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Page 4, The Southern Ocean Times, August 6, 2022
Shells:
Continued From Page 1 45 years ago and regularly visits her mother in Beach Haven West throughout the year. One of Barrod’s fondest memories centered on collecting shells as she sunk her toes along the shoreline. “I decided to start a Facebook page because I was missing the beach,” said Barrod. “The initial theme revolved around asking people where they were finding shells as they walked along the beach. I also asked everyone to post pictures of their finds.” “Shelling on LBI” premiered on social media in May of 2016 and provided a great deal of information for those interested in finding shells. Barrod even went so far as to name the most frequently found types of shells on the 18-mile island. Others exchanged tidbits about the best times and places to hunt for them. What started as a small private group now includes nearly 6,000 members with a changed focus on artistry and a fun “shell game” twist. “Painting the shells was never even a thought when we first began,” shared Barrod. “However, it’s now taken on a life of its own – with many people loving it.” Barrod believes that a woman named Therisa Mendez was the first to come up with the concept. Mendez once worked as a manicurist and enjoyed delighting her clients by adding clever nail art designs. After she had children, Mendez stayed home with them and put her craftiness on the backburner.
The transition from painting fingernails to painting shells started back in 2017. Mendez said she came up with the idea after she noticed other people were adding creative touches to rocks. “In the beginning, they (her shell designs) were just okay,” Mendez said. “I started hiding them (the painted shells) and my then teenage daughter suggested I make an Instagram handle.” To her disappointment, no one acknowledged they’d found the shells Mendez hid in various spots throughout Long Beach Island. She tried not to make a big deal about the lack of feedback even though she knew someone had come across her designs. “Shortly before and during the pandemic, I began painting even more shells because I was home,” shared Mendez. “I also found the Shelling on LBI page, and announced I was hiding them.” The project became somewhat of a family affair. Mendez and her husband go on the hunt for seashells together. Their favorite spot is a section in Loveladies, which they always visit at low tide. Mendez washes the shells, and her 19-year-old son drills a hole through them. “This way, people don’t just have a painted shell,” Mendez explained. “They also have an ornament.” Mendez could not believe what happened as a result of the increased social media exposure. People literally started to go crazy in search of her hidden shells. One woman even messaged in the middle of the night and said she just had to have one of the works of art created by Mendez.
During the pandemic, Mendez painted and hid approximately 500 shells, embellishing them with beach scenes, Disney characters, animals and more. When Mendez posts pictures of the shells she’s hidden, she also provides hints for those looking for a special treasure of their own. In the meantime, Mendez’s shell ornaments are also available for sale at Mistletoe, a gift shop in Beach Haven. Some love her work so much that they’ve commissioned Mendez to create a special shell memory. Mendez admits she finds special joy in learning the shells she’s chosen to hide have made someone’s day and seemingly wound up in the right hands. She recalled the time her husband became a bit perplexed as she kept pushing him to drive further to find the perfect spot to hide one shell in particular. The couple ultimately settled on hiding the shell by a bench up by one of the sand dunes. “I had painted a shell of a lady sitting on the beach,” shared Mendez. “I wrote a quote on it that said something about “let your vibe attract your tribe.” A day or two later, a girl posted that she and her family came across the shell when they were all sitting on the beach. Sadly, their mother had recently passed away and they were gathered together, sharing memories of her. “They said they didn’t see the shell at first and were shocked when they looked down,” Mendez said. “The picture of the lady I painted looked like their mother – and the quote matched her personality. It gave them all chills, and some were even crying.” Others who found Mendez’s creations
felt moved by striking coincidences. A young girl who found a shell embellished in support of Ukraine just happened to be on the way to play the Ukrainian National Anthem on her cello. A mother who found a shell Mendez painted of two children said the rendering remarkably resembled her son and daughter. “I just feel like God must have had his hand in some of the way these things happened,” summed up Mendez. Barrod said she herself doesn’t paint shells, but instead learned to decoupage them. Last December, Barrod made her first decorative attempts and added an ornamental shell to a memory tree erected in Holgate around the holidays. “It was a cardinal for my father (who died in 2015,) shared Barrod. “Everyone can put a shell on the tree or even on the ground around it because the tree gets filled fast. It’s a memory tree for people who have lost a loved one.” Christmas in July inspired a number of shell artists, including Tracy Gifford Sprague of Barnegat, well-known as a local photographer. Sprague says she takes pictures to make people feel good and happy despite all the craziness in the world. As Sprague noticed a lot more people ornamenting shells and hiding them, she decided to contribute by painting some. She added sea glass to the batch she hid to give it a different touch. “We just make a little tag that says “surprise,” Sprague noted. “We tell people they can either keep or re-hide their find and ask (Shells - See Page 5)
