It all began with bones, feathers and rocks. I am a natural collector. Since childhood I have brought home artifacts, in fact I used to have a leather bag I made myself to carry my oddities in and keep them at hand. Now my collecting has gotten expensive. Over the last decades I have amassed a huge collection of new and old shells, fossils, pearls and gemstones. One can barely walk in my atelier, it’s so full of objects.
I’ve been producing large seashell artworks for about 20 years, and in the last few years have added jewelry to the work. Inspired by nature and fine designers, architects and artists, I use my grand collection of natural objects to create organic, one-of-a-kind pieces of jewelry to wear and enjoy. No two pieces are exactly alike. In fact, no two earrings are! Every shell is a little different, and is treated as such. Each earring has to have its own bench work done, for example. I put my heart and soul into my work, which really is an addiction instead of mere work. After all these years I still get excited to get in a new load of shells I’ve found. I also buy estates, and still discover new shells and rocks I have never seen. It’s truly amazing to me. There are only two kinds of shell animals: bi-valves and snails, but there are thousands of varieties within these two forms, and to discover new ones is a thrill for me.
I hope you enjoy perusing my collection. That there are pairs of shells is sometimes a miracle! Sometimes one shell for an earring will have been found in 1963, say, and the other in 1979! It’s astounding to understand just how lucky I am to sometimes find pairs of things.
Thank you for finding interest in my work. It’ll keep coming as long as I can manage it. That’s for sure.