A Swedish artist has spent hours painstakingly creating minuscule works of art - on snails' shells.
Stefan Siverud was so concerned about the creatures getting crushed in his garden, he decided to paint more than 70 of them with bright colours.
Tiny lighthouses, crowns and company logos are among his intricate designs.
Mr Siverud, from Kalmar, Sweden, said: 'I found myself out of a job and with little to do over the summer. It wasn't long before I was climbing the walls, bored out of my mind.
'The first snails were sloppily painted. I just wanted to test out what paint would work and how to paint the snails without killing or hurting them.
'It turned out to be easier than I thought - regular Humbrol model paint did the trick and stuck to the shell.
'The paints I used for the test run were old and the brushes of poor quality. Details were done with a toothpick.
'As I moved on to more and more advanced patterns, I bought fresh paint and proper brushes. Once painted, the snails were photographed and released in the town park.'
Mr Siverud said he found it impossible to create detailed works of art on the snails when they were moving.
'I later learned that they withdraw into their shells if it's too cold or too hot, or simply too dry,' he added.
'Unless dropped, they will usually stay inside for long enough to be given a detailed coat.
'In total, I finished over 70 snails over the course of two summer seasons. Another 20 or so were not finished before the winter cold started setting in.
'Those were released into my own garden in time for them to find a place to hibernate.'
Mr Siverud found about a third of those he released in his garden the following summer, with one or two showing up two summers in a row.
'Some of those found again were finished, others not,' he added. 'I haven't asked the neighbours if they found any, but I assume that's were some of the others went.'
(dailymail.co.uk)
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