One of my passions is collecting shells. Even though I don't live in Florida, where I understand people fill garages with them, I have accumulated a good selection.

They are my favorite subject for drawing. Beside that, I have often thought about putting my own  claywork in a drawing.

This is a little bowl that is long gone from my inventory, but at the time, it made a very good background for these small shells referred to as "Blood Mouths" because of their vividly red lips. The drawing is done in colored pencil on a light blue paper.

Blood-mouths* are often mistaken for cone shells, but they are really conch shells, common to Guam, where I collected these and first started diving.

*Strombus luhuanus.   Also known as the Blood-mouth Conch, this sea shell features a dark brown columellar and a reddish inner lip. This animal lives in colonies and is This seashell is common to Western Pacific on sand to 5 fathoms.   Measures approx 1. 5" - 2".