1. HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO BUILD?

Do I really have to answer that? I can just imagine the cogs turning as someone figures my annual salary, which, I can tell you, is as it is with everyone: wish it were more. I ask for three to four weeks to sculpt a Frog, but I'm sure you recognize I can sculpt a Frog in less time than that. But sculpting a Frog is not just about physical labor, though there is plenty of that. The patina can take days. Sometimes I have to wait on materials. Complications of one sort or another can arise. Blah-de-blah-blah. Let me put it this way, I like to work fast, but not too fast. I will also say this, I can probably sculpt one of these Frogs faster than you. I've had a lot of practice.

2. IS IT PERMANENT?

In a word, yes. I can expand on that. If I didn't patina the Frog, it could probably be around when interstellar space travel becomes possible and people have evolved to have huge, alien type heads. The patina actually hastens the Frog's demise (as it does on any copper). Instead of lasting tens of thousands of years, the Frog will probably last five to ten thousand years. I'm thinking that will be enough for your garden or outdoor landscape. That's the general answer. Now to get specific.

The patina is subject to whatever chemicals are in the atmosphere, the rain, dust, and wind. That said, whatever changes the patina experiences should be mild and slight. You are going to have a verdigris Frog - blue green. It will stay that way. Now, if you subject the Frog's feet to a river bed, for example, the patina there is going to wear off; a new patina could emerge, that is, a new superficial surface coating. You can also scratch the patina off with a chisel or screw driver. You can rub it off with sandpaper, or possibly even cloth if you rub hard enough for a long enough time. So I guess, if pressed, I'd have to say that the patina is semi-permanent. Basically, what I have done is encourage the copper to take on a natural coloration that would have taken years or decades to produce, if at all, depending on where the sculpture was and what it was subjected to. The truth here is that no sculpture, is, in fact, permanent. I once talked to a fellow (a plastic resin distributor, I believe) who knew someone whose single job it was to go around the city of Chicago caring for the public sculpture... I don't seal the patina. That's misleading. It really is. One might as well paint the sculpture. If you want to seal the patina, you can spray it with an acrylic spray. But please don't do that. Like a good wine, the patina should breathe. Will the patina chip, flake, peal, and fade? Probably, over time, it will. But then, so will we all. Actually, what tends to happen over time is the patina simply becomes more beautiful. That has been my experience.

Many of my Frogs reside in public places. I like to think of these Frogs as a direct metal (the technique of working directly with metal without casting from a mold) alternative to high quality bronzes.

Will extreme temperatures affect the Frog? If we are talking about extreme temperatures weather-wise, about humidity and heat and snow and cold, no problem. The Copper Frog is fine outdoors, regardless of where outdoors, as long as he's on the planet earth.

3. HOW STURDY IS IT?

Real. The Frog, however, is not indestructible. Take a sledge hammer to it and you could do some damage. I also wouldn't suggest jumping on it, unless you're a grasshopper. Can a kid climb on it? Well, sure, but do you want kids climbing on your Frog? I will also mention here, since I brought up the subject of kids, I think about safety when I produce a Frog. The Frog is a physical object. It is going in a living space, whether that be in your home, around your home, or in a public place. I am careful to design user-friendly sculpture, not something that's going to hurt you because you trip over it or run into it or have it cut or jab you. This is sculpture to live with, sculpture to have around because it is beneficial for your health and happiness.

I produce sculpture that is sturdy. Though not indestructible, neither is it in any way flimsy, fragile, or easily damaged. You can sit by it and have your picture taken. You could put your arm around it. You can lean against it. You can knock on it with your fist (unless you take martial arts). I suppose you could sit on it, even stand on it, but I wouldn't encourage this. It's not necessary to do that, and I don't produce the sculpture for that purpose. I produce sturdy, durable, permanent sculptures that will stand the test of time and give endless hours of enjoyment. I also occasionally write cliché packed sentences like that last one. 

