It didn't take long to make up the basic shape based on these ideas.

I played around with his webbed feet, and in the end I had him crossing his legs - he looked a bit too wanton otherwise - and I added 4mm black onyx beads for eyes and left them standing proud on his head. I kept thinking of Kermit the Frog when I was shaping his head, and that's why he ended up with a triangular face which seems to imply a wry smile. (#It's not easy, being green/# etc.)

Wee Frog is 2.5cm high and 5cm long. I haven't made any more Wee Frogs yet, but they'll let me know when they're ready to make an appearance! I have this vision of a whole group of frogs, sunning themselves round the edge of a swimming pool, lying on beach towels. (I think I need to get out more!!)