Archive for Sailor’s Valentine
2013 50th Annual Sarasota Shell Show
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I was a judge at the 50th Annual Sarasota Shell Show this past weekend for their 50th anniversary! I was very honored to be asked to judge the artistic exhibits especially after seeing so many creative pieces like this gorgeous SAILOR’S VALENTINE by Suzanne Dietch. Her special piece won the People’s Choice Award!
Thank goodness I didnt have to make the other ribbons and awards decisions all by myself. I had long time shell show judge Phyllis Gray to help me with the artistic division and the scientific exhibits were judged by David Green and Bill Lyons (on the right).
There was one award I got to judge all by myself… the Judges Special Merit Award. This was my one pick that I could give to any piece in any category for any reason. I gave my award to Jane Santini’s magnificent Sailor’s Valentine…
To keep things fair, when we look at each piece for judging, the names of the artists are hidden from us so everything is judged by the piece of art and not the artist. One of the big awards for the show is the Fran Schlusemann Best Of Shell Art Award which was won by…. ready?… Fran Schlusemann with her gorgeous shell mirror.
Heehee… Funny, huh? One of the other honored awards is the June Bailey Best Of Member’s Art (Sarasota Shell Club members) which was won by Nora Bevard.
This was a lucky moment! I got June Bailey (on the left) and Nora Bevard together with her winning piece…
Phyllis picked this stunning miniature piece by Anni Ferretti for her Judges Special Merit Award…
There was a jewelry category as well. Sharlene Totten won for her lovely jewelry piece..
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Here’s a close up of her necklace…
For the show’s 50th Anniversary, they added a new category this year to memorialize their 50 fabulous years of presenting this show. The winner of this special gold ribbon award is this gray vase embellished with 50 shells called “50 Shades Of Gray”. LOL I loved it!
Donna Cassin is the clever artist who won this award and she happens to be the organizer of the whole show as well. She’s been a busy lady!
Phyllis and I got to judge one of the scientific exhibits as well! I was so excited about this one because I loooove to see so many unusual shells from around the world being displayed all in one place. But hold on, as you know, I am NO scientist so we didn’t judge them on their scientific quality. We got to present a winner for Most Beautiful Exhibit. Ha! I can do that! Phyllis and I chose Harry Berryman’s CONE shell display…
Here is Harry with his Most Beautiful Exhibit winning ribbon with me. I know, it looks like I was in the tundra with that jacket on but for some reason I was freezing in that room. Ugh! We couldn’t find Phyllis when Harry showed up so I’m sorry she’s not in the photo with us.
Harry also won the Conchologists of America Trophy for this same exhibit which was presented by the C.O.A.’s 2013 President Dr Jose Leal at the awards banquet. Here is Dr Leal with Donna Cassin since Harry Berryman wasn’t there to accept. Congratshellations Harry for such a prestigious award!
I was really thrilled for Linda Greiner as well. She won a blue ribbon for her display of “The Ins and Outs of Shells”. She showed X-rays of seashells so we could see the fascinating inside forms of shells. Brilliant!
Oh but hold on! I met a friend of yours too! If you read the comments here some times, you might recognize the name Sally Peppitoni. Well, she’s a member of the Sarasota Shell Club and I got to meet her in person. Here’s Sally!
Thank you Donna and everybody at the Sarasota Shell Show for giving Clark and me such a warm welcome into your seashell world. We both throughly enjoyed it!
PS- The 2013 76th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show will be coming up soon too March 7,8 and 9!
Seashells Swarm The Shell Fair
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Junonia shell collection
The 74th Sanibel Shell Fair and Show was over the top this year! But, come on…. did they really have to put me over the edge by displaying this many JUNONIAS all together in one place like this? I just want one!! I got over my shell jealousy pretty quickly since there were too many other seashells to drool over too.
There were rooms of seashells….
Scientific display room
Tents of seashells….
Mom and shellcrafter Goz
Shacks of seashells…..
Live shell display
Sheds of Seashells….
Outside Shell Shed
Boxes of seashells….
Boxes of seashells for sale
Categories of seashells….
Gobs and gobs of organized shells
Flowers of seashells….
Flower arrangements for sale by the shellcrafters
Frames of seashells….
Shell frame by Lisa Givens
Tables of seashells…..
Artistic division table
Rows of seashells…
Fiji Shell display
Cases of seashells….
Shells Collected Dec 2010-Feb 2011 by Ethel Sinow
Posters of seashells…
Blue Ribbon winner Barbara Hansen's display
Magnifiers of seashells….
Blue Ribbon Mini Fossil shell display by Ron Bopp
Shoes of seashells…
Blue Ribbon for K-6 Student Weston Clark
Crafters of seashells…
David Rhyne shell crafter
Collectors (and cutie collectors, at that!) of seashells….
Shell Collector Diane Zimmer
….and this is only a smidge of what I want to show you. I’ve got video too! As you can already see, it’s a little overwhelming for a shell lover to just run through it in a short time. I didn’t even get a chance to show you details of some of the scientific shell displays. So many shell displays, so little time.
A shell show would not be complete if I didn’t add….
Lovers of seashells…..
Brian Holaway, yours truly, and Sandy Moran photo by Hannah Milman
Best In Show Sailor’s Valentines
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Best in Show Professional
The Sanibel Shell Fair and Show is so overwhelmingly good this year that to give the winning art pieces their due justice, I had to break it down into more categories. That’s why I wanted to save the “Best In Show” winners for a post all their own.