4. HOW DO I SECURE IT?

Something to think about. You've got a number of options. For the longest time, I didn't like the idea of chaining the sculpture. It felt oppressive. I've done it before, chaining up a frog, and, in fact, my father-in-law has his Frog chained to a tree. I've amended my feelings about chaining the sculpture after something I read in Robert Graves book of Greek mythology. Apparently, very often folks chained down the sculptures of the gods and goddesses that were in the temples, to keep people from stealing them. Graves posits that at least one myth has its inspiration and origin in this fact. So, if it is good enough for the Greeks, well, I think I can hang with that.

As I say, you have a number of options. The more secure options are the more permanent ones. Security and permanency go hand in hand, kind of like relationships, now that I think of it. Seated Frogs have a nut in the bottom so you can bolt the sculpture to wherever it sits. But of course that's not going to keep someone from stealing it. You can bolt the feet into a puddle of concrete you set underneath the feet. You can also set the butt bolt in concrete, if the seating arrangement is amenable, though it may not be. The standing Frogs have a quarter inch stainless steel base, and you can bolt that sucker, and it's not going anywhere, if, of course, you secure the bolts, which possibly means again setting them in concrete. But I won't go on anymore than this because if you are serious about buying a Frog, I can help you solve this issue at the time you decide to buy. Suffice it to say that you have many options for securing your Frog, and it should not be difficult to do that. Any competent landscaper or fix-it person can do this for you. I am happy to discuss the solution with whomever will take on this task.

Do Frogs get stolen? Yes, they do. I suggest you secure it. I also suggest you put a spotlight on it, either one that's on all the time when it is dark, or one that lights up when you walk in front of it, or both. Here you can be creative and have fun with how you present your Frog at night.

And perchance you haven't gotten around to securing it, chain that sucker up! Robert Graves and I will commend you.

5. WHY FROGS?

Ooo-buoy. Yeah. I get this one a lot, almost as much as the "How long does it take?" question. Let's start with the simplest, most direct answer: THEY SELL! Why do they sell? Well, that gets into the more complicated answer.

My Dad started making Frogs in the early 1980s. How did this come about? As I say on the Home Page, a patron suggested to my dad that he sculpt a Frog. Dad complied, and, well, oodles and cadoodles of Frogs later, here we are. How did this happen? Did Dad find a style? Did a style emerge? I wouldn't put it that way. I would say that Dad stumbled onto a niche market. Yes, along the way, he was developing his technique and discovering methods. But what determined success was buyer participation. Dad, and later my brother and I, had no gallery or agent to market us. We made Frogs, and they sold. That's what I call a niche market.

May I expand on this subject of niche market for just a moment? Indulge me. For centuries - centuries? For as long as artists have existed, that's how long - artists have had to cater to political and economic forces for survival. In the Middle Ages, it was the Catholic Church who held the cards. Before that, in Rome you had the Emperor, and in Greece you had City States. In the Renaissance, you have the Medici and others, the wealthy merchants and bankers - and you still have the Catholic Church, although that's fading, giving way to secularism. You look at the subject matter from these periods, you find it correlates to who is in power and who has money. It has always been that way. Nowadays, if an artist does not tap a niche market, he (or she) suffers, or had better be really good at marketing or have his (or her) art in the hands of someone who can market for them really well. Where is the power and money now? It is in niche markets. What does that tell you? Money and power are more dispersed than ever. It is not one group that has the money and power, it is many groups - and beyond that, many individuals who fit some category, a set of criteria. Today, it is more possible now than ever to become wealthy and increase personal power. Those who cannot afford a Frog speak of the day when they can. Some speak wistfully. Others are more determined. "One day, I'm going to have that really nice house, and one of the first things I'm going to do is put a Frog in my garden out back." The Frog fits a niche, a need we all have. What is that need?

