Before the bolo ties there were the panels. Every shell in these pieces was found on a beach — in Hawaiʻi and on travels across the world — carried home, cleaned and laid by hand — thousands of them, one at a time, into mandalas, moons, hearts and sea creatures. Same hands, same shells, same idea: the beauty is already in there, it just needs someone patient enough to arrange it.
LOVEShell-letter wall panel spelling LOVE, built entirely from gathered cowries, cones and clam fragments on natural birch.Wood panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedCompass StarAn eight-point star of cone and fan shells radiating from the centre, ribbed bivalve clusters at the four corners, and eight sea-urchin rosettes ringed with small dark shells along the edges — laid point by point.Wood panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedCowrie BloomA dense bloom of purple-brown cowries opening outward across a soft sage ground.Panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedSpiral RingsConcentric rings of matched sea urchin shells spiralling inward on deep olive, with a sea-urchin rosette and a few cream cowries at each corner — a study in patience.Panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedMerkaba StarInterlocking star geometry in cowries and amethyst-toned shells over natural wood grain.Wood panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedPeaceA peace sign rendered in cream cowries, framed by a cluster of small shells at each corner.Wood panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedMantaA manta ray in full glide, its whole body tiled in cowries — cut to silhouette, no frame.Shaped panel, resin-finishedTriple MoonA waxing, full and waning moon — laser-cut wood art by another talented artist, which I finished with my gathered shells and hung as one phase.Laser-cut wood art, enhanced · shell inlay by handEye MandalaA circular eye mandala — laser-cut wood art by another talented artist, ringed and finished by hand with hundreds of my gathered cowries.Round panel, resin-finishedCowrie DiscA hanging oval of tightly packed cowries — the simplest form, and the hardest to lay evenly.Round panel, resin-finishedTurquoise StarburstAn eight-point starburst over turquoise, centred on a single sea urchin test.Panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedCrimson FernShell mandala with fern-like fronds radiating across a deep crimson ground.Panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finishedShell HeartA heart filled with mixed shell fragments and pearl shell, bordered in cowries.Wood panel · 24 × 24 in · resin-finished
About these panels
The pieces shown here are from my personal collection — they hang in my home and studio and aren't currently for sale. But this is the work the bolo ties grew out of, and I do take panel commissions: one of a kind, sized to your wall, built around a symbol or shells that mean something to you. If one of these speaks to you, write me and tell me what you have in mind.