This SAILOR’S VALENTINE by David Rhyne won a blue ribbon first place prize for “Best In Show Professional” in the Professional Artistic Division. Congratulations!
Best In Show Professional close up
He explained this piece on a display card …
“The entire center of the Valentine is made from the CAPIZ shell. The picture in the center is hand carved and painted by the artist. The mosaic treatmetn on the jewelry, gown, and pattern work is hand carved from the following shells… ABALONE, OPERCULUM, SCALLOPS, MOLLUSKS and LIMPETS. Assorted shells and sea-life complete the piece.”
Best in Show Pro detail
All of the SAILOR’S VALENTINES that I have posted so far have been made by professional shellcrafters that sell their work as well as enter shows.
This next SAILOR’S VALENTINE won a blue ribbon for “Best In Show Hobbyist” in the Hobbyist Artistic Division. Yes, James Cowperthwait is a hobbyist. Congratulations, James for Best in Show!
Best in Show Hobbyist
Best in Show Hobbyist detail
I have so much more to show you but I can’t get it all in at once. I sure hope you don’t mind if I dedicate the next few days to the shell fair. I haven’t heard of anything spectacular happening on the beaches the last few days since we’ve had east winds. I think the winds will be shifting to the west soon so maybe by the time the fair is over, it’ll be good shelling again. I’m having a great time with my mom visiting from Virginia!!!
Mom buying a few shell crafts. She's so cute!
Rose Petal Tellin Valentines
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Rose Petal Tellin
We had some south East wind gusts yesterday and today so I figured that the best place to shell was near the Sanibel pier. We found a few various minis but nothing new….. until I came across this ROSE PETAL TELLIN.
2 Rose Petal Tellins
Then I found her sister. I can’t look at these shells with out thinking of last year’s SANIBEL SHELL FAIR AND SHOW. These are the perfect shells for making sailors valentines but you need lots of them to make an impact. Take a look at what shell crafter David Rhyne does with these types of beautiful colorful shells.
David Rhyne Sailors Valentine
and this one….
David Rhyne's Sailors Valentine
Just looking at the Shell Fair pictures from last year is getting me very excited about this years show coming up very soon running from March 3- 5. For more info click on Sanibel Community House. Hope to see you there!
Shell Crafters Shelling
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Shell crafter Brandy shelling
At the lighthouse beach within the last week, I’ve met three shell crafters that have entered pieces in the Sanibel Shell Fair and Show. Last week I met Leslie, then I met Jean from Bonita and today I met Brandy Llewellyn. All three of them were looking for the mini shells to use in their own SAILORS VALENTINES. Not only does it take precision crafting skills and patience to make these gorgeous pieces, all three of these artisans collect a lot of their own shells. The time that goes into this is mind boggling! After talking with Brandy (she also makes Nantucket baskets!), I realized that I had given her my Judges Merit Award on her absolutely fabulous Sailor’s Valentine at this year’s 2010 shell fair. I loved her piece that much!
I tip my hat to all three of these gals and all of the shell crafters for the art they produce. It’s an honor to meet them. Like baby’s ears and wentletraps, I feel like I’m getting an “eye” for finding shell crafters on the beach these days.
Shell crafter Brandy Llewellyn
Close-up of Brandy Llewellyn's Judge's Merit Award winning Sailor's Valentine
Shell Fair and More!
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David Rhyne's Sailor's Valentine won Best Single Sailor's Valentine- Professional
Close-up of David Rhyne's Sailor's Valentine
Looking at this work of art made my heart skip a beat. That’s why David Rhyne also won the Captain Tom Clifford Memorial Trophy which is Best in Show- Professional. In 2007, he was invited to Martha Stewart’s studio to show one of his double Sailor’s Valentines. Check out this Martha Stewart video featuring David and the 70th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show.
Best Novice Exhibit won by Carolyn Johnson
Close-up of novice Carolyn Johnson's Sailor's Valentine
Can you believe this is Carolyn’s first Sailor’s Valentine and first showing? Amazing.
Blue Ribbon for Lucy Ann Read - Miniature Flower Arrangement max- 3"x3"x3"
……and if this isn’t enough…..the shelling is fantastic on the Captiva side of Blind Pass!
Alex (Colorado)
There’s a huge new shell pile! Alex and his dad were finding MUREXES, WHELKS, BANDED TULIPS and nice HORSE CONCHS in the crevices of the left side of the jetty rocks. On the beach side, there were shellers filling up their shell buckets and bags with nice OLIVES, CONCHS and finding great shells just like Alex. Of course, I started looking at some of the CLAMS, SCALLOPS and TURBANS a little differently since the Shell Fair artists find so many creative ways to use them in their artwork….like I need another “project” right now.
Richard and Edith (Nantucket)
Clark stopped by the Lighthouse to see if the wind change had taken the shells away from the east end. He found a couple of baby FLORIDA CONES and saw that Richard and Edith had found a few SCALLOPS and other smaller shells but not like earlier this week. They asked Clark about another spot so he sent them on up to Blind Pass. I hope they headed straight there to scoop up some of those WHELKS.
I’ll be back to the Shell Fair tomorrow for more pictures of the Scientific Exhibits.
