Pandemic Forces Jewelry Designer to Transform into an Amazing Seashell Artist

Discovering seashells on the beach delights us and we, more often than not, collect the more beautiful ones. Unfortunately, soon afterward, such beach treasure is consigned to some corner of our home and forgotten. However, this was not the case with Anna Chan, a jewelry designer, who fell in love with seashells.

This love drove her and her 10-year-old daughter to collect whatever seashells they could lay their hands on. What went them towards this exciting activity was the pandemic lockdown that forced them out on the beach for days. Collecting seashells not only became a fruitful pastime but a bit of an obsession with them.

Chan not only collected the shells but used them to make sculptures on the sand. The end result inspired her so much that she shifted the ‘beach’ to her garage to continue her passion! She shares on mymodernmet.com, “I saw great potential with this new medium and was determined to keep refining my work, so I moved some sand and seashells to my garage and that is where I work today.”

She has spent over 20 years in the jewelry industry

Chan did a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Rhode Island School of Design, Rhode Island in Providence, USA, and graduated with honors in Jewelry and Light Metals. She became a full-fledged jewelry designer and has spent over 20 years in the jewelry industry. After an initial five-year stint with Tiffany and Co., she established her own label and also started consulting for other brands. It was the pandemic lockdown that brought her hidden talent for seashell art to the fore.

Chan, inspired by animals, created her first sand and shell sculpture of a turtle. Today, she has an entire array of animal sculptures that include both land and sea animals. It is her aesthetic usage of different kinds of seashells that makes her creations stand out. Take, for instance, the sculpture of a bird in which she used scallops, mussels, clams, and horseshoe crab tails. There are many more such beautiful creations showcased on her website and Instagram page.

Today, seashell art has become Chan’s main focus, as she feels connected to seashells at a subliminal level.