I've been looking at this particular scan of frog pins in one of my folders for months. I enjoy marvelling at these miniature pieces of art so much that I wanted to share them with you.
About 2003, I was attending a toy and gift trade show in Seattle, and I had about walked my feet off, spent more than the budget and was ready to call it quits when I stumbled onto a small booth I had apparently missed before. A local Washington artist was selling hand-painted animal pins (many, many animals, not only frogs). I sell animal stuff online. I'd been looking for animals. I remember saying, "I'm almost sorry I found you." Meaning, I knew I'd be pulling out the credit card again. Bye-bye budget. I couldn't help it. I did limit my spending that day; I got a few beautiful animal pins, and have been buying and selling his artwork ever since. There is such a variety, and it takes me so long put each one online that the collection on my site is relatively small compared to what's available. However, they've been selling better and better, and this year one of my goals is to get more of them where they can be seen, appreciated, and - yes - purchased. The plastic animals and stuffed animals are still the bread and butter of Tapir and Friends Animal Store, but more and more I am including hand-made art as part of the repertoire. It feeds my soul, and it helps feed people whose talent and creativity I so admire.
The pins are designed in Washington, cast in pewter in Washington, and painted by three or four artists in the Northwest, including the talented man I met at the trade show.
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