A startled polar bear, perched on a natural-quartz ice floe, faces an unlikely visitor: a temperate-water whelk inching north as oceans warm. The improbable standoff distills a clear ecological truth: climate change is reshaping even the most remote Arctic ecosystems.

The melting floe is built from irregular nuggets of natural quartz and edged with a custom necklace of off-white quartz beads, luminous freshwater pearls, and Murano glass encasing silver foil and coppery flecks. Together they float atop deep blue velvet, hand-sewn to suggest the gentle yet relentless motion of waves.

Conceived after a walk along Assateague Island National Seashore, where warming waters have already altered marine life, the title wryly implies the bear can “vacation” in Caribbean-warm seas without leaving the Artic.

Blending sparkle, animals, humor, and mystery, Staycation invites intergenerational conversations about global warming, ocean change, and environmental stewardship.

Materials: Natural quartz, freshwater pearls, Murano glass with silver foil, velvet, paper, wood, found shell, realistic polar bear model

Framing: Custom shadow box with museum glass in a deep black wooden frame, produced in collaboration with Chevy Chase Art Gallery, Washington, DC.