"Springtime in the Magnolia Tree" is my original design for this diorama. All

components are handmade. The egg opening is a freeform design. The background is hand painted in acrylics showing a cloudy sky, branches and magnolias. The trim for the opening is made from sculpy which was baked and made to look like branch like. The branches inside were all made from wire and strips of paper towel soaked in a in water-glue mixture. Multiple different paints were applied including Pebeo brown, gold dust, and lightening medium. The birds are handmade using cold porcelain. They are painted, flocked and feathered to represent a local bird. The flowers are made with cold porcelain and a pink wash was applied to represent magnolia tree flowers. The flowers and birds are all in proper proportion. The stand was an old gold stand which I

cut, applied cold porcelain, painted with different paints and nicked with a high-speed drill to give a bark like appearance. The roots were made this way as well. The squirrel was made from baked sculpy, painted, flocked and my cat's fur for the tail. There is a small snake made from sculpy and hand painted peeking out from the tree roots. Leather trim and black diamond chain added.