“Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war.” ~ Loren Eiseley

I have some friends who have, very goodnaturedly, teased me about my sea-shell seeking and collecting habit. I could (and have) wander the shore and tread into the tide in search of shells for hours. Who needs meditation - this is as meditative and relaxing a task as I could ever undertake. 

We will be heading down to our newly purchased and renovated condo in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, now that we will be located on the Atlantic side of Florida (I love it, make no mistake about that), I will have left behind my shell-seeking sites on the gulf side. So it goes. We have talked about making a few-day trip to the gulf side in order to visit some of our favorite spots (the St. Petersburg Farmer's Market; Pass-a-Grille Beach). I will get my shelling fix then!

Back to my collection of shells - bags and boxes and more bags and boxes! Several years ago, when my mother-in-law was down-sizing, I snagged a round mirror of hers with the intention of doing what I have finally done - years later! I put a small dent in my shell collection by redoing her old mirror. You will see by the photos that this project was started while the grass was still green. It was not a difficult task - also meditative in a way - but it took time. I would work on it for a bit, move on to something else, and return to it again. It was also a learning process for me. If I do something similar in the future, I will know to do the sides first, and to upgrade the hanging hardware before I begin attaching anything. 

All of the shells used are ones that I have collected over the years. Not so the sea-glass - I have never been anywhere that I could gather such a collection, so the sea-glass was purchased. I used E6000 glue, which, when it is dry, does not allow anything to budge! This was recommended to me by an artisan who had created something similar - I am so grateful for this suggestion.

Here are photos from beginning to end. The final product is now down from my studio, awaiting packaging for the trip to Florida! I know that I will be pulling strands of glue from it forever - but I really do love it!

 

The next photo that you see of this should be when it's hanging safely (fingers crossed) in our Florida condo!