Second Place, Non-Professional Original; The Muse’s Kiss

This design is a challenge to the observer. From a distance it is hard to distinguish the shapes and identify the different components of the design.

My hope, that as you come closer and begin to identify the elements, you will see the Shell Queen’s face and determine that her hair is composed of shells, fish, octopus, seaweed, etc.

This picture was stitched using perle cotton, metallic silver thread, beads, and several shades of ecru silk thread. The sea anemone she wears on her forehead is drizzle stitch; the seaweed on the back of her head is needle lace. The sea worms consist of wrapped cording and the octopus and large shell were padded with felt to give dimension.

Please enjoy this experiment in design.