The Frog in the garden. The Frog outdoors. Or a bit of the outdoors indoors. A Frog in your home. What does the Frog do? It connects us to nature. It does so not in a ponderous way, but in a disarming way, by making us laugh and by being charming and enchanting. To use a phrase of my father's, the Frog "gets it". The Frog hits the right button, the button that says laugh and reconnect not only to yourself and humanity, but also to nature.

Shall I define the niche? High-end sculpture for the outdoor landscape or garden. Why does the Frog work so well in this niche? Because it is art masquerading as a joke. Because it is human and animal. Because it is a Frog, and frogs go very well in the garden and outdoors. Because, being the size it is, it has novelty. Add to this that whimsical high-end sculpture for the outdoor landscape and garden does very well. Why? Because whimsical art encourages the imagination without being ponderous.

If you are an artist looking for a niche, I have a suggestion for you. Look at what's successfully being marketed by craftspeople and manufacturers of decorative objects. Pick something, make it better, and charge more. Look around, but don't look too hard. You are much better off "stumbling" onto a niche. Keep working at your craft (meaning, the craft of your art), and put your work out there where it can be seen and bought. Sooner or later, you'll stumble onto a niche.

I could say more, but I'll save it for the blog. I could talk about how the Frog is an underdog (or rather, underfrog), and how underdogs are likeable characters... Well, catch the blog.

6. DO YOU MAKE ANYTHING ELSE?

Yes. Well, no, all I do is make frogs, all day, all night, make frogs. I'm just a regular frog factory. Nothing but frogs for me... I make other stuff. But, here's the deal, okay: Besides sculpting, I paint, write, and make music. In the sculpture department, Frogs keep me busy. It's not like I don't have any ideas for other types of sculpture. I do, and I've made other creatures. But I have plenty of demand for the Frogs, and I don't get bored making them. Plus, I want some time to paint and write and make music. Therefore, when it comes to sculpture, unless someone commissions me to make something else, I most likely will make a Frog.

7. HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING THIS?

A long time.  Nearly twenty years, he said as he stretched his aging, middle-aged body. That's how long I've been making Frogs. I've been sculpting all my life - well, not when I was 4 years old. I started braising copper when I was a teenager. I'm 44 years of age. (As I write this, the year is 2006.) In answer to rock musician Jimmy Hendricks's question, yes, I am experienced.

8. WHAT GOT YOU STARTED?

My dad, Charles Smith, originated the human-sized copper frog in the early eighties. You may see other human-sized copper frogs around nowadays. I NEVER saw anything of the sort when my dad started making them over twenty years ago. I'm not naming any names, but I will say that we have copycats. These are, in my estimation, opportunistic craftspeople - not sculptors. The work does not compare. It has novelty. Any human-sized frog will have novelty. My father, as far as I know, originated that novelty. I have plenty of documentation to prove that. I encourage anyone to show me otherwise. I'm not saying it's impossible. Others besides the Wright Brothers were working on airplanes. Inventions get invented sometimes by multiple inventors living thousands of miles apart, not knowing anything about each other. So I'd love to see who else legitimately invented the human-sized (anthropomorphic) brazed copper frog created in the medium of direct metal sculpture. 

My father is a sculptor, as am I and my brother, Alexander Smith. We have, on occasion, humorously referred to ourselves as "The Frogsmiths". Charles began sculpting frogs when a patron, a retired diplomat living on Seabrook Island, suggested Dad make a frog. Frogs are likable creatures. Why not? Dad complied. The first attempt, science-fictiony as it was - the creature looked to me more like an alien than a frog - had character. Also, it was big - and captivating if for no other reason than that. Dad was pleased and built more frogs, honing the design. Every time he built a frog, someone bought it. Dad had stumbled onto a niche: high-end garden sculpture; specifically, high-end frog sculpture; even more specifically, high-end, monumental, anthropomorphized frog sculpture. Soon, most of Dad's sculptures were human-sized copper frogs, and he was selling them, one after another. He couldn't make enough of them.

