Above is the finished work. Below are the stages of creation.

I found a delightful diatom called Triceratium on the internet. Here is one link to a microscope image: http://www.photomacrography.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25260&view=next&sid=620e22252f5b08ff12fbbd26886ccb36.

Diatoms are unicellular algae with chloroplasts for photosynthesis. They live in water. The cell is enclosed in a silica shell with an upper and a lower half like a shoebox with a lid. The holes allow exchange of gases and wastes. I think God loves diatoms because there are so many species and they are beautiful. More general information may be found at http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Diatoms.aspx.

I usually try to find a simple shape to fit the creature. At first I considered a triangular prism. Then I thought to add ‘knobs’.

This is the sequence of events for the bottom part minus the knobs. First I devised the net.

Next I added the colour pattern.

To make things really interesting I overlaid a number pattern.

Then I applied colours one at a time to each part of the net to achieve this result.

 

 

The above coloured nets have also been cleaned up a bit using Photoshop, but the colours have not been adjusted.

I cut out and assembled the diatom from these nets. The knobs are definitely the trickiest part to assemble.

The final result can be a table decoration or a gift box.