Pig and Croc Sculpture

One day a farmer's pig wanted to get out of his pen. He was thirsty and didn't want a drink from the morning water that was in his trough. Nope little piggy wanted a drink from the pond he could see at the bottom of the hill.

Pig walked around his pen, then walked around some more. Finally, he saw a bit of an opening near the gate. Seems the farmer in his haste to get to his next chore had left the gate a wee bit ajar. The pig walked over and with a grunt and a squeal managed to squeeze his way right out of his pen.

He took a long, leisurely walk down to the pond. When he reached it, he sat on the bank and looked around. He had heard some weird noises coming from this way a day or so before, that had reached all the way up the hill. So he cautiously looked around for anything that may have caused the ruckus.

It was lovely setting with the bank made of hardened clay mixed with some rather large rocks. Here and there were some low growing bushes, some growing right around the rocks.

There was one rock in front of him that was nicely flat and from which he could easily reach the water. A bit in front of the rock was a largish log which floated just out of reach. Not seeing anything at all dangerous, pig walked out onto the rock and sat down. A nice breeze kicked up and he let it play around him.

Finally, pig's thirst reminded him of why he had squeezed himself out of his pen. He leaned over the edge of the rock and started to drink his fill. As he drank, he saw something strange. The large log seemed to be slowly turning. He finished his drink and sat back up.

Suddenly, there was an eruption of water and a huge head with a mouth full of teeth appeared in front of pig. He was so startled he sat back on his haunches. The jaws full of teeth snapped just in front of his snout.

With a hearty squeal and a quick scramble, pig high-tailed it out of there and raced for the safety of his pen. He slammed through the gap and ran into his little hut, where the farmer found him - trembling in the hay.

Back at the pond, the croc sadly eyed the suddenly empty rock. Slowly he lay back down in the water to wait once again for a chance at a meal. Perhaps next time he would be a bit quicker and the prey a bit slower.

******************
This is an old sculpture I made back in 2002. It's on a 1/4" thick 3x5" scalloped edge wooden base. The pig was originally colored pink, so I painted him white and added the black smudges. My idea of a farmer' pig.

The "rock" is actually a chunk of coral I found on the beach. The bushes came from a dried floral arrangement that had seen better days and was heading for the trash bin. Mr. Croc I found at a small shop inside one of the flea markets in the area.

For more current offerings visit The Shell Craft Shop.

To learn how to use seashells to make home decor and gift items visit Shellcraft Guides.

Seashells Cross Wall Plaque

Now here is a real beauty with quite a bit of symbolism. The cross is composed of 12 seashells (1 for each month of the year). Now, I didn't actually sit here and try to design it with 12 seashells. I just wanted a to make a great looking cross with the seashells I had picked out. Turns out they counted up to 12. Kind of cool.

There are four small faux pearls at each of the right angles formed by the cross arms. Finally, the inside design is complemented by 6 teardrop shaped shells. The pearls and seashells are supposed to represent an aura or halo radiating from cross. Yeah, I know there are a couple of extra teardrop shells toward the bottom but they seemed to fit very well where I placed them. Not to mention that they help to bring the frame into the design.

The frame is decorated with seashells with a few patterns. Can you see them? All the seashells, except the teardrops, point toward the cross. The teardrops blend into the pattern of the tear shells in the center design, forming 2 loops - one on each side of the cross.

If you would like to make your own cross design wall plaque Click Here to visit my website: Shellcraft-guides.com. There are other guides available for your crafting pleasure there also.

If you prefer to have me make you 1 or more (up to 1 dozen) wall plaques with crosses that you can use for home decor or gifts, please use my contact form. Click Here to be sent to it.

Wall Plaque with Seashells in a Circle

My latest design is of seashells in a circle on a 6x8 inch wooden plaque with a twine "rope" hanger.

The focal point of this plaque is the seashell in the center of the circle. You'll have to click on the photo to see it better, but the center shell has texture and two stripes that curve along the sides of the seashell. Inbetween are some neat colored patterns.

The larger shell at the bottom is the anchor shell for the circle. Moving away from it are pairs of seashells until you reach the apex of the circle. There a single shell holds its own.

The top left corner has a flat, but colorful shell, that has a tube shell attached to it. That's the way I found it on a recent walk along the beach. To the right is a nice shell I found in the sand when I went to the Pompano Beach Seafood Festival back in April.

Under the circle I placed a piece of coral to the left, and a trio of round seashells that start small and get larger as they move to the right. The small red crab is made of glass and is trying to get under the piece of coral for protection.

All around the frame I placed more seashells, mostly small clam shells, in a variety of colors. There's a nice dark, almost black, shell in the center at the top of the frame. There's a black and white one opposite of it on the bottom frame. The other shells vary in color from ivory to light brown.

I made a set of these. The other, shown here on the right, is similar to the one above. The designs are "mirrored" to the plaque above. The circle is anchored by another larger seashell but the crab and coral are to the right side of the circle instead of the left like the above plaque.

The seashells are slightly different in color. A couple of the frame shells have stripes running through them. So even though this wall plaque is similar to the above plaque it is definitely not the same.

If you'd like to try your hands a making your own wall plaques visit: Shell Craft Guides where I have placed "how-to" instructions to guide you in making these wall plaques.

If you prefer to buy your crafts visit my store at The Shell Craft Shop where I have displayed some of the items I have crafted and have available for sale.