17 of 30 Banded Tulip (Broken Shell Series)

Never Too Old to Blush (Banded Tulip Shell)

4" X 6"

Watercolor

$75

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When the spire of a shell is broken off, the architecture within looks like a partially opened flower bud. This shell is sun-bleached and its lines nearly faded away, but it may have been a banded tulip shell, though it seems a bit sturdier, or thicker than the typical tulip.

I loved how the light in my reference photo caught the edges in this photo while bringing a glow to the shell from within, hence the title.

14 of 30 Stocky Cerith and Friends

Freckled Faces (Stocky ceriths...at least the shorter ones)

9" X 12"

Watercolor

$175

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Growing up, we called shells similar to these "periwinkles." It turns out that periwinkles are a completely different shell.

My shell book didn't make identifying these guys easy. They are probably all in the cerith family. The top left and bottom left in the photo with the dime are stocky ceriths. The others have brown dots like the fly-specked cerith, but are missing the protruding whorls. Perhaps they are juvenile or perhaps the top middle shell is just a long and slender "stocky" cerith, lol.