A few years later, my brother and I responded to the opportunity, hopped in, and started sculpting frogs for a living as well. The human-sized copper frog allowed us to produce highly marketable, original sculpture and maintain the creative life of an artist. I produced other work as well, songs, paintings, books, and other sculptures, but did not do much to market this work. Frogs were bread and butter. Alexander played in a band and investigated other types of sculpture while continuing to build copper frogs.

To this date, I have seen no large frog sculpture that compares - that comes remotely close - to the frogs we have produced over the past twenty years. Our frogs have a unique combination of spirit, character, wit, and mastery. Our sculpture is cutting edge, and has furthered the medium of direct metal sculpture. No one has done and is doing what we do, especially not the copycats. I will not go into the details of the craft. I don't want to give away any secrets. Suffice it to say that a lot goes into every single frog: a lot of heart and a lot of mastery of the craft and art of direct metal sculpture.

9. HOW DO YOU GIVE THEM SUCH LIFE AND CHARACTER?

I know what I'm doing.

10. DO YOU HAVE A WAITING LIST?

Not yet. But I do have a mailing list. Hop on.

11. WHAT IS YOUR TRAINING AS AN ARTIST?

Painted, sculpted, and played guitar and wrote songs and stories from teenage years on. Learned the craft of direct metal sculpture from my father. Got a BFA from RISD, majoring in illustration and animation. Worked many odd jobs (some art-related, some not) to support myself as an artist until I found the Frogs.

12. WHERE CAN I SEE ONE?

The Atlanta Botanical Gardens. The downtown Smyrna, shopping area (which is just outside Atlanta, and could be considered part of Atlanta Metro). Habersham Gardens in Atlanta. Vinings gallery in Smyrna. Redstone gallery in Park City, Utah. Native Threads in Durham, NC.  Renaissance gallery in Maryland. If you want to go see Frogs in a gallery, call first to make sure they have one (or more) in, and consider, if you go to a gallery, buying from them. Other than galleries, the best places to see Frogs are at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens and in the Smyrna, downtown shopping area. Both of these places are easy access if you are in Atlanta or plan to visit. Also, if you plan to buy a Frog and you want to meet me and see a Frog or two in progress, email or call and we can schedule a visit to my workshop.

13. DO YOU GET BORED OF MAKING FROGS?

No. This is why: I never make the same frog. I'd be bored out of my gourd if I produced the same frog over and over again. I can't do that. Each frog is different. That's not lip service. That's not a little thing I say to make each frog sound more valuable when it's just a craft item. These frogs are not craft: They are art.

Surfing the web, I came across a sculptor site where this guy was making tons of copper frogs, small ones and medium-sized ones, and he said that they (the copper frogs) kept him busy until he just got bored making them. Well, brother, that ain't me. I'm not going to tell you all I want to do is make frogs. I have other interests. As well as a sculptor, I'm a painter, writer, and musician.  But when it comes to frogs, I make my work fascinating. Learn something new every day? That's me. And that's why every frog is different. Every frog is original art, a sculpture unto itself.

I look at it this way: through the Frog, I am able to channel my creativity in a way that is marketable. I respect that. I'm not going to just cynically produce the same thing over and over again and toss it out there and force "consumers" to buy it. (This strategy, in actuality, doesn't work all that well, I've observed.) I'm going to create something valuable and market that.

That said, let's face it, there is some repetition here, as there is in any work of craftsmanship, and plenty of craftsmanship goes into a Frog. But just as singers can sing the same song over and over (well, some can), and dancers must dance the same steps, and, well, you get the point: the Frog is a dance I do that is different every time.

14. I'VE GOT A GREAT IDEA FOR A FROG. WOULD YOU LIKE TO HEAR IT?

Can you hum a few bars? Seriously, sure. I won't promise to build it, but I'd love to hear your idea, if it's genuine.