Esther Berko Calavano

Clam Shell Art

I am a local artist from Monmouth Beach, NJ and spend as much time as possible on our beautiful Jersey shore. I always enjoyed expressing myself through artwork and, walking on the beach one day, I noticed a beautifully-shaped broken clam shell that resembled a tiny white canvas begging to be painted! I painted that shell with intricate, colorful designs and, since then, have collected and painted thousands of these beautiful, pointed shells and edge them around mirrors and picture frames.

I have participated in juried craft shows and have seen the delightful reactions that people have when they realize that they are painted broken clam shells on the frame. I have been told that these pieces make people happy and gives them a bit of joyfulness each time they see it on their wall. Because of the happy responses from customers, I named this line of artwork “Ocean Kisses”.

I also paint small furniture in intricate and whimsy designs.