March 15, 2012:   Toad.   The word always
brings to mind a great drum solo by
Ginger Baker of the 60s rock group
Cream...but, I digress.

I was contemplating the pros and cons of
possibly resurrecting the strawberry patch in
our garden, when I almost stepped on this
Red Spotted Toad (Bufo punctatus),
barely the size of a quarter.

Growing to 3 inches and native to the
Southwest, this is only the second one
I've seen since we moved here in '87.

I decided to name him 'Tim'.

While enjoying the smaller 5x7 and 8x8
formats I've been using for this project, it
seemed apropos to go 'even smaller'. I
pulled out one of the miniature pre-stretched
canvases found recently in my studio. The
potential strawberry flower was added
on a whim, just for fun.