Sea Shells As Inspiration for Polymer Clay

My Inspiration - Collection of Sea Shells
Every year my collection of seashells increases.  If I find a really interesting shell at an estate sale I buy it.  If I'm walking on the beach I'm looking for unusual shells.  Apparently the love of seashells runs in the family as I now have incorporated some of my father's shells.  I love the variety of color and shape and love learning about the animals that left them.

When I saw Donna Greenberg's latest installations of underwater polymer, I knew I had to use my seashells as inspiration to create my own polymer beach segment.  It was such fun to develop the shells.  The following pictures show the development of the mushroom coral.

Basic shell shape

I cut each oval in half and used a paper punch for the holes.
I stacked each half and put a wire through them to create a circle.
Find the finished mushroom coral below in another photo.
 I experimented with many shapes and as I finished one I like, it went into the storage container.

The beginning batch of polymer shells

Deciding how many were enough and how many were too much.


The most fun shell I made was the water bear's egg.  In reality it is minute but it was such fun I made it bigger!

Preview of placement
Should I leave everything white and shades of white or should I create a sandy illusion of a beach?  My choice - create the illusion of a beach.  First I added lots of water to my acrylic paint pallet of beige, blue and green.  Then I added sand to the paint and brushed it over the canvas.  Since water flows in one direction, I made the strokes go in one direction.   After the paint dried I was delighted when the sand really stuck to the canvas. And then I added the polymer shells with superglue.


This project was such fun.  I enjoyed exploring the shapes in polymer and the subtle use of color.  It will hang on the wall in the next 'Changing of the Colors' at Prescott Art Market.

20" x 20" Seashell Inspiration

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Location: Prescott, AZ, USA

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