The Exemplary 2025
2nd Place, Professional Original
Judge’s Choice

Peng Ling is cheerful patchwork panda. His black and white colors are highlighted with the subtle greens of the bamboo-style open background and the fun bamboo embellishment he is munching. I used many Rainbow Gallery silks and metallics to create texture and subtle color differences in the white and black areas along with beads in a few areas.

The bamboo that Peng Ling is holding was the biggest challenge. It is dried bamboo that I cut (with a miter saw), split, and colored to create the desired effect. Then to have Peng Ling hold it correctly, I built up (with padding) the front paw; and next covered the front paw with Rainbow Gallery Fuzzy Stuff to match Peng Ling’s ears. I added claws made from acrylic nails that were cut and shaped to resemble pandas’ claws.

This piece was a challenge in several ways, but I am very happy with the end result.