An early Katherine Hepburn???

So here I am with another "wig bust" from my customer BJ of the aforementioned "death mask". I decided it needed to look like an old time movie star so gave her a black abolone "hat" and shelled her in strawberry blonde whelk shells. The picture was taken way before she was completed and then like an idiot I got in a rush to get ready for a show last weekend and never took a picture of the finished bust. It did turn out quite striking though and was purchased right away by some interior designers so thank you Gribble Interiors!

If anyone out there has any great ideas I have two more busts left to do!

A Death Mask???

This was an interesting commission. A really nice woman named BJI met at an art show had this "death mask" done for her by lying on a kitchen counter with straws in her nose and her husband standing by holding her hand until it dried. Once she got it done and air brushed she wasn't sure what to do with it until she met me at the art show and saw a seashell bust I had on display. She happened to be the former owner of a wig shop and had some beautiful busts so brought me one and I attached the mask of her face and shelled it. It turned out quite beautifully I thought and somewhat regal so I named it "Princess BJ". When I delivered it she was laid up in bed with a very serious foot surgery so I wish her a speedy recovery and thank her for the extra busts she gave me. Check out my next blog for what I did with one of them!

The luck of the Irish...

Like just about everyone these days we are scrimping to get by - but I told my husband the other day that I felt our luck was going to be changing - with a little hard work by us. Went out to check out the new veggie garden we have planted and the following picture is what I saw!

Right after that got a call from one of the shops that sells my seashell artwork and they sold a whole lot of things for me plus I got a commission of a bust to be shelled. I'm passing the four leaf clover on to all who read this blog and wish you a lot of luck in the coming months!

I'm in another treasury on Etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=46384 Thanks to Marcy of www.studiomarcy.etsy.com for including me in her seashell related treasury. It's always so much fun to see what people put together for a treasury...one of these days I need to try creating one myself. It's on my TO DO list which just keeps getting longer and longer.

It's another beautiful day here in Florida ... hope it's the same wherever you are and best wishes for getting well soon to my Dad who's in the hospital!

Wow -I'm embarrassed to have waited so long to update this blog. I can only blame it on spring in Florida which when you are from the north (MN) leads to lots of house guests. Also lots of spring art shows. I did so well on the New Smyrna Beach Art Fiesta which really surprised me considering the economy. Never give up!! Now Easter is closing in so I've been working on some jewelry cabinets with vintage Easter images and of course lots of seashells and coral. Happy Spring!!

There's hope...

I've been keeping busy creating new items for an art show in New Smyrna Beach coming up soon...but have been depressed everytime I look out at my pool area because the cold snap has killed just about everything. Today we uncovered the pool to clean it and I was checking out the gardens and lo and behold the dill was blooming! I got so excited I had to pick the bloom and then thought I need some more flowers to fill the vase. In the 5 years we have lived here in Florida I don't think I 've ever NOT been able to find plenty of flowers in my garden but was so unhappy this time to find not a one. Went to let our cat Sami out in the front yard and couldn't believe my eyes! Our beautiful pink azalea was blooming like crazy ... and the ferns along the front walkway were doing great as well. I filled my small vase and hope was restored... it is always springtime in Florida!!!

What happened to the picture??