Artist Statement: Diatoms are aquatic, single-celled plants that can only been seen with a microscope. There are thousands of species, each with its own unique, stunningly patterned cell wall. This is based on an image I took with a scanning electron microscope during my career as a Marine Biologist.

Materials & Techniques: The top layer is cotton fabric fused to felt. Openings were made to reveal a bottom quilted sandwich of commercial cotton batik fabric and polyester batting. The top fabric was painted after the two layers were quilted together.

Dimensions: 23 x 31 x 0

Photographer: Carla Stehr