My
love for seashells started a long time ago, on some faraway beach during a barely remembered childhood vacation.
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| Image 1: Detail of sea shells on mirror |
On vacation, I searched for pretty shells. In grade school I remember
trading for seashells. In a middle school science class, a unit on seashells was a
favorite. In high school a scuba diving trip cemented my
love for the sea. And as an adult I added to my shell collection, often at
estate and rummage sales.
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| Image 2: Seashell Decorated Mirror by Jeanne Selep |
To celebrate my love of shells and display some of my collection, I recently created my seashell decorated mirror using an upcycled mirror.
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| Image 3: Seashell Mirror Bottom Edge Detail |
This mirror showcases much of what I love about seashells - the shapes, colors, textures and patterns.
Shapes of shells especially intrigue me - the whimsical swirls and curls and fan shapes seem far removed from land based natural shapes like leaves and petals, or the geometric shapes of the modern world. (And seashell shapes seem to have nothing to do with geometric solids from math class!)
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| Image 4: Seashell Mirror Left corner detail |
In the middle school science unit we classified seashells: univalves and bivalves, cowries, cones, conchs, whelks, starfish, urchins, scallops, clams, coquinas - each word conjures up shapes in my mind.
It's been a long time since seashells
have had much relevance in my life. With this project I returned to a less hectic time where picking up seashells on a salty beach was fun and important.
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| Image 5: Seashell Mirror |
Laying
out and arranging the seashells on the mirror seemed to take forever - picking out which shells to use, trying to create some sort of "balance" with the colors and shapes. I felt I was reliving my childhood shell collecting.
I
attached the seashells using my favorite "mosaic" glue - clear silicon
caulk.
I didn't use my favorite seashell, though.
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| Image 6: Venus Comb Murex Seashell (murex pectin Lightfoot) |
By far, my favorite
type of seashell is the beloved Murex, (and there are some in the mirror frame). My "best" seashell is the Comb of Venus (or Venus Comb, or murex pectin Lightfoot) that I bought years ago from a decorating vendor. I love the whimsy of the name Comb of Venus.
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| Image 7: "Comb of Venus" Murex seashell on a shell book |
I'll end this post but not before pointing out Nature's colorway for seashells - creamy whites, ivories and and grays, browns and oranges, pinks and salmon and yellows, and occasionally lavender and
red.
The colors blend with perfection.
|
|
| Image 8: Seashell Mirror by Jeanne Selep |
I hope your summer (or winter in the Southern hemisphere) is full of wonder and beauty!
*Notes:
Taking pictures of this mirror was an absolute pain! I used backdrop paper and ended up having the mirror reflect my ceiling. Then I used photoshop's lens correction advanced tab to transform the vertical perspective. And then more work to straighten the tilt.
Click on the images to see them enlarged!
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sometimes need encouragement. Please leave a comment if you have time!
Anonymous comment are welcome!
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Here is an earlier post on my seashells collection!
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