Frozen Fire Mandelbulb

As I explore and play with 3D fractal forms, I keep coming back to the Mandelbulb.  In addition to being a beautiful form, this fractal has a compactness and boundedness that lends itself to being made into a solid object.  This particular piece has the same basic form as my earlier designs (the top half of an eighth-order Mandelbulb), but has the added dimension of color!  The name of the piece comes from my impression of it as a snowball that is glowing red-hot at its heart.

This Mandelbulb is large, over five inches (130 mm) across.  I used a new meshing method to keep as much small detail of the fractal as possible, despite being made in Full-Color Sandstone (which is generally a lower-detail material than Shapeways' Strong and Flexible plastic).  The piece is hollow, which makes it a bit delicate.  It looks wonderful on a shelf, desk, or table, but is best placed somewhere where it won't be knocked around too much.