Shell Jewelry

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About 500 shells used to decorate one single bathroom mirror! To say the least, we were aghast! A walk in the locality showed us more of the same. This was definitely one space where something needed to be done.  
We are talking about several communities that dot the Tamil Nadu coastal districts of Rameshwaram and Kanyakumari (India). Here, Nature’s most abundantly created art piece, the shell, is found in all its assorted forms, textures, and colors; worked on, strung together, glued and so on. Many things were amiss.

The shell is a sturdy protection for the delicate soft-bodied mollusk, but on its own emptied of its owner, it is a piece of art - beautiful, fragile, and a wonder! We use shells to create jewelry, or to make objects for decoration or even to transform other useful objects into pieces of art.

Upasana’s involvement was directed mainly towards creating a value addition for the artisans by helping them to attain better livelihood; towards the product by making it more beautiful. This effort created a different design sensibility among the shell artisans, as the Upasana team showed the community how to use the same shells aesthetically, more consciously, respecting Nature and natural resources.

Uppermost for Upasana has been the creation of a model whereby a natural resource can be used without destroying its source, to raise the overall value of the final product and the act of producing it.

Its fallout was as expected:

  • Raised design sensibility
  • Optimal use of a natural resource
  • No depletion of the environment
  • High value perception
  • Wider acceptance of the product
  • More orders for products
  • Higher income levels
  • Better time management
  • A conviction among the artisans that there is more to life
  • A local natural resource put on the national agenda differently
  • Joy

Now, 5 shells are enough to create 3 pieces of art and immeasurable joy for all!
The community is booked with orders.

 
 
 

 
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Shell Jewelry Photo Album

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What is a shell after all, the house of soft-bodied creatures called mollusks?

And what is so special about this house? Each mollusk specie creates a shell uniquely shaped and marked. The substance of the shell is the hardened secretion of the fleshy mollusk. In a way, the shell is its skeleton. Fluctuations in climate, salinity and temperature of water and diet, and man-inflicted anxieties influence:

  • Shell growth rate
  • Spaces between rings
  • Calcium carbonate crystal size in the shell
  • The vividness of color
  • Occurrence/disappearance of shells along the coast

Alert:
Forbid removal of live creatures from their shells. Respect nature and natural resources. Make sure to leave animals along with their shells where found. Take only those shells left on the shores.
   
Remember:
The shell that is found on the beach is home to the animal that lives inside it.