From micro paintings on tea bags to tiny masterpieces on butterfly wings, lots of contemporary artists reject the traditional canvas in the sake of smaller, unexpected items. One artist to do so is California-based crafter Mary Kenyon who uses real seashells to create decorative jewelry dishes that look like pieces of ancient treasure found on a sunken shipwreck.
The self-confessed “crafts addict” found her passion of all-things artsy from her father, a talented oil painter and leather carver. “After he passed, he left me with all his oil paints, acrylic paints, canvases, leather and hundreds of leather tools,” Kenyon said. “Being surrounded by so much inspiration and creativity is what has led me to this path in my life.”
Kenyon’s mesmerizing, vintage-inspired shell art designs are made by decoupaging a picture onto the shell’s surface. Kenyon then hand-paints decorative details using gold gilding paint and adheres three-dimensional embellishments like brass and colorful Swarovski rhinestones. From Renaissance-style fairy and mermaid paintings to dragonfly and peacock motifs, each opulent trinket looks like it could've belonged to an aristocratic lady from the early 17th century.
You can buy your shell trinket dish on Etsy.
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