<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Handsome glass vessels filled with shiny seashells and baskets brimming with perfect sand dollars are more than predictable d\u00e9cor in Pam and Clark Rambo\u2019s sunny Sanibel Island home. The thoughtful arrangements reflect a shared fascination with gifts from the sea that started in childhoods far apart.<\/p>\n I’ve been shelling since I can remember,\u201d says Clark, a commercial real estate broker. \u201cHe had one of those little books where you glue your shells to the outlines,\u201d artist\/entrepreneur Pam interjects with a playful smile.<\/p>\n Clark\u2019s boyhood shelling days were along the shores of NewJersey, Maryland and Maine. Pam found her first keepers on Virginia Beach, the Outer Banks of North Carolina and Georgia\u2019s Jekyll Island. Clark has also shelled Australia\u2019s Pacific coast, and together they\u2019ve successfully scoured the beaches of Belize, the Upper Keys and even unlikely Miami for the objects of their desire. It\u2019s only fitting that at a recent family reunion, Pam learned her maternal family crest is \u2014 what else?\u2014a scallop shell.<\/p>\n photo by Valerie Roche Grandeur Magazine<\/p><\/div>\n MIRROR, MIRROR \u2026 <\/strong><\/p>\n The most dramatic reflection of the Rambos\u2019 mutual obsession catches the eye of all who step into the inviting great room. Framing an oversized mirror on the wall, 1,000 fragile worm shells, twisted Seuss-like treasures that Pam painstakingly glued into place, twirl and snake outward.<\/p>\n Normally tough to find with their pointy tips intact, the worm shells for this grand project were deposited on a local out island during a particularly fortuitous stormseason a few years back. The Rambos, who boat and shell nearly\u00a0 every weekend, came upon the mother lode one memorable weekend. \u201cIn one day, we found 763 worm shells!\u201d Pam marvels. Clark quickly emphasizes that he uncovered more than 500 of the cache; Pam just laughs and says, \u201cWith us, it\u2019s always a competition.\u201d<\/p>\n Several return trips to the secret \u201ctreasure island\u201d yielded a few hundred more of the corkscrew-like collectibles, perfectly preserved. Then inspiration struck. \u201cI probably spent 180 hours gluing worm shells on that mirror,\u201d says\u00a0 Pam, adding with a look that indicates even she is incredulous, \u201cIt took three months.\u201d<\/p>\n Artist Pam Rambo with worm shells photo by Valerie Roche<\/p><\/div>\n A BEACH BACKGROUND During their first couple of years on the Gulf Coast, Pam had her own retail venture. Kirby Rambo Collections showcased fun and functional art, including hand-painted bowls, wine-bottle toppers and door stops she created in her home studio. Now she wholesales her work and takes private commissions, and is still quick to recommend the artists whose work she sold in the gallery\/shop.<\/p>\n REFRESH, REPURPOSE, ENJOY! An oil painting by American impressionist R.A. Kissack, suitably framed after Pam found it rolled up in a Norfolk, Va., Salvation Army store, occupies a place of importance in the great room, where a formerly formal high boy wears several coats of paint applied with Pam\u2019s whimsical touch. Nearby, a once-plain mannequin, duly christened \u201cMs. Boom Boom Buttonz\u201d after embellishments by Pam, watches over family pets Smitty and Dustball as they stretch and roll on the sun-warmed bamboo floor.<\/p>\n\n
![\"Sea](\"http:\/\/static.iloveshelling.com\/uploads\/2011\/02\/grandeur-magainze.jpg\" "\\"Sea")
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\nThe Rambos met and married in Virginia Beach, Va., where Pam worked for 10 years as a visual merchandiser for major department stores, and Clark owned the Banana Boat distributorship for Bermuda and 13 U.S. states. They moved to Miami\u2019s trendy Coconut Grove for another sunscreen business opportunity and from there migrated west to Sanibel in 2001.<\/p>\n
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\nWhile seashells and the sea establish a soothing coastal theme throughout their home, the Rambos\u2019 uncluttered island abode also showcases a light-hearted art collection, some of it reflecting the passion for a good treasure hunt. With her signature creative TLC, Pam has turned many castoffs into objets d\u2019art.<\/p>\n