The Exemplary 2023:
Honorable Mention, Professional Original

The inspiration for this piece came from the lovely aquarium in a Chinese restaurant we frequent in Florida, and from the one at my doctor’s office. (It is my understanding that doctors find aquariums have a calming effect on nervous patients.)

Some of the fish in this design, like the clown fish, are adapted from reality and some are completely my own invention and do not exist in nature (at least, I think not). After creating some fish from reality I just let my imagination run wild, and hence the name of this piece.

I used mostly threads from my stash and beads I have collected over the years. The stitches I employed were intended to suggest scales, and the thread and stitch for the sand was utilized to give the effect of ripples.

My framer dragged out some antique glass she had been saving for just such a project; it too has ripples and bubbles as might be expected from very old glass. We hope this gives the effect of moving water in an aquarium.