Shells

Years ago, I bought a Victorian glass dome displaying a beehive surrounded by flowers made from shells. It sits comfortably on the mantel piece in the sitting room and there it will stay. A collection of pretty shells in the bathroom was bought at a museum in La Rochelle and I look forward to making pictures from miniature shells, bought specially and kept in jam jars, when I have time.
We have visited houses and follies studded with shells: a cavern in Ramsgate worthy of Aladdin, a summer house in Ireland and a round house in Devon, to name a few. The scallop shell reminds me of pilgrimages I have made and I chose to have two shells carved on our four poster bed accordingly.
I love looking for shells on deserted beaches, at home and abroad, and have bought necklaces decorated with shells from all over the world: Peru, Mexico, Thailand, Barbados, reminding me of clear lapping azure sea and pale velvet beaches. My quest continues as we travel to Bali, Hawaii, the Barrier Reef and Tahiti in search of shells and the serenity they represent. When we returned from Barbados in 1981 we set out a collection of shells in a miniature Victorian chest of drawers. On moving house it was stored in the hayloft where it has remained ever since. Perhaps it is time to look for it once more.

(from In Search of Shells)