Natural handpainted oyster shell on canvas

Make your interiors stand out with the stunning beauty of real sea shells! The addition of my handmade art will add a touch of luxury to your interior and remain a timeless decoration. 

This piece is a natural oyster shell, showing the beauty of nature, hand-painted in a modern style and decorated with faux gold flakes. Installed on hand-painted canvas with a texture creating an interesting surface on which the light plays beautifully. 

This unique shell can be an eye-catching decoration at the reception desk of a hotel, restaurant or cafe. It will be perfect as a wedding, anniversary or birthday gift, as a vessel for wedding rings and jewelry, or simply as an independent, one-of-a-kind artwork.

Materials used: oyster shell, cotton canvas, acrylic paints, gold leaf, metallic wax pastes, mounting glue, final varnish. 

If you want to dust off this artwork; clean it gently with a dry cotton or microfiber cloth. Do not use any cleaning agents.

More about my process of painting these shells is as follows:

1. They were collected on the beaches of Zeeland in the Netherlands. The exception are St Jacob scallops, which I usually buy in a fish shop.
2. Later they were cleaned and ozonated to remove any unwanted odor.
3. Then they were covered with a layer of gesso primer.
4. Once the primer had dried, they were ready to be painted using high quality acrylic paints, often requiring 2-4 coats.
5. The acrylic layers were covered with metallic wax paste.
6. Finally, they were varnished to protect the colors for many decades.