94Kviews
Artist Turns Real Seashells Into Decorative Jewelry Dishes That Look Like Long Lost Treasure
Nowadays, many contemporary artists are looking for new ways to express their unique art in a different manner to others. They are abandoning the traditional art mediums and instead of using sometimes smaller but unexpected things. One artist who is actually famous for this is crafter Mary Kenyon from California.
She uses real seashells and transforms them into beautiful decorative jewelry dishes. Her works of art are very detailed and look like pieces of an ancient treasure that can be found on sunken ships. She is a self-taught artist and her creative ideas come from her father, who was a very talented oil painter.
Curious how her beautiful artwork is made? Kenyon's detailed art is made by decoupaging an image onto the real seashell's surface. Then, she carefully paints small decorative details in brass or Swarovski rhinestones. In this way, her art projects look like from the Victorian era, perhaps belonging to an aristocrat.
So scroll down the page and check out her amazingly creative artwork that looks like an ancient treasure you might find at the bottom of the sea!
More info: Instagram
This post may include affiliate links.
I love peacocks, and this painting lends itself to them. Magnificent!
Can anyone please tell what are the embellished/jeweled metal pieces called (so I can try to find some and work on some shells of my own)
Does he sell some of his work to the general public ? If so I'd like to know more about how to buy one of his shells.
To watch and download Dragon Ball Super: Broly ===> http://soo.gd/A4hd
This is my favorite so far! I do shells with napkins. Of course nothing like yours.
so bright and colorful, I love all the little fish swimming around her.
The way you bounce around from style to style is incredible! Your skills are superb!!!
I love your ideas! Will be sending you an message on etsy. If you are interested in purchasing some, I had to dig a little, but found her shop on etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/rtistmary/items?ref=pagination&page=1
Please understand she did not paint these images. She cuts and pastes them onto shells. This is more of a an "arts and crafts" project than original works of art.
Yeah, no. It's art. A painter is still called an artist even though they don't make their own art.
Load More Replies...Treasure, huh... So, I guess I'm the only one who isn't impressed by decoupage and a hot glue gun? and, I'm pretty sure the gold "detailing" is done with a paint pen. I really fail to see why so many people are gooing over these, or this "artist," (technically a crafter,) who seems to be better at cutting, pasting and shopping than actually creating anything unique or even useful. For those of you asking about the legality of her property infringement, many of these paintings are NOT public domain as the artists have not been dead for more than 120 years. Credit should still be given to the actual artist, even if they were.
I think they're lovely, and they have insane detail and remind me of the renaissance. No matter how it's made, the artist put valuable time and effort into their craft and it's wonderful
Load More Replies...These are beautiful, but...the appropriated images might be copyrighted. Any intellectual property attnys out there have an opinion?
I'm pretty sure those paintings are public domain by now.
Load More Replies...Too kitschy, and also: decoupage is not "painting". It's pretty much cutting and pasting.
I would be more impressed if these were actually painted and not modpodge images on a shell. I am sadden that she is just taking art from others and putting it on these.
Some of these are incredibly stunning. They would make awesome one of a kind gifts! Decoupage is a wonderful art form. I did it many years ago when I was younger and had many hanging on my walls!
Oh good. I wish I could paint, but no. I might be able to cut and glue and embelish because these are so beautiful and I would like to recreate something like them.
You van purchase moldings/fittings from jewelry suppliers. You can also cast your own, with proper equipment.
Load More Replies...Oh, these are amazing! I might just buy one for my mother as a gift someday! Great work!
Wow. Amazing work with so many tiny details. Beautiful work, be it plants, animals, humans (the anatomy, the expressions...) or the backgrounds. And all on tiny uneven and sleek surfaces. I'm impressed
These are lovely, but the images are not painted onto the shells themselves, it is decoupaged on.
Load More Replies...She probably decoupaged scraps or printed images on. (FYI decoupage is an art technique where you use glue and varnish to neatly paste images onto objects, and scraps are readymade things for sticking into scrapbooks)
Load More Replies...This made me think that this Artist is from the Victorian era and one of the greatest period of art ever. I thought I would never see another Artist as great as those back then, but this guy just made my day. He is the epitome of what a great Artist is and I am just blown away by his beautiful works of Art. Thanks so much, Ed
what an awesome talent to have--those are so gorgeous! and here i sit, wishing i could draw a straight line...
I love your ideas! Will be sending you an message on etsy. If you are interested in purchasing some, I had to dig a little, but found her shop on etsy at https://www.etsy.com/shop/rtistmary/items?ref=pagination&page=1
Please understand she did not paint these images. She cuts and pastes them onto shells. This is more of a an "arts and crafts" project than original works of art.
Yeah, no. It's art. A painter is still called an artist even though they don't make their own art.
Load More Replies...Treasure, huh... So, I guess I'm the only one who isn't impressed by decoupage and a hot glue gun? and, I'm pretty sure the gold "detailing" is done with a paint pen. I really fail to see why so many people are gooing over these, or this "artist," (technically a crafter,) who seems to be better at cutting, pasting and shopping than actually creating anything unique or even useful. For those of you asking about the legality of her property infringement, many of these paintings are NOT public domain as the artists have not been dead for more than 120 years. Credit should still be given to the actual artist, even if they were.
I think they're lovely, and they have insane detail and remind me of the renaissance. No matter how it's made, the artist put valuable time and effort into their craft and it's wonderful
Load More Replies...These are beautiful, but...the appropriated images might be copyrighted. Any intellectual property attnys out there have an opinion?
I'm pretty sure those paintings are public domain by now.
Load More Replies...Too kitschy, and also: decoupage is not "painting". It's pretty much cutting and pasting.
I would be more impressed if these were actually painted and not modpodge images on a shell. I am sadden that she is just taking art from others and putting it on these.
Some of these are incredibly stunning. They would make awesome one of a kind gifts! Decoupage is a wonderful art form. I did it many years ago when I was younger and had many hanging on my walls!
Oh good. I wish I could paint, but no. I might be able to cut and glue and embelish because these are so beautiful and I would like to recreate something like them.
You van purchase moldings/fittings from jewelry suppliers. You can also cast your own, with proper equipment.
Load More Replies...Oh, these are amazing! I might just buy one for my mother as a gift someday! Great work!
Wow. Amazing work with so many tiny details. Beautiful work, be it plants, animals, humans (the anatomy, the expressions...) or the backgrounds. And all on tiny uneven and sleek surfaces. I'm impressed
These are lovely, but the images are not painted onto the shells themselves, it is decoupaged on.
Load More Replies...She probably decoupaged scraps or printed images on. (FYI decoupage is an art technique where you use glue and varnish to neatly paste images onto objects, and scraps are readymade things for sticking into scrapbooks)
Load More Replies...This made me think that this Artist is from the Victorian era and one of the greatest period of art ever. I thought I would never see another Artist as great as those back then, but this guy just made my day. He is the epitome of what a great Artist is and I am just blown away by his beautiful works of Art. Thanks so much, Ed
what an awesome talent to have--those are so gorgeous! and here i sit, wishing i could draw a straight line...