Shell Art

One thing I love doing is finding framed pictures at thrift stores and painting over them.  That probably breaks some rule of artist etiquette.  I usually just paint over cheesy prints that are outdated.  It's a lot cheaper than purchasing a canvas and you are already have a frame that's the perfect size for your artwork.  I picked up this frame for around $3.  I thought it was a steal considering the size and the nice, chunky frame.  The print?  Not my cup of tea.  So, I spray painted the frame gold.  Yes, it was already gold but it was the gold with the small black flecks in it, do you know what I'm talking about?  

So after I painted it gold, I just turned the existing print over to give me a plain white canvas to work with.

I knew I was going to use this in our powder room so I wanted to continue with the subtle beachy them I have going on in there.  I started with this large vase of shells we have collected from all of our coastal trips.  We started collecting them on our honeymoon and have picked up some on our walks on the beach ever since.  It's a nice, free souvenir.

I played around with the arrangement of the shells and even thought about a heart shape.  I liked the look but realized it wasn't really me.  

So I went with something a little more simple and streamlined.  I just attached the shells using some hot glue.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out, and it only cost me around $3 because I already had the spraypaint.  I love that it has sentimental value too because those shells represent our family vacations.