9 Aug 03
I've not updated my website in at least six months so had hoped to do that in concert with this re-intro, but for most of this summer have been either building some new frog, Atelopus or jumbato related art: http://www.tracyhicks.com/avarius.htm
(there are several other pieces and images that I'll add to this recent work page soon
...or this new studio.
http://www.tracyhicks.com/studio.htm
The large windows will eventually connect the studio to the greenhouse-frogrooms.
I am married to a journalist who has won a Pulitzer for her work on domestic violence. We have a dog and two cats and live along the creek that runs through the Dallas Zoo.
My work since the mid 1960's has dealt with interpreting preservation. In the mid 1990's I correlated relationships between the social economic environment of captive praying-mantises, A. tigrinium, goldfish and a black ghetto community in inner-city Houston. That lead to time collecting reptiles and amphibians in Guatemala with Dr. Jonathan Campbell and Dr. Joe Mendelson.
The amphibian loss was obvious to all of our group in Guatemala, two of whom were parisitologists. So on returning to the states I began looking for captive populations of frogs I could raise and study to reinterpret back into the art. Six months research lead to the Dendrobates group for their availability, gene-pool, and ethology.
Now I have a collection of some considerable numbers of frogs. Most all of whom are breeding. I am less interested in breeding numbers of frogs that the quality of the offspring and their fascinating courtship, parental care, and social interactions. Most of which we seldom get around to talking about.
I am still working on the FFAQ. I've asked a few people to elaborate on some topics and hope to get more done with it soon.
I am self publishing some limited edition series of books on the intertwining of these topics. The first of these will be shown and sold at the Seattle Frogfest.
Tracy
www.TracyHicks.com
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