Coquina Love

I love looking at the different types of seashells and figuring out how to shape them into different flowers. It's been so long since I've worked with seashells that I've forgotten how to make most of them. I'm looking forward to sharing with you my progress. This post is all about coquina shells—donax variabilis. They are common shells in Eastern coastal United States and they come in a variety of colors and sizes.

I make several types of seashells with coquinas. I love making water lilies, especially with the larger, sturdier coquinas. The water lilies you see here are offered right now for sale in my Chesapeake Street Etsy store. The beautiful mottled colors remind me of Monet's paintings of water lilies.

Tiny mums are my favorite to shape. I adhere the pointy parts of the seashells together in a circular fashion instead of the wider parts of the shell. You can purchase these mums from my Chesapeake Street store, too.

I've also made smaller versions with the tiny coquinas, like this tri-color coquina water lilies paperweight. I also use the back of the shells to express leaves—like this candle holder—or the fronds of ferns. I've made some other really cool coquina seashell flowers and I as soon as I remake them, I'll be sure to post them. Enjoy!

  

Sweet Lady Grey's Seashell Mirror is a lovely example of my Chesapeake decor style. It reminds me of Victorian seashell art boxes, frames, and hand mirrors.

Back in the day, I bought several mirrors, certain that I would be transforming them soon. They laid gathering dust waiting for the right moment in time—today!. I worked the design from the center of the mirror out. It's like walking on a high wire, sometimes—laying out and gluing each ring and not being sure what is going to happen next. It's awesome when the perfect shell motif develops and sets the tone for the overall piece.

This mirror is the smallest of the three and has a heavy metal base. If you wanted, the back could come off and you could insert a picture and make it a picture frame instead. I love it as a mirror, though. You can purchase this mirror from my Chesapeake Street Etsy shop.

Where was I?

How busy I've been! Life can throw you some angles, def. A couple of days ago, I was sifting through some storage boxes and stumbled upon my most delicate, tiny seashells and a box of domed antique paperweights. I could not resist either of them.

But did I still know how to construct my fleur de mers?

I think I've done well, but oh how I miss my dental tweezers! So handy to have. I enjoy the challenge of working inside these domed paperweights. First, the craftsmanship must be well done, as the domes are cast to magnify the curiosities inside. Second, I only have 3/8" height inside each dome. I must be extremely careful in constructing the flowers so that they are intricate enough to keep your attention, but small enough to fit easily inside. The domes themselves are 3.25" across and the inside is about 1.75" wide.

The challenge is to construct an arrangement that is simple but arresting. There is tons of editing that goes on inside my mind as I make my design choices.

Here is how I go about making them—I start first with making flowers and seeing how they will look and fit under the dome. Lovely! Next, I carefully cut circles out of all black presentation board and then back the black presentation board with cork. This way, the paperweight won't slip about your desk. I love the contrast of my shell flowers against black. I choose all black presentation board as I think the color is rich and dense and looks better than other boards with a black top, but white board is underneath.

When the bottom of the paperweight is ready, I then construct how the flowers lay and the overall design inside the paperweight. This is when all that editing happens. Only the smallest, most colorful shells and tidbits will look best. I then painstakingly glue the elements to the board, working from the center out, like a mandala. Except, I try very hard not to be symmetrical, as I think having something just a little off keeps the design lively.

 And then it's a matter of carefully gluing the black board to the domed glass and admiring it before I compose a blog post about the process and put it up for sale on Etsy!