The " Small World's " series was inspired by a photograph of a pair of Arctic ground squirrels briefly removed from hibernation as a part of a study. I was taken by the delicate details of anatomy and wondered if I might be able to capture that in clay. Clay has certain limitations so the challenge was to sculpt the fine aspects realistically and accurately and then to also paint the fired product, again being true to the actual species. As an artist the work is all about process and I have to remind myself that this is art and not science so I employ certain liberties to balance aesthetics and scientific accuracy.