I grew up visiting Cape Cod in Massachusetts, wandering the beaches with my back tanned dark from all my hours hunting seashells. So I was delighted when I saw this familiar shape sitting on the windowsill at the home of my friend Lisa. She told me a friend of hers found it intact on a Cape Cod beach, which I happen to know is a real find because they are usually broken. Lisa agreed to let me borrow it, and now that the new studio is set up I am finally able to begin studying the shell.
Drawing a seashell is like solving a puzzle - every piece fits logically with every other piece, there can be only one way it all fits together, and it is completely wrong until it is completely right. The same way some people enjoy doing crossword puzzles, I'm going to enjoy my next few hours at the easel finding how all those pieces fit together.