The Fine Shell Art Blog welcomes long-time photographer, Zoologist Machel Spence. Working with seashells for many years now, Machel shares with us her passion and inspiration for creating shell art.
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| Machel Spence |
I have always been drawn to the sea, I grew up in
South Florida and was always in the water swimming and scuba diving always
searching for seashells and studying marine life. In college I majored in
Zoology with a focus on cephalopods and after moving out to Seattle after
college I worked at the Seattle Aquarium for many years before taking up
photography full-time.
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| Seashell encrusted box by Machel Spence |
My grandmother was a huge influence on me when I
was a child, she used to pick me up from daycare and take my sister & I to
the beach. We hunted for tiny shells for hours, although my shell art is very
different from what she created I think she definitely planted the idea of
making art out of shells in my mind at a very young age.
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| Shellwork in progress. |
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| Sea Urchin collection. |
Before my grandmother died 7 years ago
she sent me boxes of her loose shells and a very large sea urchin collection
that I photograph quite often for inspiration. I have always had a great
admiration for the old Sailors Valentines but wanted to do something different
so I started using the shells to create beautiful intricate boxes. I only have
one of her shell creations, she focused on making the shells look like flowers
in a bouquet. It takes me about four months to create a seashell box, I'm very
meticulous about lines and structure and usually have to take short breaks in
order to let my neck have a rest from the tweezer work with the tinier
seashells.
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| Seashell Encrusted Box by Machel Spence. |
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| Urchin Photography by Machel Spence. |
All images in this post copyright Machel Spence.
