This is a Devil's Claw, a Sonoran desert seed pod. The challenges for me were its form and its texture. I addressed the form issues in several bakings, building a part at a time using wire armatures for the claws, hair-thin "feelers," and stem. I covered the claws and stem in polymer, and used only acrylic paint on the wires forming the "feelers." The texture issues I addressed by fine incisions and various indentations in the polymer. The pod was painted with acrylics and then baked. The organic pod is in the rear.
