Who do you think it was?
A few months ago, Thailand-based ceramic artist Trevor Foster was working in his outdoor studio when something strange caught his eye in a mold he had just poured slip into.
“At first, I thought the mold was just bubbling or maybe had a leak at the bottom,” Foster told The Dodo.
But as he looked closer, something unusual was sticking out. He saw a pair of legs — long, springy legs that looked built for jumping. Legs that clearly belonged to a frog.
“It took a few moments of confusion before I spotted his little mouth, and that’s when I sprang into action,” Foster said.
He quickly pried open the mold and saw that the frog was stuck inside, caught in a piece of plastic. Without hesitating, Foster got to work freeing the little amphibian.
“It all happened so fast, I barely had time to think,” he recalled.
He soaked the mold in water to loosen the slip, then gently used his fingers to pry the frog out. Once freed, he gave the little guy a thorough rinse.
Foster held his breath, hoping the frog would be OK. Luckily, thanks to his quick thinking, the frog was completely unharmed — and even seemed to appreciate the rescue.
“After I got him out, he did this cute little motion with his hands, almost like he was feeling shy or ashamed,” Foster said.
After things calmed down, Foster figured out how the frog had ended up in the mold in the first place.
“There’s a small hole at the top [of the mold], and to a frog, it must have looked like a cozy little burrow,” he said.
The frog lingered in the studio for a little while to rest and recover, then seemed ready to return to the wild. Foster gently placed him in a nearby bush, where the frog immediately tucked himself under a pile of leaves.
While the frog didn’t stick around for long, the experience left a lasting impression on Foster.
“I’ll be making a frog-inspired ceramic series soon to commemorate the experience,” he said.